Infraction Infomation

Infractions


Minor traffic or motor vehicle offenses are decriminalized into a system of civil infractions.
 
 A person has 3 options when he/she receives an infraction: 
  1. Admit, by mailing in the amount on the ticket; or
  2. Admit the violation, but request that the penalty be reduced in a mitigation hearing or
  3. Contest the ticket by requesting a court date from the ticket
A Defendant must appear for a Contested hearing. A person also has the right to ask the Judge for a deferred finding. 

Deferred Findings Program

To qualify for the Deferred Findings program, you must pay a non-refundable administrative fee and not commit another infraction for 12 months. Certain violations cannot be deferred, and anyone with a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) is not eligible.

 The court holds your infraction for 12 months. If you pay court costs as promised and do not commit another infraction for 12 months, the infraction will be dismissed and will not appear on your driving record. 

 Failure to pay and/or receiving any additional infractions during the next 12 months will cause this ticket to be reported to the Washington Department of Licensing. 

 You can only defer 1 moving and 1 non-moving infraction once during a 7 year period. Please find the form on the forms link page.

Out of State Drivers


 If you are an out-of-state driver, you must provide a copy of your driving record to the court prior to the 12 months ending. Notice will be sent to you to remind you of this. The court can not check an out-of-state driver's record. Washington drivers do not need to do this as the court can review your driving record.