Traffic FAQs

Your citation is usually entered in the court system four to eight weeks after you receive it. Once the citation is in our system, you will receive a Courtesy Notice outlining your options. Check our Traffic Case Info Portal to find out if your citation is in the Court's system yet. (You can't pay your fine or take care of your citation until it is in the Court's system.)

For more information, see the section on Courtesy Notices on the Traffic Citations and Violations page at this website.

If after eight weeks you are still not able to find the information you need from the Traffic Case Info Portal, on your copy of your citation there should be a telephone number listed. You can call during normal business hours to obtain more information about your citation.

If you try to pay for your ticket on the Court's e-payment portal, you may see the following message: "This citation is not payable through this system or could not be found." There are a number of possible reasons why you cannot use the e-payment system for your ticket at this time.

One common reason is that it is too soon, and your citation is not yet in the Court's system.

After you are given a traffic citation by a law enforcement officer (police, highway patrol, etc.) you should receive a courtesy notice from the Court by mail in about 45 - 60 days. The courtesy notice indicates the citation has arrived at the Court from the ticketing law enforcement agency, and is in the Court's system. You can not pay the ticket, online or in person, or sign up for Traffic School, until it is in our system.

If you have already received your courtesy notice and still cannot pay online, or it has been longer than the time period listed above, you should contact the Traffic Division in person or by phone using the contact information here, or you can email Traffic Division staff at sstrafficinfo@scscourt.org.

Another common reason that you cannot pay online is that your case may be delinquent and therefore is not eligible for on-line payment. You should immediately contact the Traffic Division in person or by phone using the contact information here, or by emailing Traffic Division staff at sstrafficinfo@scscourt.org.

When contacting the Court about your citation, be sure to provide as much information as possible: your citation number (if you have it), case number (if you have it), your full name, address, and birth date.

Where can I look up the Vehicle Code on my traffic ticket? Specifically VC40508a?

The California Vehicle Code is on the California Legislative website. You can look up certain codes by finding the range they fall in, and clicking on the range.

For example, the page Vehicle Code Section 40500-40522 contains the Vehicle Code VC40508a, which is a failure to appear violation the Court adds when you have not taken care of your citation in a timely manner. The violation is reported to DMV. DMV will place a hold on your driver's license. If you incur multiple VC40508a violations, DMV will suspend your driver's license. Your options are to post bail or schedule a court appearance.

For more on this, see our Failure to Appear/Pay (FTA/FTP) page.

To pay your fine (also known as forfeiting bail), your citation must have been processed by the Court. If you don't have a courtesy notice yet, check the Traffic Case Info Portal to learn if your case has been processed.

You can choose to pay in person, by mail, online, or by phone, these options are described below.

Traffic Payment Options:

• To pay in person, go to the Clerk's Office Public Counter at the South County Courthouse or Family Justice Center Courthouse.    Drop boxes are available after hours - see guidelines.
  • These payment methods are available at the Clerk's Office Public Counter at the Courthouse:
    • Personal Checks
    • Money Orders
    • Cashiers' Checks
    • Cash (in person only!)
    • Credit Card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard and VISA) - Public Counter

• To pay by mail, send your fine/bail to the courthouse listed on your courtesy notice.

  • These payment methods are available by mail:
    • Personal Checks
    • Money Orders
    • Cashiers' Checks
• To pay online, access our Traffic Payment Portal.
  • These payment methods are available online:
    • Credit Card (American Express, Master Card or VISA only)
    • Debit Card
• To pay by phone, please call 408-878-0098. This option is available after court business hours, on weekends, and Court observed holidays during the following hours: Mon-Fri 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm PST and Sat-Sun 6:00 am – 3:00 pm PST. Hablamos Español. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are accepted.

Note: If you wish to pay by credit/debit card, there will be an additional convenience fee of 5% charged and added to the fine/fee amount by the service used by the Court. 

See the Extensions page on this website

If you choose to forfeit bail (pay your fine), you may be eligible for monthly payments. If eligible, there will be a $35 administrative fee added to the total amount due. Payments must be scheduled in person, and you must pay 10% of the total amount due (including fees) to begin your payment plan.

A Judicial Officer can also allow monthly payments. In order to make this request, you must schedule a court appearance.

If you are unable to pay the full amount due, you may request the court consider your ability to pay and reduce the bail or ask the court to consider community service instead of your bail.

Request a Fine Reduction Online: MyCitations: Ability to Pay Tool
Judicial Council Form: Can't Afford to Pay Fine: Traffic and Other Infractions 

You need to contact the Court’s collection agency directly.  Please view Alliance One's contact information.

There are many reasons why the actual fine (bail) is higher than you were told. There are fees added by the court (that the ticketing officer is unaware of) that are required by the state government. Also, if you have prior tickets on your record, additional fees are added.

You may be told $20 at the time you get the citation, and the actual fine is $80, or you may be told $100 and end up having to pay $300.

Until you get the fine amount from the court, you won't know the actual amount. 

The California legislature decides what the minimum and maximum fine will be for every violation of state law. There are also local laws that say what the fines will be for violations of local law. The State and County of Santa Clara add an "assessment" to the established fines. The California Judicial Council publishes a Uniform Bail Schedule that says what the bail will be for all traffic code infractions.

If you want, you can pay the bail listed on your courtesy notice instead of going to court. (Also, see the Traffic Bail Schedule.)

If your case is a misdemeanor or felony, the Santa Clara County Superior Court will decide on the bail. The Judicial Council recommends an increase in bail for each prior conviction. There is a maximum amount allowed by law.

When you go to court, the Commissioner can fine you any amount between the minimum and maximum fines. The Commissioner will decide based on the facts of your case and your driving record.

If you do not pay your fine on time, an extra fee may be added to your fine amount and your case may be referred for collection. California law permits the Court to impose a civil assessment fine against any individual:

• who fails, after notice and without good cause, to appear in court for any proceeding, or
• who fails to pay all or any portion of a fine ordered by the Court

The civil assessment amount is imposed in addition to, and separate from, any fine connected with a traffic citation.

For more information, see the Traffic page on Failure to Appear or Pay Violations.

Provided that you attended a California DMV approved Traffic School, there is nothing further for you to do. The California DMV approved Traffic School will notify the Court of your completion. (Note: if you did not attend a California DMV approved Traffic School, the Court will not accept your proof of completion.)

You can attend any California DMV approved school. Check the DMV website for listings: go to the DMV Traffic School Search website . Proceed from there according to the instructions on the site.

For more information, visit the Traffic School page on this website.

If you are unable to find the answer to your Traffic Court-related question after reviewing the pages in our Traffic Self-Help section, the Traffic Division pages, and the Frequently Asked Questions above, you can contact our Traffic Department by email at sstrafficinfo@scscourt.org. If your question is not covered on the Court's websites, we will do our best to respond to your question within 48 hours.

We cannot give legal advice, only legal information. Please refer to our Free & Low-Cost Legal Help page, as well as the Judicial Council Self-Help website.