How can I take care of a traffic ticket in California if I live in Oregon? 11 Answers as of December 21, 2011

I cannot tell from your question what you are charged with. If it is an infraction you should be able to call or write the court and pay any fine by mail. If you are charged with a misdemeanor like reckless driving you or an attorney will need to appear and negotiate a settlement.

If you are being charged with an infraction there is no need to attend court. You can just pay the fine before or on the court date. However, if you are being charged with a misdemeanor, you should hire an attorney to appear in court for you.

If you are unable to appear in court you may have your attorney appear for you. The first appearance would be your arraignment and a not guilty plea would be submitted by your attorney; unless the judge reduces the speed to 100 mph or less. If your attorney enters youre not guilty plea there will be a new court date where he can represent your situation.

Call the clerk for the court you were cited to appear in. They should be able to work with you to resolve the issue.

I and other attorneys specialize in traffic matters and can appear for you in court from the arraignment through completion of the case. You never have to appear. You can also contact the court and request the form to file a "Trial by Declaration," which is where you argue your case in writing and again do not appear personally in court. It's convenient but I have never seen or heard of anyone winning one. The problem you have is the fine if convicted can be nearly $2K, 2 points - not one - is charged against your license, and your license will be suspended for 30 days.

Hire a California attorney to appear for you and handle the case.

If it was a misdemeanor, then you will need to either appear personally or hire an attorney to appear on your behalf. And don't expect the case to be resolved with 1 appearance. A lot of times the first appearance is simply an arraignment, and no offer or negotiation will take place (depending on the court).

Unless you appear yourself, or post bail (usually, the court sends you a letter indicating the amount of bail, and if you send that in to the court before your hearing date you do not have to appear; the bail will be forfeit for the fine on your ticket), only an attorney can appear for you. Since you were traveling over 100 your bail amount is going to be very high, and an attorney could try to get it reduced and make some payment arrangements if need be.

You will have to appear in Court, or hire an Attorney to appear for you. It is possible to amend the charge. It will not happen telephonically, especially if you were cited by the California Highway Patrol.

If you're being charged with a misdemeanor, a private attorney can appear in court on your behalf and you don't need to be present (it's called "appearing 977"). You might decide that it's cheaper to hire an attorney to go to court for you and to enter a plea on your behalf than it would be to return all the way to CA in person. Go Ducks.