Texas Traffic Tickets, Why You Should Consider an Attorney

When you get a traffic ticket, you may think it is best to handle the ticket yourself by paying the fine and/or take defensive driving.  Whether your ticket is in a Municipal Court (e.g. City of San Antonio) or a Justice of the Peace (e.g. Bexar County JP#3) it is a good idea to contact an attorney to help you.

Just paying the fine on a ticket results in a conviction that goes on your driving record.  Traffic convictions in the State of Texas, can ultimately result in surcharges on your drivers license, suspension of you privilege to drive and also lead to increased insurance rates.

Often courts will offer you the option to pay an administrative cost and take a defensive driving course to get the ticket dismissed from your record.  You are limited in the number of times that you are allowed to take defensive driving.  Further, you have to take the time out of your schedule to take the course and communicate all of the corresponding information to the court, all at additional expense to you.

If you are under the age of 25 you are required by law to take the Drivers Safety Course as a condition of any deferred adjudication.  What happens though if you have already taken the course and receive another ticket?  You should contact an attorney immediately as they may be able to help you prevent the ticket from being a conviction.

If you have a CDL (Commercial Drivers License) you are prohibited from receiving deferred adjudication  so you may think your only option is to pay the fine.  This has the same potential consequences mentioned above.  You should always consider contacting an attorney as there are other options that may allow the ticket from being a conviction or counting as "points" on your license.

If your ticket is in the Justice of the Peace court you also have the right to appeal your ticket to the County Court where there is often more options available to your attorney.  If you receive a ticket from a County Sheriff or State Trooper, you should contact an attorney before trying to deal with the Justice of the Peace on your own.

If you have recently received a ticket please contact me at 210-798-1453 or email me at tommy.stolhandske@gmail.com.

***The information contained in this blog is merely the opinion of the Attorney who authored it. This article does not create an attorney client relationship and you should contact an attorney if you have any questions pertaining to the information contained in it.