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Traffic Infractions Requiring a Mandatory Hearing

Although most civil traffic violations do not require a mandatory court appearance or hearing, the most serious types of traffic tickets do require you (or your attorney) to appear in court.

The attorneys appear in court for their clients regardless of whether the citation requires a mandatory court appearance, but citations with this requirement are more serious.

Florida Statute Section 318.19 defines the term “infraction requiring a mandatory hearing”  as those violations that required an appearance before a designated official at the time and location of the scheduled hearing.

The traffic ticket lawyers in Fort Lauderdale, FL, at Meltzer & Bell fight traffic tickets in Broward County, FL. Call us at (954) 765-6585 to begin your defense today.


Types of Traffic Ticket that Require a Mandatory Hearing

Florida law requires that some types of traffic ticket violations require a hearing even though the citation is civil in nature. These civil traffic tickets are more serious than a traffic violation that not require a mandatory court appearance including:


Penalties for Traffic Ticket Violation in Hillsborough County, FL

Under Florida Statute Section 318.19(1), the traffic ticket can include a $1,000 civil penalty and a driver’s license suspension for six (6) months. For traffic tickets that fall under Florida Statute Section 318.19(2),  the statutory maximum penalty that the court can impose is a civil penalty of $500 in addition to any other penalties and the person’s driver’s license can be suspended for 3 months.

Under Florida’s Traffic Court Rule 6.620, if the driver fails to appear in person or have an attorney appear on their behalf, then the court will send notice of the failure to appear to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) department within 5 days.

The DHSMV will then suspend your driver’s license. If your license was suspended for the failure to appear on a traffic ticket that requires a mandatory court appearance, then contact our traffic tickets attorney in Fort Lauderdale, FL.


Additional Resources

Traffic Violations Explained by the Broward County Clerk of Courts – Find information about when a court appearance is required for a civil traffic infraction, such as when the violation involves an accident with serious bodily injury or fatality or other designated offenses. Other Civil Traffic Infractions are a non-criminal charge that can usually be disposed of by payment of a civil penalty or an election to attend a basic driver improvement course. Accident cases with a severity of “Fatality” or “Serious bodily injury” may not be paid for through the clerk’s website unless the driver’s case has been held in court and court and fines/costs were assessed because a court appearance is mandatory for these types of violations.


Finding a Traffic Ticket Attorney in Broward County, FL

If you were issued a traffic ticket violation that requires a mandatory court appearance in any of the traffic courts in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, or Plantation, FL, then you should contact an experienced attorney at Meltzer & Bell.

We represent clients throughout traffic court in Broward County.

Call (954) 765-6585.


This article was last updated on Thursday, September 21, 2017.

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