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Request a fine reduction online for eligible infraction offenses (including most traffic tickets). DO NOT USE to request traffic school, contest your ticket, or submit proof of correction. 

Traffic Division

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Traffic and Infraction Violations

Alpine Superior Court's Traffic Division handles infraction violations of the California Vehicle Code by adults or juveniles, and infraction violations of other codes such as Alpine County Ordinances.

An infraction is a violation, or failure to comply with, a certain provision of a code, ordinance, or other law. Most traffic tickets are an infraction violation of the California Vehicle Code such as speeding, having a broken tail light, or having outdated registration . An infraction is not punishable by imprisonment; the maximum sentence on most infractions is a $250 fine (plus assessments and fees). You may not be sentenced to alternate jail time on an infraction and cannot have a trial by jury.

Misdemeanor or felony violations of the Vehicle Code (such as DUIs) are handled by the Criminal Division. 

Parking Violations are handled by the Alpine County Parking Agent as a civil penalty. If you have a parking ticket, please go to the Alpine County Parking Agent's webpage for more information.

Resolving Your Ticket

Courtesy Notice  

After receiving a traffic or other infraction citation, the court will mail a courtesy notice to the address on your citation. It can take up to 4-6 weeks for the court to receive and then process courtesy notices.

On the notice, the court notifies you of: 

  • Your docket number, which is the case number for the court.  

  • Your appearance date. Alpine County Superior Court calendars all traffic defendants based off of the response date on your citation. You do not need to call to put yourself on calendar. If you do not intend to appear, this is your due date. 

  • Your bail, or fine amount. The court provides payment options on the back of the courtesy notice. 

  • Your options for appearing or resolving your traffic case without appearing in court. 

  • General eligibility criteria for Traffic School.

If more than 6 weeks have passed since you received your citation and you have not received a courtesy notice, you may call the court clerk's office. Court staff will confirm your current mailing address. 

Note: Not receiving your courtesy notice is not a legal excuse for failing to take care of the citation by its due date. 

To Make Your Appearance 

You may appear in person at the Alpine County Courthouse on the scheduled date and time on your courtesy notice. If you did not receive your courtesy notice, appear at the courthouse at 10:00 a.m. on the date noted on your citation. This date is found at the upper left hand corner of your citation. A box is checked next to either "Appear in Court at _" or "Respond to Citation Before _".   

You may appear remotely via Zoom, a videoconference platform, for no cost. To sign up for a remote appearance, call the Clerk’s Office at the following number no later than five days prior to your appearance date: (530) 694-2113, Ext. 2. Alpine County Superior Court allows for all traffic matters to be heard remotely, up to and including trial. 

For more information about appearing by Zoom, go to "Remote Appearances". 

To Request a Trial 

If you wish to contest your citation, you may enter a plea of not guilty and request trial in one of two ways:  a Court Trial, or a Trial by Written Declaration. Go to "Contesting Your Ticket" for more information. 

If You Fail to Respond To Your Citation 

If you fail to appear in court, pay your fine in full, or make alternative arrangements with the Court by the due date on your citation, you will be deemed to have elected to have a trial by declaration pursuant to Vehicle Code §40903. 

If you are found guilty, you will be charged the bail amount shown on your courtesy notice. 

If you do not pay on or before the due date, you will receive an additional civil assessment of up to $100.00 for your failure to appear, and the Court will refer your account to an outside collection agency,  or CA Franchise Tax Board which may include wage garnishments and/or attachments of your bank accounts and personal property.

Resolving Your Ticket Without a Court Appearance

Forfeit Bail - Pay Your Ticket 

If you decide you do not wish to contest your citation and want to close your case, you may pay in full at any time before your due date. This is called a "Bail Forfeiture". You may pay your citation:

  • online,
  • in person at the courthouse, or

  • you can mail a check or money order along with your courtesy notice stub.

To make your payment you will need your docket number (your case number) and your fine amount.

To pay online you may click on the quick link at the top of this page, or go to Online Payments for more information. 

When the court receives your payment, the court will declare the bail forfeited and order that no further proceedings will occur. You give up the right to a trial and agree that there will be no further proceedings in your case. This will result in a record of conviction as if you had appeared and admitted or been found guilty of the charge(s). 

If You Can't Afford to Pay Your Ticket 

If you do not wish to contest your citation, but cannot afford to pay the fine in full in one payment, go to "If You Can't Afford to Pay."

Forfeit Bail and Attend Traffic School

If eligible, you must pay the $52 court administrative fee to attend traffic school, and you must pay your fine in full at the same time. The traffic school will charge an additional fee. You give up the right to a trial and agree that there will be no further proceedings in your case. It is your responsibility to know if attending a California Traffic Violator School course will grant you the relief of a confidential conviction on your driver record if you are not a resident of California. For more information about traffic school, go to "Traffic School." 

Post and Forfeit Reduced Bail- If Insurance and Correctable Violations Charged

If you received a citation for a violation that the officer noted could be corrected, go to "Correctable Violations." 

Frequently Asked Questions

Please be patient.

It can take up to two weeks for the court to receive citations as they are issued by local law enforcement agencies, and another two weeks to process those citations into the court's case management system.

If more than 6 weeks have passed from the date you received your citation, you may call the court clerk's  office to confirm a courtesy notice was sent to the address shown on your citation.

Clerks cannot tell you what your fine amount will be until your citation is entered into the system. Keep your copy of your citation in a safe place in the meantime. 

The officer or deputy who issued your citation will use your driver's license to take down any relevant  information needed to fill out the ticket.

If you have recently moved, are going to be moving, or the physical address listed on your license is not a good mailing address, contact the court clerk's office.

Be prepared to provide your current mailing address, your citation number, and your name as it is shown on the citation. 

Court clerks are authorized to grant a one-time three week extension. Your request may be in writing, in person at the clerk's office, or you may call the clerk's office. You will be given a new appearance date on a Monday three weeks from  your original appearance date.

You cannot ask for an extension on the day of your appearance date. The request must be received no later than ten days prior to your initial appearance date. 

A Minute Order will be mailed to you to confirm your new due date. It is your responsibility to follow up and  resolve your traffic case before your extended due date. 

Should you need a further extension of time, you will need to appear in court on the extended due date from the clerk's office and make your request to a judge. 

If you are an out of state driver who has been cited for a traffic violation in Alpine County, please contact your state's Department of Motor Vehicles before requesting traffic school for your citation.

As a Superior Court of California, the  court reports all traffic violations to California Department of Motor Vehicles. We will only accept certificates of completion for traffic violator schools that are licensed by CA DMV.

Violations that are eligible for traffic school, the penalties associated with them, and reporting on a driver abstract differ from state to state. It is your responsibility to know if completing a California Traffic Violator School for a California Vehicle Code infraction will positively impact your driving record in your home state. 

When your citation is processed by the court, a case number is generated and the applicable base fine for the violation is applied to the case with penalties and assessments. The total amount is your "bail" or fine amount.

Your bail amount is shown below your appearance  date on your Courtesy Notice. 

If more than 4-6 weeks have elapsed since the day you were cited, please call the Clerk's Office to confirm a good and current mailing address to receive your Courtesy Notice. Please have your citation in front of you to give your citation number (starting with any letters or numbers in the top right hand corner of your citation) to the clerk. 

Alpine County Superior Court does not currently offer online access to court records via a public portal, nor is there a public access terminal located at the Markleeville courthouse. All search/research requests and copy requests are performed by court staff.

You must call the court clerk's office and provide your citation number so that court staff may provide you your case number.

When you call the clerk's office, you must have your citation in front of you to give your citation number (in the top right  hand corner of your citation with any letters or numbers) to the clerk. 

If you fail to appear or pay by your appearance date, you will be deemed to have elected to have a Trial by Declaration pursuant to Vehicle Code §40903.  If you are found guilty, you will be charged the bail amount shown on your courtesy notice.

The court will send a Traffic Trial by Declaration Decision, Notice of Decision and Notice of Civil Assessment to the address on file with the court. On the Notice, you will be given 30 days from the date of your appearance date to resolve the case. 

You must either appear in court and show good cause for failing to appear OR pay the sum of the initial fine. The court will vacate the civil assessment, and if the fine is paid in full the case will be closed. 

You may submit documents for your case such as the Request for Trial by Written Declaration form to the Court: 

  • Mailing the documents to the court: 
    Alpine County Superior Court
    P.O. Box 518
    Markleeville, CA 96120
  • Bringing the documents to the court in person:

    Alpine County Superior Court
    14777 State Route 89
    Markleeville, CA 96120

    The Clerk's Office accepts filings at the counter from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    Anything received after 4 p.m. will be filed the following business day. 

    For specific information, go to "Forms & Filings." 

Please note the Alpine County Superior Court does not accept electronically filed documents at this time, which includes documents submitted by email. You will be directed to submit your documents by one of the three methods above. 

Note: You are required to submit your full bail amount with your request in order to have a Trial by Written Declaration (CA Vehicle Code Section 40902). You must submit your payment as a check or money order with your request. If payment is received online before the court receives your request for trial by written declaration, the court will declare your bail forfeited and close your case with no further proceedings. 

Prior to 2023, defendants who failed to appear or pay by their appearance date, and then failed to appear or pay by the 30 days after the Notice of Decision was mailed to them, were referred to collections and DMV was instructed to place a hold on their license for a Failure to Appear charge. 

If you wish to clear the hold on your license for the traffic case from this Court, you must pay your account in full with the Court.

Alpine County Superior Court Collections: 

Phone: (530) 694-2113, extension 324
Fax: (530) 694-2119
Email: ap@alpine.courts.ca.gov 

 

Juvenile traffic cases, if they are an infraction of the California Vehicle Code, are heard confidentially before adult traffic cases during the court's Traffic Calendar. 

If you are under the age of eighteen and were cited by an officer, your appearance on the date listed on the ticket is mandatory. A parent or guardian is required to accompany you to your hearing. You cannot pay a fine instead of appearing in court. 

Just like all other traffic matters, juvenile traffic matters may be conducted remotely via Zoom if you cannot appear in person at the courthouse.  Should you need to appear remotely for your hearing, you or a  parent must contact the court clerk's office no later than five days before the appearance date on your ticket. Court staff will request an email address and phone number for you and/ or the parent appearing with you at the hearing.