Posts by copperangler15

Look, here’s the deal: if you sign that citation, you’re essentially pleading guilty. At least, that’s what the officer told me—he happens to be a close buddy of a friend of mine. Honestly? I trust his word more than anyone else's. That’s exactly why I refused to sign the ticket that officer was trying to shove in my face 😬. But since I don't have his number, I'm stuck. I have no way to get clarity on this whole mess regarding my court date and all that other nonsense
.

crimsonsailor7 said:they basically just use one standard template for everything 🙂

we've already touched on this somewhere else, but apparently, you can substitute community service for any fine up to $167...

I’d read about that before, which is why I found it so strange. Why on earth would I receive a citation with a fine of $333 that explicitly states I have the option to swap the penalty for community service?

Michael Perez5 said:A thousand-dollar fine just doesn't cut it. You can't simply swap out a penalty like that for some community service hours to serve the public good. It just isn't the same thing.

I’m actually wondering about that too. I guess what I really need to do is just file a basic appeal regarding the citation I received. Since I didn't sign it within that eight-day window and didn't provide an explanation, I should probably just submit the dispute and leave it at that. That seems to be it...

Thanks, Sandra Parker3.

P.S. Just a heads up—don't bother feeding the trolls.😉

That’s exactly my point. If you can't swap the fine for community service, why is it even listed on the citation? I was hit with a $333 fine myself, and it begs the question: shouldn't there be different types of citations? Why aren't higher fines issued on separate forms that explicitly state community service isn't an option?🤔

In any case, I’ll be sure to update everyone on how my situation eventually plays out. Since this is my first real brush with the law, 😢

Thomas Miller80 said:(4) A citation must include notice of the defendant's right to appeal, specifying to whom, how, and within what timeframe the appeal must be filed—noting that once that window closes without an appeal, the citation becomes legally binding. This means the fine will be collected forcibly or replaced by community service or jail time, per federal law. The instructions must also warn the defendant of their obligation to cover all legal costs if found guilty.

You don't need a PhD to wrap your head around this. 😉

I don't follow. What exactly are you trying to say? 👍 That’s exactly why I filed the grievance.
Thanks. I appreciate it. 🙏

Michael Perez5 said:copperangler15, I’m seeing the exact same thing over here....
To be honest, I have no clue which street they're talking about, and I suspect the officer is a local, so he probably didn't make a mistake.

But look... regarding the mail delivery, if you don't receive it after several attempts, they just send an officer right to your door to try and hand it to you personally...🙂

Honestly? That’s what I’m afraid of too. But what am I supposed to do when I'm not home when the mail carrier shows up?
I don't know if these officers are truly "local" to this area, but my situation falls apart because I *am* local. I know these streets. Without being hyperbolic, I checked the map myself, and the names don't match.👍

Thomas Miller80 said:Section 165, Subsection 4 of the US Misdemeanor Code
I just cited it above 😉

I give you credit for pasting the actual statute here, but unfortunately, I’m a layman. I don't understand a word of this legal jargon. Personally, I prefer to rely on the lived experience of others, though I truly wish these laws were written in plain English that everyone could actually grasp. Since I didn't go to law school, this stuff is all Greek to me. 😢

Michael Perez5 said:Man, some people say one thing and others say the complete opposite... can we please just get some consensus here?🙂

So, here’s the deal:
- I got a citation that I didn't sign, even though the officer noted "handed to subject personally."
- He called dispatch over the radio to ask for the ticket number (the next one in the sequence).
- I already received the payment notices.

So, what am I supposed to do? Should I just wait and then try to wiggle out of it, or should I file an appeal only to have them tell me it's not being considered?😢

I agree with you. I want to know what the correct procedure is, too.
A month ago, I was pulled over myself. I refused to sign anything, and just like your case, the officer wrote down that it was handed to me personally. Given how things played out, I filed a formal protest immediately. They were trying to charge me based on nothing more than "direct observation," and their paperwork was a disaster. They botched the location of the stop, the location of the alleged violation, even the street name. I also filed a separate complaint regarding the officer's conduct—similar to what happened to you. The response came back quickly, and honestly, they basically contradicted themselves. They listed the wrong date for the citation (it was from last year!) and once again, got the street name wrong. It’s as if I’m supposed to teach them how to fill out basic forms. They claimed my protest was baseless and stated that the officer denies behaving that way. Of course he does. Why would he admit fault? Since I submitted my protest within the legal timeframe, it will be forwarded to the municipal court. Once there, I can defend my rights. I can present my arguments, suggest witnesses, request a hearing, and so on. Given how slow the American court system moves, I expect a summons in a few months. Until then, I wait. Alternatively, I could dodge the court by simply not accepting service, since my job makes it impossible for anyone to hand me papers in person. So, there you have it.

I think you really ought to file an appeal. I learned the hard way that skipping a contestation isn't an option. Once, for a minor infraction I didn't bother appealing, I received a court summons that felt like a total ambush. It arrived on the Friday right before Christmas, with a hearing scheduled for the Wednesday immediately following the holiday. The notice didn't even mention any excuses for being unable to attend; if I didn't show up, they were implying I could face jail time. There was no wiggle room to justify an absence, so I had no choice but to appear. Honestly, it was a complete nightmare, especially since the offense was so trivial—I was driving a brand-new car with registration that had expired just four days prior.

Gregory Walker15 said:Pardon me for hijacking Michael Perez5's thread... but could someone finally clarify one thing for me? What is the actual difference if you sign or don't sign?

Is it possible to file an appeal in either scenario? 🤔

If you sign that order, you’ve essentially handed them a confession.

Thanks, thanks, 😘
I honestly can't wrap my head around how some people actually pull this off. Take my friend, for example. He’s the type who always has his foot heavy on the pedal. We were driving through a coastal town in California—the kind of place where you know the local police hide behind bushes just waiting to catch someone with a handheld radar gun. He cruises right into a residential zone 60 miles/h, even though the limit is clearly 31 miles/h. I’m sitting there, suppressing a smirk because I think he’s finally getting caught, when I hear the officer start reciting the standard speeding penalties 😲. Then, my friend starts spinning this ridiculous web of excuses: "I'm unemployed," (lie), "I'm living on welfare $93," "This car was a gift from a sponsor for my amateur handball league," and "I lost my hearing in the war" (he has some hearing loss, sure, but he's claiming it's combat-related). I 😕 just stared at the cop, wondering if he was actually going to buy this nonsense. Instead, the officer visibly swallowed hard, handed back my friend's documents, and told him, "Just slow down, okay?"

People like that truly 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

Austin Perez98 said:My guy’s registration expired exactly 5 days ago and the cops pulled us over today.
The officer wrote him a ticket $1667, but he didn't get any actual receipt or paperwork—he didn't even sign anything.

Is that even legal under the law?!
Someone please weigh in if you actually know what's up!! 🙏 🙏

The same thing happened to me, except I was only four days past my expiration and I honestly had no idea. The police pulled me over, handed me a citation, and made me sign it because on paper, the registration was clearly expired. They issued me $167 fines that I didn't pay, and seven months later, I get a summons to appear in court. If I don't show up without a damn good reason, I'm looking at jail time, and I 😕. They offered me community service for ten working days or three days in jail, or I could just pay the fine. Since I read online that signing up for community service might not actually stop the process, I ended up just paying the $167 with a one-month extension. So now...

Sandra Parker3 said:I feel the same way😲
I've only been through it once and I definitely cut some corners🙂

What kind of situation did you run into?

Sandra Parker3 said:You have a shot.
The cops hand out tickets whenever they catch you red-handed during a patrol, and honestly, everything they do follows standard procedure. That said, a judge can dismiss the whole thing if they can't actually prove you did what they claim. Just do your best to make sure they don't pin 🙂
on you.

Ugh, that's easy for you to say. Just the thought of having to step foot in a courtroom sends me into a total panic.😲

Melissa Phillips4 said:I don't know, I didn't see anything. I couldn't see a thing. If a ticket comes, I'm appealing it. There's no way I'm paying...
For example, that stretch could basically be considered a rural highway. The limit is 55, and I definitely wasn't going over 50. I don't know how they interpret things. If they think the limit is 40 and allow a buffer up to 50, and I was doing 50, then even if I subtract 10, let's say I was doing 40, I shouldn't be getting a ticket, right?

Then you have nothing to worry about. Sometimes even I drive 6.2 miles faster, obviously on the open highway. In residential areas, you never know who might suddenly dart out in front of your car.

Melissa Phillips4 said:If you blew past the speed limit, you’re looking at a fine. Period. You can try to fight it, sure, but don't expect miracles. Unless you have some rock-solid evidence that the officer was hallucinating or the radar was malfunctioning, an appeal is usually just a waste of your time and money. Expect to pay up.

I think I just pulled a fast one on myself. Not sure if there was a speed trap active, but a cruiser was definitely idling right outside a Starbucks.
Since I didn't spot the radar, is it actually possible they were just sitting there in the beer garden instead of running the speed trap?

This happened in some small town. If they actually had radar on site, would it even show up on the AAA website? It’s in the Chicago area, after all.

And if they had actually seen me? Would they have come charging after me right then and there to shut me down? Or would they have just noted my license plate and moved on?

Please help. I’m losing my mind here. If I get hit with a fine, I'm done.

If a radar unit had been deployed, you would have seen the flash. If they actually spotted you, they would have pursued you. Just jotting down a license plate isn't real evidence in my book; they'd rather just flex their authority over people. Since nothing happened in the moment, you likely won't get a ticket. However, if you *did* get flashed and they don't send a photo, but instead send some notice asking you to identify the driver, just list everyone in your household who drives. They tend to send those notices so late that you won't even remember what happened. This happened to my boyfriend. He got a notice eight months later, and we were staring at each other trying to figure out who was even driving the car that day. We just listed every driver in the house. He ended up being called to court because it was his car, but when they showed him the photo, you couldn't see a single thing besides the license plate. He stated he didn't recognize anyone, and they dropped the whole mess. 😁

Alexander Allen11 said:I tried contesting a parking ticket too, since some guy had his personal car hogging a loading zone. While I was busy losing my mind over it, a cop pulled up and slapped a $133 right on my work van, and just vanished. Tried to track the officer down to give him a piece of my mind, but he cleared out before I could catch him. Filed an appeal, but the city inspectors looked at the claims and basically told me to get lost, saying they were baseless. Long story short, I ended up just eating the $133...

As far as I can tell, that guy probably needed photographic proof showing you had parked your van illegally at that exact moment. Back when I worked for my old firm, we dealt with similar situations all the time. If we had a photo confirming an infraction, we’d own up to it, but the disciplinary action fell squarely on the driver who actually committed the violation. It was their responsibility. Now, I have to ask: who is actually in charge of illegal parking anyway? One group claims it’s strictly a matter for city code enforcement, yet then you see the police stepping in out of nowhere. It’s inconsistent. I almost got slapped with a massive fine myself after pulling onto a bike lane for a split second—just using my turn signal to indicate the move. Luckily, an officer I know recognized my car. He didn't ticket me, but he made sure to lecture me on how it was technically a violation. He wasn't kidding about the legalities.
I honestly cannot wrap my head around this country and its legal system. How does anyone make sense of it?

At the end of the day, I am constantly pointing out exactly what needs to be done—specifically, how to word things properly to avoid those penalties in the first place.

James Cox6 said:The truth is, you can try to dodge the process servers—maybe you'll get lucky with a lazy clerk. But if you run into a real stickler, they might just arrange for a bench warrant... and then you'll have two deputies pulling up in a squad car to haul you straight to court.

It all depends on which judge you end up with. And honestly, I'm just repeating what everyone else is saying here.

I don't care which judge I get. They're all cut from the same cloth. Getting brought in is easy enough. If they ask why I wasn't answering my phone like an idiot, I'll just tell them I wasn't home. It's common knowledge that you aren't supposed to leave important legal documents or messages with anyone else—not even your parents.

Melissa Phillips4 said:How many days passed before you got hit with the fine?

I was cited on the spot. The officer was incredibly rude about the whole thing, and of course, he denies everything. Why would he admit to being out of line?