The Nevada Superior Court handles citations issued by law enforcement
agencies in Nevada County. This includes Grass Valley PD, Truckee
PD, Nevada City PD, California Highway Patrol and others.
Court Appearances
Your citation is a notice to appear before the court to be arraigned
on the charges on the citation. You then respond to the charges
against you pleading either guilty, not guilty or no contest. Certain
factors can affect the date that you are required to appear as noted
below.
Mandatory Appearance in the Nevada City Division: You must appear on the date noted at 9am if you are an adult or 3:00pm if you are under 18.
Mandatory Appearance in the Truckee Branch: You must call the court to schedule a court date at 530/582-7835. Please inform the clerk if you will require an
interpreter.
Continuance: Nevada City: If you cannot appear on the date listed on your citation, you can request a Continuance (extension). This form is available at our offices. The form must be received by us on or before your court date.
Truckee: If you wish a court date you must call the court at 530/582-7835 to schedule and request a continuance if required.
Pleading Guilty or No Contest (Bail Forfeiture): The fine
amount or "bail" on the Courtesy Notice is the amount
of money required to guarantee your appearance in Court. If your
violation does not require a mandatory court appearance, then you
may just pay the bail on the citation without appearing before the
judge, this is called Bail Forfeiture. The citation is deemed paid,
and a resulting conviction for the violation you were cited for
will be reported on your driving record. Please note your docket
number on your check or money order. If you can not send the entire
bail amount and want to make payments, then you must appear in court
on the date scheduled.
(In Truckee you must call for the court date.)
Pleading Not Guilty: If you wish to contest charges against
you by pleading not guilty, you must first fill out the necessary
paperwork so that a trial date can be set. These forms available
by coming into our offices.
(In Truckee you may send your not guilty plea by mail and we will send you the forms.)
We must receive your forms on or before
the date of your hearing. Upon receipt of the signed forms in our
office, a Court Trial will be set and you will be notified of that
date by mail. (See also Trial by Declaration). Once the trial date
has been set, the officer will be subpoenaed to appear in court.
At the trial, the Court will listen to the statement of the sworn
witnesses against you, and you may in turn question each witness.
You then present your case and the Court will rule on the matter.
If you have photos, diagrams, reports, or any other exhibits that
you plan to present, bring them with you on your trial date. If
you wish to have witnesses necessary for your defense, you need
to ask them to appear or have them subpoenaed to appear if you think
they will not do so willingly. You can obtain the subpoena form
at our offices and we will assist you in filling out and serving
the subpoena.
Trial by Declaration: If you are from out of town or if
it would be difficult for you to make an appearance, you can request
a trial by declaration (trial by mail) by calling our offices and
requesting the forms and further instructions based on your citation.
Proof of Correction
If there are any mechanical, insurance or registration violations
included in the citation, proof of correction will be required before
you can pay the citation. To get the proof of correction, first
fix the problem for which you were cited and then take your citation
to the law enforcement agency that cited you and in turn, they will
then "sign off" the ticket. The signed-off ticket must
be included along with any fine or fee due when you mail in your
payment or bring it into our offices.
Payment Requests
If you can not afford to pay your fine all at once, the court will
allow you to make payments. The Court charges a mandatory $35 fee
and a court appearance is necessary. You may appear on the date
noted on your courtesy notice at 9:00am (Truckee 8:30am) if you
are an adult or 3:00pm (Truckee 3:30pm) if you are under 18. If
you are under 18 you must bring a parent or legal guardian with
you to court. Please make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes prior
to your court time as late arrivals will not be seen and you will
have to make another court date.
Credit Card Payments
We accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover for Traffic, Criminal and
Misdeameanor fines.
If you want to pay on-line or use an American Express card, please
go to our
On-line Payments page. Please note that if you choose to
use the on-line payments option, you will be charged a fee.
Failure to Appear / Failure to Pay
If you fail to appear or fail to remit the required bail, a warrant
may be issued for your arrest and/or your account will be referred
to GC Services (Collection Agency). You may call GC Services toll
free at 800-333-8395 or contact a local representative to discuss
your options.
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