Lost Traffic Ticket in Indiana

Online Traffic Ticket Search

Indiana doesn’t offer a typical online traffic ticket search; however, if you received your citation in a county that uses the Odyssey Case Management System, you might be able to find your ticket information; it isn’t too likely, though, considering the system requires some specific information like case and citation numbers.

Determine Where You Got Your IN Traffic Ticket

That being said, most drivers will need to contact the appropriate court to retrieve lost traffic ticket information.

You can skip down to “Visit Your County Website” if you know where you received your citation.

If you’re confused about where you got the ticket, though, Indiana’s county clerks recommend a process of elimination: Give it a best guess, and then begin contacting courts in each county until you find the one that has your ticket on file.

Visit the County Website

Once you know which court is in charge of your ticket (or, at least know which court you want to start with), visit the Judicial Branch of Indiana website and:

• Check for the “Courts & Clerks Offices” option at the top.
• Look at the drop-down box that appears and choose the county in which you received your ticket (or think you did).
• Once on the state’s county page, look for the court clerk’s phone number or the option to visit the county’s website.

Most courts can look up drivers’ information with just their last names; however, be prepared to provide other identifying information like your birth date or address.

Once the clerk finds your ticket, make sure you ask about and write down:

• The citation number, and any other identifying numbers.
• The traffic ticket fine.
• The date by which you must respond (usually this is 60 days from the date you received the citation).
• Whether you must appear in court, or if you can pay online, over the phone, or by mail.

Determine How You Will Plead

You can plead to your IN traffic ticket in one of the following ways:

• Guilty or nono contest.
• Not guilty.

The exact steps involved with each vary by driver, violation, and county, but in general if you:

• Plead guilty or no contest, you’ll accumulate driving record points and possibly higher insurance rates, but can usually pay online, over the phone, or by mail..
• Plead not guilty, you’ll fight the ticket in court and receive no penalties if you win, but have to pay everything (including possible attorney fees) and deal with penalties if you lose.

Unless the violation involves a serious crime or pushes your points over the limit to license suspension, pleading guilty or nolo contendere usually means paying the fine and closing the case; however, if you plead not guilty you have to fight your ticket in court.

Visit Paying Your Traffic Ticket and Fighting Your Traffic Ticket for more information.