Alpine County Traffic Citation Records

Alpine County is California's least populated county with just over 1,200 residents. The Superior Court in Markleeville handles all traffic citations for this small mountain county. When you get a traffic ticket in Alpine County from CHP or the Sheriff, the case goes through this one court location. Highway 88 and Highway 89 see most traffic enforcement in the county. You will get a notice in the mail telling you the bail amount and due date. The court does not have an online portal for payments or case search. You need to call or mail your response. Traffic school is available if you qualify. The county follows all the same state laws as larger counties but processes far fewer cases each year.

Contacting Alpine County Court

The Alpine County Superior Court does not offer online payment or case lookup for traffic tickets. You must contact the court directly by phone or email. Call (530) 694-2113 during business hours to speak with court staff. They can tell you how much you owe, when your payment is due, and what options you have for your specific citation. The staff handles a low volume of cases compared to urban counties, so you usually get personalized service when you call.

You can also email the court at traffic@alpine.courts.ca.gov with questions about your traffic case. Include your citation number and California driver license number in your email. Court staff will respond with information about your case. Email is good for non-urgent questions. Call if you need information right away or if your due date is coming up soon.

The official Alpine County Superior Court Traffic Division information is available at alpine.courts.ca.gov traffic division where you can find contact details and general procedures for handling traffic citations.

The courthouse is located in Markleeville at 99 Water Street. In-person windows are open limited hours. Call ahead if you plan to visit to make sure someone will be available to help you. The small staff serves all court functions, not just traffic cases, so hours can vary based on other court business.

How to Pay Alpine County Tickets

Pay your traffic ticket by mail or in person. Make your check or money order payable to Alpine County Superior Court. Write your citation number on the check. Mail it to the address on your courtesy notice along with the payment stub if you got one. Allow time for the mail to arrive before your due date. In-person payments can be made at the courthouse during business hours.

No online payment option exists for Alpine County traffic tickets. The small court does not use the electronic payment systems that larger counties have. This means you plan ahead and use mail or visit in person. Some people prefer this because there are no credit card processing fees like you see with online payments in other counties.

Paying the fine means you plead guilty. The conviction goes on your California DMV record. Points get added based on the type of violation. Insurance rates might increase. Think about whether you want to pay or if you would rather contest the ticket or attend traffic school before you send in your payment to Alpine County.

If you need more time to pay, call the court and request an extension before the due date. The court might give you extra time depending on your situation. Missing the due date results in late fees and other penalties, so asking for an extension in advance is better than just ignoring the deadline.

Traffic School in Alpine County

You can attend traffic school for eligible violations. The administrative fee is $52 in Alpine County. You pay that fee plus the bail amount on your ticket. After you finish an approved course, the conviction goes on your DMV record but gets masked from insurance companies. They cannot see the point when they check your driving record. This keeps your rates from going up even though you got a ticket.

Contact the court to request traffic school. They will tell you if you are eligible. Not every violation qualifies. You also cannot use traffic school more than once in 18 months. If you are eligible, the court gives you instructions on how to enroll and what deadline you have to finish the course. Most people take an online course that you can do at your own pace from home.

Submit your completion certificate to the Alpine County court by the deadline. The court then reports it to DMV with the confidential marking. If you miss the deadline, you lose the traffic school benefit and the point goes on your record as a regular conviction. Pay attention to dates and get your certificate in on time.

Fighting Your Citation

You have the right to contest any traffic ticket in Alpine County. Request a trial if you think the citation was issued incorrectly or if you have a defense. You can do trial by written declaration or in-person trial. Written declaration is done on paper. You fill out forms and mail them to the court. The officer submits their statement. A judge reads both and decides the case without anyone showing up in person.

If you lose the written declaration trial, you can request a new trial in person. This gives you two chances to fight the ticket. In-person trials require you to appear at the courthouse in Markleeville on a scheduled date. You present your case to the judge. The officer might or might not show up. If the officer does not appear, your case could be dismissed.

Some tickets are for correctable violations like broken lights or expired tags. Fix the problem and get the correction signed off by law enforcement or an authorized station. Submit proof of correction to Alpine County Superior Court with a $25 fee. The violation does not become a conviction on your record. You avoid points and insurance issues.

• Request trial by written declaration
• Request in-person court trial
• Submit proof of correction for fix-it tickets
• Provide evidence or witnesses for your defense

What Happens If You Ignore Your Ticket

Ignoring a traffic ticket in Alpine County has serious results. The court adds a civil assessment fee to your balance. The fee is often $100 or more. Your case gets reported to DMV as failure to appear. DMV can suspend your license. You might be charged with a misdemeanor for failure to appear, which is a separate criminal charge that goes on your record beyond the traffic violation.

Even in a small county like Alpine, the court will take enforcement action on unpaid tickets. The state systems connect all counties to DMV. Your license suspension will be statewide, not just in Alpine County. You cannot legally drive anywhere in California once your license is suspended. Getting it reinstated requires clearing the Alpine County case and paying extra fees.

If you never got a courtesy notice in the mail, you are still responsible for the ticket. Maybe the notice got lost or went to an old address. Call the court if you think you might have a case pending but did not receive notice. The court can look up your case by driver license number and tell you the status.

Traffic Convictions and Your Driving Record

Alpine County reports traffic convictions to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. DMV adds the violation to your official driving record. Most infractions stay on your record for three years from the conviction date. Serious violations like DUI remain for ten years. The record shows points based on violation type. One point for most tickets. Two points for more serious violations or certain commercial driver infractions.

Get your own DMV record online for two dollars at the DMV website. You need to create an account to protect your information. The record shows all convictions, accidents, and points. This is the same record that insurance companies check. Employers might ask for it if you drive for work. It is official and comes straight from the state DMV database with all information from every county including Alpine.

Traffic school masks one point every 18 months from insurance view. DMV still has the conviction in their files. Insurance companies just cannot see it when they pull your record. Your rates stay lower. The $52 traffic school fee is much less than the hundreds or thousands you would pay in higher insurance premiums over three years with a visible point from an Alpine County ticket.

California Vehicle Code and State Laws

State law governs how all California counties process traffic tickets. Vehicle Code sections set the rules for citations, court procedures, and DMV reporting. Alpine County follows the same laws as Los Angeles County even though Alpine is much smaller. The procedures are consistent statewide.

California Vehicle Code 1808 covers what driver record information is public. Read the statute at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov Vehicle Code 1808 for details on record access and retention.

Proof of correction fees are set at $25 by Vehicle Code 40611. Every county in California charges exactly that amount. Alpine County cannot charge more or less. The fee covers administrative costs when you submit proof that you fixed a correctable violation like a broken light or expired registration.

California courts provide self-help resources at selfhelp.courts.ca.gov traffic with guides on handling traffic tickets, understanding your options, and navigating the court system across all 58 counties.

Traffic Tickets in Nearby Counties

If you got a ticket in a neighboring county, contact that county's court. Each Superior Court is independent. Your ticket gets processed where it was issued, not where you live.

• Mono County to the south
• El Dorado County to the west
• Amador County to the northwest

Check your citation for the court name and location. The ticket tells you which county issued it. If you are not sure, look at where you were pulled over. Alpine County only handles tickets from within its own borders. The county borders Nevada to the east, so make sure your ticket was not issued on the Nevada side of the state line.