Lost Traffic Ticket in Missouri

If you have lost your Missouri traffic ticket, you'll likely have to conduct a traffic ticket search with your traffic court. You may be able to use the state's online system if you have the citation number.

How to Find a Lost Traffic Ticket

Missouri State Highway Patrol

If you received a uniform citation from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, call the Patrol Records Division at (573) 526-6185 to retrieve information about your lost traffic ticket.

Contact Your Traffic Court

Generally, contacting your presiding traffic court is your best option for finding lost traffic ticket information. Your “presiding court" is the court that handles traffic tickets in the area where you received your citation.

Use the state's court search feature to find the court's contact information.

  • If you DO REMEMBER where you received the citation, simply enter the required information such as the city name and zip code, or choose the specific county.
  • If you DON'T REMEMBER where you received the ticket, you'll need to do a bit of detective work. You can:
    • Contact your area's court to see if it has a system that can access other courts' information, or ask a clerk about how to narrow down your search.
    • Begin contacting courts near your home county; perhaps you weren't too far from home when you got the ticket.
    • Try to remember why you were traveling the day you were ticketed. This can help you remember where you were.
    • Ask any passengers if they remember where you were when you were pulled over.

Your MO Traffic Ticket Information

Once you find the court handling your ticket (or if you're able to access your ticket using the online system), it's crucial you gather the following information in order to respond to your citation by the deadline and avoid additional penalties:

  • Any required court appearance.
    • Ask for the court location and the date and time you must appear.
  • The entire amount you owe, including any additional fees and surcharges.
  • The deadline by which you must respond to your citation.
    • Meaning, the date by which you must either plead “guilty" and pay your fine or plead “not guilty" and set up a court date.
  • Details about your traffic ticket.
    • Generally, you'll need important details like your citation number to make a payment.
    • Also find out your exact violation. Based on this, you might decide it's best for you to plead “not guilty" and fight your ticket in court.
  • Your court's accepted payment methods and options.
    • For example, if you can't use the state's online payment system for some reason, does your court allow payment by mail, by phone, or in person? If so, what payment methods does it accept?

Remember, most MO traffic tickets must be paid within 30 days of receiving the violation, so it's important you gather this information as quickly as possible.

Decide How to Plead to Your Ticket

Depending on the nature of your violation (and whether you must appear in court), you might want to:

  • Plead “guilty" and pay your fine outright.
    • Doing so means you're admitting guilt and you'll incur any associated penalties such as driving record points, increased car insurance rates, and possibly even license suspension.
  • Plead “not guilty" and challenge your ticket in court.

We address both of these options in our Pay Traffic Ticket and Fight Traffic Ticket sections.

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