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Judicial Branch Home > 2nd Home > Programs and Services >

The Traffic Violations Bureau

 

 

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Important notice for anyone intending to contest a parking, traffic or criminal offense where court is not required:  Effective January 2^nd, 2009, you must set up an appointment to speak with an Administrative Hearing Officer.  For more information and instructions, follow this link to our FAQ page

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Notice Regarding Online Fine Payment and Payment by Telephone: Effective Tuesday, February 24th, there will be a convenience fee of $1.25 added to to these types of payments.  This underwrites service fees charged by banks for this type of payment.  The fee will not be added to payments made in person or through the mail.

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Hours:

Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Hearing Officers are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)

Fees

Uncertified Copies: $8.00 per document
Certified Copies: $14.00 per document

What is the Violations Bureau?

The Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) is set up to collect the fines associated with parking and traffic offenses and to handle any other matters that go along with them. For your convenience, fines can be paid at the main office or at the Law Enforcement Center (LEC) or Suburban Branch.

If you are charged with a court-required traffic offense, it is handled by the Criminal Court.

Contesting a Payable Ticket

There are two forums for contesting a ticket that is not court-mandatory. If you choose, you may have a trial, but a trial is only appropriate if you deny committing the offense you are charged with or if you feel that the State cannot prove you committed it.

Hearing Officers

There is a second, more convenient method available to those people who do not deny the offense outright. If you wish to explain certain circumstances about what happened and feel that this explanation should be taken into consideration when determining the amount of the fine or if there should be a fine at all, you may speak to a Hearing Officer. Hearing Officers have the power to reduce fines or forgive them entirely. They are available at the Violations Bureau offices in the City Hall Courthouse, or in Maplewood. To speak with a Hearing Officer, call our St. Paul office to set up an appointment.  Instructions and phone numbers are available on our FAQ page.  Bring your citation and a photo ID with you to your appointment. You should be aware that fine reduction does not assure that the offense will stay off of your driving record. Parking violations and most plates violations, however, never go on your driving record anyway.

In either case, you must speak with a Hearing Officer. If you want to have a trial, the Hearing Officer must determine the nature of your argument and what and when the next hearing should be. If a trial is appropriate, you will receive a notice as to when and where it will be. All trials involve witness testimony and argument by the Plaintiff and Defendant. Unless you qualify for and are appointed a Public Defender (at a separate court appearance), it will be up to you to hire your own attorney or represent yourself at the trial.

Paying a Fine

You can pay a fine in several different ways.

1. Pay in person any of the three offices.
2. Mail your payment in the envelope that comes with the ticket. Don't mail cash.
3. Pay by telephone with a credit card. Call (651) 266-9202. An automated attendant will take you through the necessary steps. Make sure you have your ticket and your credit card ready when you are asked to key in (on your telephone) your ticket number and credit card number. The automated attendant can tell you the amount of your fine and the day it is due.  There is a $1.25 fee for using this service.
4. Pay on-line with a check or credit card. Fine Payment Home Page.  There is a $1.25 fee for using this service.

By state law, all fines on court-required offenses are due upon sentencing. This means that, as soon as the judge hands down a sentence in your case, you will be expected to pay any fine in full before you leave the courthouse. If you cannot, you will have to speak with a Hearing Officer. You may be asked to sign an agreement to pay the fine at a later date. The agreement will include specific instructions for payment and the consequences of non-payment. If you don't follow these directions, you may be re-sentenced by the judge who originally sentenced you, or your debt may be referred to a collection agency. It might even be subtracted from your tax refund.

Remember that paying a fine amounts to a plea of guilty to the charge. After you pay a fine, you cannot return to the court and demand a trial.