Online Traffic Ticket Search

California does not provide one universal online ticket search or online traffic ticket payment option. However, most counties mail out courtesy notices, reiterating all pertinent information contained on your traffic ticket, including court location, appearance date and fine amount. So in most instances, you will be covered if you lose your traffic ticket.

Determine Where You Got Your CA Traffic Ticket

California traffic tickets are handled on a county level. So once you determine which county you were cited in, you will need to contact that county’s court (see next section). Do not contact the law enforcement department that issued you the traffic ticket. Once a ticket has been issued, it becomes a court matter.

Visit the California County Website

After pinpointing where you were ticketed, visit the county’s court website. You will find the contact information needed for resolving your problem.

Determine How You Will Plead

In California, you have three ways to plead:

• Guilty
• Nolo contendere
• Not guilty

The first two pleas require paying your fine before the due date posted on your traffic ticket. Pleading not guilty requires legal maneuvering on your behalf in building a defense case. You can find detailed information for all three scenarios on our Paying Your Traffic Ticket and Fighting Your Traffic Ticket pages.