Traffic Tickets and the Los Angeles County Police

Los Angeles County Police Departments

Throughout Los Angeles County are several different police departments for various cities within the county, including a department for the Los Angeles Airport (LAX).

For the city of Los Angeles, there is the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). However, other cities within the county operate their own departments or are policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD). The LASD also operates courts within their areas of jurisdiction.

Signing Your Traffic Ticket

Depending on your location at the time of the offense, you can be cited for a traffic violation from a police officer, deputy sheriff, or highway patrol officer. Regardless, you will be asked to sign the ticket. When you do, you are giving the law enforcement official a written promise that you will either pay the fine or appear in court on the date indicated on the ticket.

Your signature is not an admission of guilt, merely an agreement to resolve the issue by paying the fine or appearing in court as scheduled. However, if you fail to pay the fine and do not show up in court as indicated, you will be charged with a misdemeanor, which is a criminal offense.

If you refuse to sign the ticket presented by the law enforcement official, you can be arrested and brought immediately before a judge. If a judge is not available at the time, you can end up staying in jail for a short period until the court is back in session.

Resolving the Ticket with the Court – Not Law Enforcement

After being issued a traffic ticket and signing it, the role of the law enforcement official is over, with the exception that he or she will show up in court on the date your case is scheduled. Therefore, you cannot go to the police station or sheriff’s office to resolve an outstanding ticket or dispute its validity. Instead, you are mandated to appear in nominated court, which is clearly written on the bottom of the ticket.

Lost Traffic Ticket

If you lose your traffic ticket, do not go to the police station or sheriff’s department. Instead, you will need to locate the address for the court system through which the ticket was issued. You can always visit the Los Angeles Superior Court’s online website, which offers a search feature for locating information on traffic tickets. To search, you simply enter your driver’s license number.

See: Check the Status of Your Traffic Ticket.

Checking the Status of Your Ticket

For any type of problem with a ticket that was issued in Los Angeles County, start by going to the LA Superior Court’s online website, where you can check the status of your traffic ticket.

Police Departments in Los Angeles County

We can provide legal assistance with traffic tickets that were issued from any of the following police departments located within Los Angeles County:

For All of Your Ticket Problems, We Can Help

To speak to a Los Angeles traffic ticket attorney at no charge, please call us at 844-999-9987.

Additional Resources

Traffic Ticket Help (full list of problems that we handle)