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TRAFFIC

*STARTING* AT $50 to amend ticket(s) from a single traffic stop in a municipality that does not require an in-person court appearance for attorneys - Florissant, Hazelwood, St. Louis City, etc.

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*STARTING* AT $150 to amend all tickets in a county court that requires an in-person court appearance - St. Louis County, St. Charles County, St. Charles City, etc.

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If there are WARRANTS or LIEU OF BAIL HOLDS due to missing a prior court date it will cost more simply because there is more paperwork involved!  Since switching to Casenet the paperwork burden for traffic tickets has ironically increased, and has shifted from the court staff to attorneys.  The court staff now exist mainly to make attorney's lives more difficult.  This is why fewer lawyers do traffic and charge more now.

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If there is a lieu of bail hold in more than one jurisdiction, we probably do not have the time to help , as this may require months of appearances/continuances! The problem with lieu of bail holds is that often the underlying tickets cannot be amended until the holds are released, but a lot of courts refuse to release the holds, and when they do they only give you a few weeks before you have to appear in court again.  But it takes the Department of Revenue 4 to 5 months to release lieu of bail holds!  Some courts like Ferguson will make you appear every 3 weeks to beg for more time as you wait for a hold to be released, and make you beg to not have a new warrant or hold issued simply because the process is taking so long!

 

If you cannot drive down to Jefferson City to have your hold released in person, it will take several months to be released after a court faxes a hold release to the Department of Revenue.    The lieu of bail holds are creating a really difficult situation that is disproportionately affecting a certain population, and it is too sad of a situation for us to be a part of.

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*STARTING* AT $500 for misdemeanors or misdemeanor equivalent municipal ordinance violations where the goal is SIS, or where a witness has recanted and the goal is to dismiss the case (for example a domestic call where the couple has made up and neither wishes to pursue it in court).  ​​

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WE ARE PAID UP FRONT FOR ALL OF THE WORK WE DO!  We collect prior to doing anything.  Our flat fee prices are very reasonable, but we only work after being paid because we value our time.  We will not enter on your case as your attorney, appear at or continue a court date, or pull a warrant or lieu of bail hold until we have been paid in full.  

TRAFFIC ATTORNEYS DO 2 THINGS:  

  1. AMEND TRAFFIC TICKETS TO NON-MOVING VIOLATIONS 

  2. LIFT WARRANTS AND HOLDS AND HELP YOU REINSTATE YOUR LICENSE

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AMENDING TICKETS

          The worst thing you can do when you get a traffic ticket for a "moving violation," other than ignore it, is simply pay it.  When you pay a traffic ticket you are pleading guilty to the charge, such as speeding, which will either be a municipal ordinance violation or a misdemeanor.  If it's a moving violation, that charge that you pled guilty to will go on your driving record.  Your driving record is permanent.  Your driving record is one of the things that affects your insurance rates.  Insurance companies run your driving record when you apply, and may run it when your insurance renews.  Less on your driving record is better for your insurance rates. 

 

         When you simply pay a ticket you also receive points on your "license" that come with the charge.  Points may accumulate and lead to license suspensions.  Although points are usually less of a concern than the charge itself showing on the record, we often have to help people withdraw pleas on tickets they just paid not knowing they'd end up suspended for just paying them.

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          So how do you keep a moving violation traffic ticket off your driving record?  Have it amended to a "non-moving violation" ticket, and then pay it!

 

          The most common thing people hire traffic attorneys for is AMENDING TICKETS, otherwise known as fixing tickets.  We ask the prosecuting attorney to amend or change your moving-violation traffic tickets to non-moving violation tickets, the equivalent of parking tickets, which do not go on your driving record when you pay them.  Ideally you want to amend every moving violation ticket you ever receive to a non-moving violation, so that you avoid charges on your driving record and keep it clean, and avoid points on your license!

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          You still have to pay the fine for the ticket.  Amended tickets still come with a fine and court costs.  The fine for an amended ticket will be higher than the standard fine listed on the ticket or the court's website, because amended tickets require additional court time to process them.  Amendments are only final when fines are paid in full according to the court's terms, and may be withdrawn if the fines are not paid.  Simply paying us to amend your ticket then dropping off the face of the earth will not result in your ticket being amended!

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​          There are also certain tickets that courts will not amend.  Courts may decline to amend speeding tickets of 30 or more over the speed limit, or may require community service or an online driving school before amending.  Speeding tickets at 103 mph or more cannot be amended by any court and come with automatic jail time as well.  As a general rule if the speeding ticket is for 25 or more over the speed limit, the court may require you to jump through some hoops to amend it, or may not amend it at all.  Amendments are entirely up to the prosecuting attorney, and their own policies and discretion.

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CHARGES ON YOUR DRIVING RECORD - IMPORTANCE OF A CLEAN DRIVING RECORD

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DRIVING RECORDS ARE PERMANENT - CHARGES ON YOUR RECORD ARE PERMANENT

          The most important thing to keep in mind is that your driving record is permanent.  Every moving violation ticket you simply pay goes on your driving record.  The date of the ticket, the charge, and the points that were temporarily placed on your license corresponding with the ticket will all be visible on your driving record forever, for your insurance company to see.

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DRIVING RECORD AND INSURANCE RATES

          The reason you want to maintain a spotless driving record is so that you will always qualify for the lowest possible insurance rates.  Insurance companies check your driving record each time you apply for or you renew your coverage, and some companies check more often than that.  If you have charges on your record this will impact your future insurance rates, regardless of whether the points are still on your license, and your insurance company may even adjust your rates if new tickets go on your driving record.

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         There are other factors that affect your insurance rates that you may have no control over, such as your age, the vehicle you drive, and where you live (high crime/high risk area), but you do have control over the charges that go on your driving record! 

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REMOVING TICKETS FROM YOUR DRIVING RECORD

          There is currently a process of asking the Missouri Department of Revenue to remove certain old tickets from your driving record.  The following is direct from their website, dor.mo.gov:

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  • How can I request an old ticket to be removed from my record?

    • You may submit a request (including your full name and Missouri driver license number or social security number) to have old tickets purged from your record using one of the following methods:

    • Send an e-mail request to dlbmail@dor.mo.gov.

    • Call (573) 526-2407 during normal business hours to request the purge.

    • Send a written request to our central office:

                                Missouri Department of Revenue

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POINTS ON YOUR LICENSE

          All moving violation traffic ticket charges have a certain number of points associated with them. Tickets for the same charge but issued by different police departments may have different points associated with them.  When you simply pay a moving violation traffic ticket, you are pleading guilty to the charge on the ticket.  The charge will go on your driving record, and the points associated with that charge go on your license.  Points can lead to a suspension.  Some tickets come with enough points to be an automatic suspension if pleaded guilty to, like a DWI or driving while suspended.

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          The idea of points on your license is that is you accumulate too many points too quickly your license will be suspended.   Here are the rules:

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  • Point accumulation and license suspensions:

    • ​Accumulating 8 points on your license in 18 months results in an automatic 30 day suspension, the first time.  Second time it's 60 days, third time it happens it's 90 days.

    • Accumulating 12 points in 12 months results in an automatic one year suspension.

    • Accumulating 18 points in 24 months results in an automatic one year suspension.

    • Accumulating 24 points in 36 months results in an automatic one year suspension.

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  • How points are removed from your license:

    • If you go one year without accumulating any new points​, one-third of the total points on your license are removed.

    • If you go a second year in a row without accumulating any new points, one-half of the total points remaining on your license are removed.

    • And finally, if you go a third consecutive year without accumulating any new points, the points still remaining on your license are then fully removed.

      • While a person's license is suspended or revoked, or while driving on a hardship driving privilege, points are not removed or reduced, and the time periods listed above for removing their points are tolled and will not start until the date of reinstatement. ​

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LIFTING WARRANTS & LIEU OF BAIL HOLDS

 

WARRANTS

          Unpaid traffic tickets/missed court dates result in warrants.  If you have a warrant you risk being arrested when you encounter police.  As attorneys we request that warrants are lifted when we enter on traffic matters.  Lifting a traffic warrant gives you a new date to pay your traffic ticket by.  The goal is to have the tickets amended and ready to pay by that next date.


         Courts will generally grant an attorney's first request to lift a warrant without appearing in court.

 

          If a warrant has been issued a second time, it will probably require a physical appearance in court to lift.

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LIEU OF BAIL HOLDS - THE NEW SHAMEFUL PRACTICE   

          Courts can no longer suspend your license for missing traffic court or for failure to pay traffic tickets.  Courts can however now place a lieu of bail hold on your license that prevents you from renewing your license if it's expired, or reinstating your license if it's suspended.  Same as it used to be with suspensions, courts will require you to fully pay fines before lieu of bail holds are lifted, impacting your life the exact same way. 

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         However, what's worse is that these holds are creating situations where often people cannot pay their tickets until they are amended, but the courts will not lift the holds to allow reinstatement required to have the tickets amended.  These holds are creating a circular trap that courts like Ferguson are using as a shakedown to dispose of matters quickly rather than justly.  It is a shameful practice and there are certain courts we will no longer appear in because of this - Ferguson, St. Ann and the consolidated courts, Maryland Heights, and a few others.  Funny how the judges in these municipalities who do not live in these municipalities have no problem bullying the poor people who do live in these municipalities, who may not have the means to immediately pay tickets, in order to squeeze their own paychecks out of them and justify their own existence.  

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LIFTING SUSPENSIONS & REINSTATING LICENSES

          Your license may be suspended due to points, due to a DWI or a felony, or due to a traffic accident that is alleged to be your fault.  What you have to do to be reinstated depends on why you are suspended.   

 

          Each time you are pulled over while driving on a suspended license you risk a receiving a driving while suspended ticket, a 12 point moving violation which cannot be amended until you are reinstated.  If you simply pay a driving while suspended ticket you receive another suspension due to the points you receive!

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          If you are suspended due to POINTS, your only option is to apply for a temporary driving privilege until the suspension is over.  If you got a notice that you are about to be suspended due to points from having just paid a ticket, you have the option to WITHDRAW YOUR GUILTY PLEA on the tickets that gave you the points (if you simply paid the tickets you technically pled guilty), but you should act quickly as it easier to stop a suspension from happening vs lifting a suspension that has started!

 

          We handle first time misdemeanor DWI, but we do not help with reinstatement following a FELONY of any sort.  Suspensions due to first time DWI are explained in the DWI section on this website.

 

          If you are suspended due to an ACCIDENT it is because the Missouri Department of Revenue believes the accident was your fault, and that you owe money to another party involved.  Assuming the accident was not related to a DWI, there are two ways to lift accident suspensions: 1) start a payment plan with the other party for the damages, or 2) file a bankruptcy to stay the suspension, and to discharge, meaning get rid of, the accident related debt you owe - if you no longer are liable for the debt you cannot be suspended for it!  When it comes to uninsured accidents, by nature, bankruptcy is often more realistic than paying what could be thousands of dollars in medical bills and damages.

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TICKETS FROM OTHER STATES

          Unfortunately we CANNOT help you with traffic tickets from other states!  We are only licensed to practice law in Missouri!

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          Call (314) 896-1999 to discuss your traffic matters!

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LAW OFFICES OF KIMBER H. BARO - EXPERIENCED ST. LOUIS BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS - CHAPTER 7 & 13

LOCATED IN FLORISSANT - SERVICING ALL OF ST. LOUIS, ST. CHARLES & JEFFERSON COUNTY

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