Where to find court documents for traffic violation for citizenship?

[AmericanWannabe]

I run stop sign in 1997 in the state I lived then and live now.
At that time I was in a hurry to actually go to another
state so I just paid the fine by mail.

Now I can get a copy of my driving record from State
DMV but it only states the date, statute section code,
and "conviction" date of the incidence without
reference to any particular court. It has no place
either.

So for natualization, what further documents
do I need to provide for such an incidet?

I certainlyt remmeber exactly where I run that
stop sign but I don't remmeber which court
cover that area.

[pralay]

Do you have the copy of your ticket? Normally the ticket should have the name of court or jurisdiction. Or do you remember whom you paid the fine (check "payable to")?
For example, for CA it's the Superior Court in the area where you got the ticket.

[AmericanWannabe]

Originally Posted by pralay

Do you have the copy of your ticket? Normally the ticket should have the name of court or jurisdiction. Or do you remember whom you paid the fine (check "payable to")?
For example, for CA it's the Superior Court in the area where you got the ticket.

I did not realize how important it was to keep a coipy of the ticket.
I was naive enough to think I could get it over with after I paid
the money.

Sometimes such trivial matter make people nervous. One day I
was driving and it started to rain and I turned on the windshield
viper and some piece of paper flew away. Maybe it was
a soliciation flyer but what if it were a parking ticket?
A parking violation is fine but if you ignore the ticket,
you can end up in some arrest warrant already without
even knowing about it.

[hadron]

Depends on the state you are in.

Do you remember what type of officer gave you the ticket ? (state trooper/sheriffs deputy/town police) ?

Do you remember the road and location ? Courts jurisdicitions are pretty geographic. Depending on the state, it will typically be the courthouse of the county you were located in during the violation that maintains the records. In some states, all traffic violations are handled by one central facility which is hooked up to the DMV.

[AmericanWannabe]

Originally Posted by hadron

Depends on the state you are in.

Do you remember what type of officer gave you the ticket ? (state trooper/sheriffs deputy/town police) ?

Do you remember the road and location ? Courts jurisdicitions are pretty geographic. Depending on the state, it will typically be the courthouse of the county you were located in during the violation that maintains the records. In some states, all traffic violations are handled by one central facility which is hooked up to the DMV.

I don't remmeber anything but it occurred on local roads so
that it most likely be some township cops. I'll have to do some
research to find out. I hope I can do it on my own
because I don't want to hire a private investogator
since I want to save money.

[hadron]

Ok, so you know what township it was. If it was a local road, it was probably a township cop or sheriffs deputy.
1. Get a map.
2. Find out what county it is in.
3. Go to the hall of records/county courthouse.
4. Request a records search.

As I said, some states have a centralized office processing all driving violations independent from the local court system. In that case, you'll have to start your search there.

Have you inquired with the driving records office of your states DMV yet. The should be able to tell you who reported the violation.

[pralay]

Originally Posted by AmericanWannabe

I don't remmeber anything but it occurred on local roads so
that it most likely be some township cops. I'll have to do some
research to find out. I hope I can do it on my own
because I don't want to hire a private investogator
since I want to save money.

If you can find the ticket info/court doc, that's good. But otherwise, if I was you, I would not try to dig too much about it. Your DMV record should be good enough for your record and reference. As this record mentions date and vehicle code violation - that's pretty much you need for future reference. Try to obtain the record from DMV before the record expires from DMV database.

[AmericanWannabe]

I called customer service of DMV of my state and they told me that
i can request for a copy of microfilm document of the citation
for that incidence. They also told me the county the incidence
occured.

[sadiq]

I have a feeling some people haven’t gotten the punchline yet.

[hadron]

> I called customer service of DMV of my state and they told me
> that i can request for a copy of microfilm document of the citation

That should be sufficient.
I don't think they will care about it at your citizenship anyway. It is typically only a 'violation', not an indication of your twisted evil character :-)))

[Pork Chop]

some states have their court records available online via the internet. the state of iowa, where i live, certainly does, with a search engine built in. the website is called "iowa courts online"; here is the url:

http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/

you can also reach the same location via:

http://www.iowacourtsonline.org/

click on the "online records" link on the left to get started.

although in order to get all the details for a case you need to be a registered user (which costs 25 bucks), the salient details are freely accessible. searching by name, i was able find my own traffic citations and my wife's (the ones i did and didn't know about). in the free section, you can get the case number, date, verdict and some other stuff.

as these are public records, and not just restricted to traffic offenses, it didn't take me long to indulge in some peeking into other's closets : i found that this one snooty gal in our office had a shoplifting conviction, another lady had pleaded guilty to procuring liquour for a minor. one advantage they both have, though: they will not be called upon to explain any of their shenanigans to any immigration types.

please misuse and abuse responsibly!

[AmericanWannabe]

Originally Posted by Pork Chop

i found that this one snooty gal in our office had a shoplifting conviction, another lady had pleaded guilty to procuring liquour for a minor. one advantage they both have, though: they will not be called upon to explain any of their shenanigans to any immigration types.

On job application form, applicant are asked about convictions too.
So as a disgruntled and jealous co-worker, one can still benefit
by tipping off to human resources

[AmericanWannabe]

I have a feeling that you have a smaller chance of being given a ticket
when pulled over by cops if you hang a US flag or have a flag sticker
on your car.

But I am not sure you can be accused of pretending to be
a citizen this way.

[bkhote]

Does getting traffic violation affect negativelly you citizenship application?.
Thats ridiculous...

-- BK

[AmericanWannabe]

Originally Posted by bkhote

Does getting traffic violation affect negativelly you citizenship application?.
Thats ridiculous...

-- BK

In states where maximum sentencing for speed is more than one year.

and DUI is a traffic violation too.