So…
I was driving my husbands car and didn’t realize the tags were expired. Apparently, as explained by the officer that pulled me over and reviewed everything, when we paid the property taxes on the vehicle we paid them late and were issued a late fee, but because we paid the taxes online and the late fee was a DMV thing, the tags lapsed. A sticker never showed up in the mail and we apparently never thought to ourselves ‘hey, it’s been a while since I put a sticker on the car…’ and officer Not-So-Friendly saw me and stopped me and issued me a citation with a court date. He explained that I have the option to cure it and drop off a evidence of doing that to the magistrate and he would dismiss the charges, and I would not need to actually appear as long as I took care of it. There was no information on the ticket about paying a fine - although to be honest, I’m more than happy to pay the fine - I’m not exactly contesting that this happened…
No big deal, went to the DMV, paid the late fee same day that the ticket was issued and the next morning turned in the evidence to the magistrate. I asked the clerk for a copy of a receipt or any sort of record that I had done what was needed and she explained that they wouldn’t give the paperwork to the officer until the day of the trial so there was nothing she could give me. I also asked if I needed to appear and was told ‘no’.
I’m paranoid though. Like, I’m sure the clerk is good at her job, but she’s human. I can’t even find the court case in the online records yet, but what happens if I don’t appear and they lose this paper that I turned in? Would you appear?
Frankly, I feel like this is a terrible system. I am happy to fix the error and provide evidence, and pay any associated fines, but I don’t feel great about dropping off papers and not having any documentation that shows I did it…
And this is apparently my life of crime - I have no other tickets or any other criminal history…
This was in moncks corner near Charleston. I was pulled over by a state trooper (i believe) on the highway for expired tags. He gave me a ticket.
I got a new tag and I’m good now. My court date is later next week. I called the court house and the lady said they can’t do anything. I don’t know if I spoke to the best person.
Would it be advisable to call the cops agency and leave him a message? Or should I show up and try and speak with him before.
I’d really like to get it dismissed if possible
Usually this is show up in court, show you fixed the problem, and ticket gets cancelled situation. If you can’t show up due to distance/work/etc, hire a lawyer to do it for you. In this case a local traffic attorney will work, but still read reviews and such.
Go to the court date. Talk to the prosecutor or person handling your case for the State. Do NOT call the cop or visit with him. Bring proof of your new tags, tell the prosecutor you screwed up and were lazy and messed up and would like to keep this off your record. IF your record is clean otherwise, no other tickets, AND THEY WILL CHECK YOUR RECORD RIGHT THERE, it’s very possible they will just give you a fine and dismiss this case. Good luck.