Payable Citations

If your appearance is waiverable by payment and you fail to pay the waiver amount or appear in court on your assigned court date, you will be assessed an additional $20 late processing fee. After two weeks, if still no action has been taken, a warrant may be issued with a possible $65 court cost added to your case. You may also get a Warrant Block and a License Forfeiture placed against you. This will prevent you from legally driving and obtaining new tags for your vehicle. The implications are costly and may apply to both in state, and out of state residents. Please be aware that if you do get BMV implications imposed against you, the BMV will charge a reinstatement fee, as well.

Mandatory Appearance Required Citations

If your citation requires a mandatory court appearance and you fail to appear in court on your assigned court date and time, a warrant may be immediately issued and $65 additional court cost added to your case. This cost will be in addition to any future fine and court cost you may receive when appearing in court. You will be required to post a bond to get back into court. You may also get a Warrant Block and a License Forfeiture placed against you, which can prevent you from legally driving and obtaining new tags for your vehicle. This may apply to both in state and out of state residents. Please be aware that if you do get BMV implications imposed against you, the BMV will charge a reinstatement fee also.

Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance

If you did not provide the officer with proof of insurance for the vehicle you were operating at the time you were issued the citation, you will still have the opportunity to provide proof when appearing in court, or when paying the court appearance waiver amount in person, or by mail. The insurance must cover the date of the offense to be accepted. It must be in the form of the insurance card your insurance company issued to you, or the declarations page of your insurance policy. Billing statements are not acceptable. If proof of insurance is not provided to the court, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) will send you a notification letter with a date to present proof of coverage to them. If you have moved and not changed your address with the BMV, you will not receive the notice. BMV mail does not get forwarded. You are strongly encouraged to keep your address current with the BMV at all times. To change your address with the BMV you can click here to go to their website: bmv.ohio.gov. Failure to provide proof of insurance coverage will result in your driver’s license being suspended.

Traffic Citations

Please understand that not all traffic citations are payable. Many will require that you appear in court. If you are unsure about your specific citation, please call the court. (740) 927-3361