San Benito County Traffic Tickets

The Superior Court of San Benito County handles all traffic citations issued in this primarily rural county between the Bay Area and Central Coast. When law enforcement gives you a traffic ticket in San Benito County, the case gets filed with the court in Hollister. You will get a notice in the mail with your bail amount and due date. The court serves Hollister, San Juan Bautista, and the unincorporated areas throughout the county. Most tickets can be paid online or you can contest them in court. Traffic school might be an option if you want to keep a point off your insurance record. The county processes thousands of traffic cases each year using both online and in-person services.

Online Citation Payment Portal

San Benito County uses the ePayIt system for online payment processing. You can pay your traffic ticket through the court's payment website using a credit card, debit card, or electronic check from your bank. The portal is available day and night. You need your citation number to look up your case. The number is printed on the ticket the officer gave you.

The San Benito Superior Court maintains an online payment system at sanbenito.epay-it.com where you can pay traffic fines and fees around the clock without going to the courthouse in person.

Payment processing fees apply when you use a card. The fee is a small percentage of your total. Electronic checks from your bank account have lower fees. Once you submit payment, you get a confirmation number. Save that number for your records. The payment posts to your case within one business day in most situations.

Paying your ticket means you are pleading guilty. The conviction will go on your California DMV record. Points might get added to your license. Think about whether you want to pay or if you would rather contest the citation before you submit payment through the San Benito County system.

San Benito Superior Court Traffic Division

One courthouse handles all traffic cases for San Benito County. It sits in Hollister, the county seat. The court processes tickets from Hollister Police, San Juan Bautista Police, California Highway Patrol, and the San Benito County Sheriff. All traffic citations in the county go through this single court location regardless of where in San Benito County the violation happened.

You can reach the court by phone at (831) 636-4057 during business hours. Staff can answer questions about your case, tell you how much you owe, and explain your options. The court is at 481 Fourth Street in Hollister. In-person windows are open Monday through Friday. Specific hours may vary, so call ahead if you plan to visit the courthouse.

Visit the official San Benito County Superior Court Traffic Division page at sanbenito.courts.ca.gov traffic division for detailed information about handling traffic tickets and court procedures in the county.

Wait at least two weeks after getting your ticket before trying to pay or look it up. The officer gives you the citation on the street, but the court needs time to enter it into the computer system. If you check too early, your case will not show up yet even though the ticket is valid.

Ways to Handle Your Ticket

San Benito County gives you several ways to resolve a traffic citation. You can pay the full bail amount, which closes the case but puts a conviction on your record. You can go to traffic school if you are eligible, which keeps the point hidden from your insurance company. You can request a trial to contest the ticket if you think it was issued in error. Each option has different steps and results.

Traffic school costs $52 as an administrative fee in San Benito County. You pay that fee plus the fine amount on your ticket. After you complete an approved traffic school course by the deadline, the court reports the conviction to DMV but marks it as confidential. Insurance companies cannot see it when they check your driving record. You avoid the rate increase that would come from a visible point on your license.

To contest your ticket, you can request a trial by written declaration or an in-person court trial. Written declaration lets you send in your statement on paper. The officer sends in their version too. A judge reviews both and makes a decision. You do not have to go to court. If you lose the written trial, you can still ask for an in-person trial after that. This gives you two chances to fight the citation in San Benito County.

Proof of correction applies to fix-it tickets. If your violation was a broken tail light, expired registration, or no proof of insurance, you can fix the problem and get it signed off. Take proof to the court. You pay a $25 fee as set by state law. The violation does not go on your DMV record as a conviction. This saves you from points and insurance increases for correctable equipment violations.

• Pay the ticket online or by mail
• Attend traffic school to mask the point
• Request trial by written declaration
• Request in-person court trial
• Submit proof of correction for fix-it tickets

Missing Your Court Date

If you ignore your ticket, San Benito County Superior Court will take action. They add a civil assessment fee to your balance. The fee is usually $100 or more. Your case might also get reported to DMV as a failure to appear. DMV can suspend your license. You could be charged with a misdemeanor for failure to appear, which is a separate criminal charge beyond the traffic ticket itself.

Some people never get the courtesy notice in the mail. Maybe you moved and your address changed. Maybe the notice got lost. You are still responsible for handling the ticket even if you did not get the notice. Check the San Benito County court website or call them if you think you might have an open case but never got anything in the mail about it.

Request an extension if you need more time to pay or decide what to do. The court might grant extra time before the due date passes. You have to ask before the deadline. Once you are past due, penalties start adding up and your options become more limited in San Benito County.

Traffic Tickets and DMV Records

San Benito County reports all traffic convictions to the California DMV. DMV adds the violation to your driving record. Most tickets stay on your record for three years. Serious violations like DUI stay for ten years. The record shows points based on the violation type. One point for most infractions. Two points for more serious acts or if you have a commercial license and violated certain rules.

You can get your own DMV record online for two dollars. Go to the DMV website and create an account. Request your driver record. It shows every conviction, accident, and point on file. Insurance companies check this same record when they set your rates. Employers might ask for it too if you drive for work. The record is official and comes straight from the state DMV database.

Traffic school keeps one point per 18 months hidden from insurance. The DMV still has the conviction on file. They just mark it so insurance cannot see it. This matters a lot. Your rates stay lower even though you got a ticket. The $52 traffic school fee in San Benito County is way less than the extra insurance cost you would pay over three years with a visible point.

California Traffic Ticket Laws

State law sets many of the rules that San Benito County follows for traffic cases. Vehicle Code sections cover what information is public, how long records are kept, and what rights you have when you get a citation. The DMV maintains driver records under rules in the Vehicle Code. Courts follow procedures set by state statutes when they process your case.

California Vehicle Code 1808 explains what information from your driving record is public and what is confidential. You can read the full text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov Vehicle Code 1808 on the state legislature website.

The proof of correction fee is $25 throughout California. That is set by Vehicle Code 40611. Courts cannot charge more or less. The fee covers processing when you submit proof that you fixed the problem on a correctable violation. San Benito County charges exactly $25 for proof of correction just like every other county in the state.

You can also use the statewide MyCitations portal for some traffic functions. The portal at mycitations.courts.ca.gov works with many California courts including San Benito County. You might be able to request traffic school, ask for an extension, or submit trial forms through that statewide system depending on what services San Benito has enabled.

Nearby Counties

If your ticket was issued in a neighboring county, you need to contact that county's court system instead. Each of California's 58 counties has its own Superior Court. Traffic tickets get processed where they were issued, not where you live.

• Santa Clara County to the north
• Santa Cruz County to the west
• Monterey County to the south
• Merced County to the east
• Fresno County to the southeast

Check your citation to see which county issued it. The ticket shows the name of the court that has your case. If you are not sure, call the number on the ticket or check the court website for the county where you got pulled over. San Benito County only handles tickets issued within its own borders.