Lost Traffic Ticket in New Hampshire

You can find information about your lost NH traffic ticket by contacting the presiding traffic court; or, if you can provide certain details on your own, you can contact and enter your plea to the Bureau of Financial Responsibility.

Find Your NH Lost Traffic Ticket

Depending on your situation, you can handle your lost traffic ticket by:

  • Contacting the presiding traffic court.
    • This probably is the best option for drivers who can't remember any details about their traffic tickets.
  • Write to the Bureau of Financial Responsibility.
    • You can use this option IF you remember certain details about your citation and want to go ahead and enter your "guilty," "nolo contendere," or "not guilty" plea.

Read on for details.

Contact the Traffic Court

Typically, contacting your presiding traffic court is the best way to get details about your lost traffic ticket if you don't remember any details about the citation. Note that “presiding" means it's the court that handles traffic violations in the area where you received the citation—you can't contact just any court.

The trick is remembering where you received the citation.

If you DO REMEMBER, you're a step ahead of the game. Just refer to the state's court locator tool, find your court, and use the provided contact information.

If you DON'T REMEMBER, you'll need to do some detective work. Ask yourself the following question to stir your memory:

  • Do I remember the time of day or night? Where am I usually going at that time? Or, was that an unusual time to be driving?
  • Where was I going? A doctor appointment? Was I taking my child to soccer practice? Was I headed to work?
  • Do I remember any popular locations nearby, such as a major business or historical landmark?
  • Did I have any passengers? I could ask them if they remember where we were pulled over.
  • What kind of law enforcement officer pulled me over? Can I remember what jurisdiction he or she is assigned? Do I remember his or her name?

Once you remember where you received the ticket, you can contact the appropriate traffic court to retrieve specific and crucial details about your citation.

Write the Bureau of Financial Responsibility

You can write the Bureau of Financial Responsibility directly—and even plead to your citation—if you remember certain details about your citation.

Within your written request, include the following information:

  • Your full name and date of birth.
  • The location you received the citation.
  • The law enforcement agency that issued the citation.
  • Your traffic violation (for example, speeding or running a red light).
  • Any additional information you can remember about the traffic ticket.
  • Whether you want to plead “guilty" or “not guilty."
    • If you're pleading "guilty" or "nolo contendere," you must include payment.
  • Your signature.

Send the above to:

NH Department of Safety
Bureau of Financial Responsibility
P.O. Box 3838
Concord, NH 03301

Your NH Traffic Ticket Details

You MUST RESPOND to your NH traffic ticket within 30 days; otherwise, you face additional penalties which could include more fees and even license suspension.

Because you've lost your traffic ticket, you need to find out this deadline—as well as other important information to help you plead “guilty" or “not guilty"— as soon as possible.

When you contact the court, make sure to ask about:

  • A required court appearance.
    • Some violations bring a mandatory court appearance, meaning you can't just plead “guilty" and pay your fine.
    • Find out the court address and the date and time you must appear.
  • Your NH traffic ticket details.
    • Ask for your traffic violation, the traffic ticket number, where and when you were issued the traffic ticket, and the officer and law enforcement agency who issued the ticket.
    • This information can help you decide if you want to plead “guilty" and pay your fine or consult a traffic ticket attorney about challenging your ticket in court.
  • Your response deadline.
    • This is the date by which you must respond to your ticket (i.e. plead “guilty" and pay, or plead “not guilty" and request a hearing).
  • The full cost of your traffic violation.
    • This will include your basic traffic ticket fine and perhaps any fees and surcharges associated with late payment or choosing to fight your ticket in court.
  • Your court's payment options and methods.
    • Can you pay online? By mail? By phone? Which kinds of payment methods can you use? Checks, credit cards and/or cash?

Respond to Your NH Traffic Ticket

You must respond to your NH traffic ticket within 30 days—or face penalties.

Now that you've gathered your information, you can determine whether you want to plead " guilty" (or "nolo contendere") and pay your fine, or plead "not guilty" and schedule a hearing to fight your ticket in court.

Refer to our Pay Your Ticket and Fight Your Ticket sections for details on each process.

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