The Arizona Traffic Ticket and Complaint you received may contain both state law violations and city ordinance violations.  The ticket includes a court date and time. CONTACT THE COURT ON OR BEFORE YOUR COURT APPEARANCE DATE to verify your potential options and provide the court with a decision as to how you want to plead to your charge(s). If you received a complaint containing more than one charge, you must enter a plea for each charge.

Civil traffic charges (See Title 28 for criminal and civil traffic offenses)

If your traffic charge is marked as a civil violation, you are entitled to a hearing if you choose to plead not responsible.

You have the right to have a lawyer represent you in civil traffic hearings, if you choose. If you hire an attorney to represent you, he or she must notify both the court and the prosecutor in writing at least 10 calendar days before the hearing.  Failure to do so will result in the waiver of your right to be represented by a lawyer.  If you have a lawyer present at the hearing, the state may also be represented by the prosecutor.

If you choose to have the hearing without a lawyer, the judge may ask you, the police officer, and other witnesses questions to find out what happened. You will have an opportunity to ask questions of the witnesses. You may testify on your own behalf as part of your defense, if you wish. You may present documents and other prepared exhibits to the court as evidence that support your position.

To find you responsible, the judge must consider the testimony and other evidence presented at the hearing and decide, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether it is more probable than not that you committed the traffic violation charged. In a civil traffic hearing, the burden of proof required for a judge to make a finding of responsible is less than at a criminal trial.

There are three possible pleas you may enter for a civil complaint:

• Responsible  You admit to having committed the violation.
• Not Responsible  You deny that you committed the violation and wish to contest the charge at a hearing. The state must then attempt to prove you are responsible by a preponderance of the evidence at a civil traffic hearing.
• No Contest  You do not wish to contest the charge and you will allow the judge to enter a ruling that has the same consequence as a Responsible plea without admitting your responsibility. You will have an opportunity to explain what happened before sentence is imposed, just as you would with a Responsible plea.

After you decide how you will plead, you have the following options:

If your plea is Responsible or No Contest, you will be responsible to pay the sanction/fine amount on or before your court appearance date.  

You have the following options to pay your fine:

1. Pay online at www.azcourtpay.com
2. If you have been sent to defaulted or been sent to FARE Collections, and have a barcode, you can pay at a PayNearMe location, click here for locations.
3. Make a payment via mail or in person at the Sedona Magistrate Court.

 If your plea is Not Responsible, you may:

1. Request, in person, by email or mail that the charge be scheduled for a hearing. Your request for a hearing must be received by the Court before the date of your first scheduled court appearance; or
2. Appear in court on your assigned date and request that your case scheduled for a civil traffic hearing.

Defensive Driving program

For many civil traffic charges, IF ELIGIBLE, you have the option of attending a Defensive Driving program.  After you complete the program the charge will be report as dismissed and you will not have to pay a fine for that charge. If you have attended a defensive driving class for an Arizona charge issued within the last twelve (12) months, you are not eligible for this option. If you have been cited for more than one charge on your complaint, only one can be dismissed by attending the Defensive Driving program and you will have to enter a plea on any other charges.

Not all charges are eligible for this program.  Please contact the court to verify before proceeding.

Failure to appear

If you fail to appear for any scheduled court date, or fail to meet any sentencing requirements imposed on you as a result of a responsible or guilty finding, a default judgment may be entered. Your driving privileges may also be suspended by the Motor Vehicle Division and an additional criminal charge may be filed based on your failure to appear, which is a misdemeanor.