Lost Traffic Ticket in West Virginia

Contact the presiding traffic court to find WV lost traffic ticket information. Generally, your traffic court depends on where you received the citation; it might be a magistrate court (county-level tickets) or a municipal court or “city hall" (for city-level tickets). Gather information to help you determine how to plead such as the violation, deadline to respond and/or court date, and payment options.

Lost Traffic Ticket in West Virginia

Contact the presiding traffic court to find WV lost traffic ticket information. Generally, your traffic court depends on where you received the citation; it might be a magistrate court (county-level tickets) or a municipal court or “city hall" (for city-level tickets). Gather information to help you determine how to plead such as the violation, deadline to respond and/or court date, and payment options.

Contact the Presiding Traffic Court

Your presiding traffic court is the court that handles traffic violations in the town, city, or county where you received the ticket.

  • Typically, the county's magistrate court can provide lost traffic ticket information for county-level citations.
    • Often, these tickets are issued by that county's police officers (i.e. deputy sheriffs) and West Virginia State Police troopers.
  • However, if you received a city-level ticket (usually issued by city police officers), likely you'll deal with a municipal court (depending on the area, sometimes these are referred to as "city halls").

Not sure if your ticket is with the county or city? Start your WV traffic ticket search by contacting the county's magistrate court; if the clerk can't find your citation, he or she can point you in the direction of the appropriate municipal court or city hall.

Ask for WV Traffic Ticket Details

You have a deadline to respond to your traffic ticket or you'll face additional fines and penalties. This means you must, by a specific date, you must:

  • Appear in court (if required).
  • Plead "guilty" and pay your fine.
  • Plead “not guilty" (or "no contest") and schedule a hearing.

When you contact the appropriate court, first find out the deadline to respond. Then, get answers to the following questions so you can decide how to respond and do it on time:

  • Am I required to appear in court?
    • Get the court location and room number as well as the date and time you must appear.
    • Consider consulting a traffic ticket attorney if your violation is serious enough for a required court appearance.
  • What are my traffic ticket details?
    • Get your citation number. This is necessary if you want to plead "guilty" and pay online, by mail, or over the telephone.
    • Ask for the name of the police officer or trooper. This is useful if you want to plead "not guilty" and challenge your ticket in court.
  • Am I eligible for a defensive driving course?
    • Sometimes, judges allow drivers to complete traffic schools to dismiss their tickets, or at least lower the charges or penalties. Find out if you must appear in court for this option.
  • What are my ticket fine details? Ask about:
    • Your exact fine plus any additional fees.
    • The kinds of payment options and methods your court accepts.
    • Whether you're eligible for a payment plan.
    • Again, the deadline by which you must pay.

Fight or Pay Traffic Ticket in WV

As long as you're not required to appear in court before pleading, you can go ahead and:

  • Plead "guilty" and pay your fine using one of the eligible payment options.
  • Plead "not guilty" and schedule a hearing to fight your violation in traffic court.

Refer to our Pay a Traffic Ticket and Fight a Traffic Ticket sections for full details.

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