Lost Traffic Ticket in Louisiana
If you lose your LA traffic ticket, you can contact the presiding traffic court directly for important ticket details to help you respond to your citation on time and avoid additional penalties.
Below is information about moving violations, such as speeding tickets and red light tickets. The information might apply to parking tickets, but it's best to confirm with your traffic court.
Contact Your LA Traffic Court
The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) cannot provide you with lost traffic ticket details; the OMV can only provide information about past traffic tickets already on your driving record.
You must contact the presiding traffic court which, depending on where you received the citation and which type of officer ticketed you (city, parish, or state police), generally will be either a city court or parish/district court.
Conveniently the Louisiana Supreme Court provides a list of all city and parish/district courts and their contact information.
Which Traffic Court?
Again, most traffic courts are held in city courts or parish/district courts, so the court handling your LA traffic ticket will depend on where you got the ticket and whether you were cited by a city, parish, or state police officer.
If you can't remember where you received the ticket or which officer ticketed you, your traffic ticket search might be a process of elimination.
Remembering the area might be easier than remembering the type of officer, so jog your memory with questions such as:
- Why was I driving when I received the ticket?
- Do I remember seeing any landmarks?
- Was anyone with me? Do they remember where we were?
Your answers can help you narrow the selection of courts to contact.
NOTE: It can take a few days for the officer to report the traffic ticket to the court, and for the court to record the information, so if the court (or courts) doesn't have any information at first you might try calling again at a later date.
Ask for Lost Traffic Ticket Details
Your LA traffic ticket details are critical; they provide information to help you avoid additional penalties.
When you contact the court, gather as much information as you can, including:
- Whether you're required to appear in court.
- Some violations require court appearances.
- If you must appear, ask for the court's address and the date and time of your hearing.
- Whether you're eligible to plead “guilty" and pay your fine outright.
- If you don't want to fight your ticket in court, pleading “guilty" and paying your fine could be the most convenient option.
- Ask about payment options and methods. (Can you pay online or by mail? Which payment methods does the court accept?)
- Find out the deadline by which you must pay the fine.
- Specific traffic ticket information.
- Often, you need information such as the violation, the date, and the citation number to pay your ticket.
- Most likely you will need this information if you want to fight your ticket in court, as will your traffic ticket attorney if you hire one.
Plead to Your LA Traffic Ticket
Unless your violation requires you to appear in court, you have deadline by which you must respond to your LA traffic ticket.
Your plea options include “guilty" (or “no contest") and “not guilty" and each brings its own sets of advantages and disadvantages.
Learn more about how you can plead to your traffic ticket at Pay Traffic Ticket and Fight Traffic Ticket.