Las Vegas Justice Court says, Amnesty “Pay Tickets by February 6, 2009”

Traffic Ticket Answers - Las Vegas, Nevada
Originally published on Saturday, November 15, 2008 at ETrafficCitation.com

The Las Vegas Justice Court (LVJC) announced on Friday, November 14th, 2008 that it will allow all outstanding late traffic tickets to be paid by February 6, 2009. After that point LVJC will begin enforcing arrest warrants for failure to Pay. LVJC will issue two types of warrants for your arrest: 1) for failure to appear (FTA), and 2) failure to pay (FTP). FTA essentially means you did not show up for the original date shown on your traffic ticket and therefore your matter has not been resolved. Call for more information, we can help you in the regular course of business. FTP means that your matter has been adjudicated and all that remains is for you to pay or do what the court told you to do (traffic school, community service, etc.) If you can’t pay all amounts before that date, call, we may be able to get you an extension of time to pay or a payment plan.

Please note, LVJC is the ONLY court offering amnesty at this time, NOT Las Vegas Municipal Court, Henderson Justice Court, Henderson Municipal Court, North Las Vegas Municipal Court, nor North Las Vegas Justice Court.

For further information, call us at (702) 933-4248.

Here is what I think is really going on. For the past couple of years LVJC has not been enforcing warrants because it has been converting to a new computer system and software. It did not feel confident that the system was sufficiently accurate, so it was not enforcing warrants. However, with the recent downturn in the economy, significant budget cuts coming from the state, and the fact that the bugs in the computer system are now worked out, the outstanding $135,000,000 in traffic citation fines will go a long way to filling the coffers of Clark County.

PLEASE NOTE: ON NOVEMBER 24, 2008 I REVISED THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE OF MY BLOG ENTRY AFTER LEARNING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM A READER OF MY BLOG WHO IS A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WITH CLARK COUNTY, AND IN MY OPINION IS CREDIBLE.

This is what will likely happen after February 6, 2009: The LVJC will issue warrants for individuals who failed to pay and law enforcement officers will be sent to individuals’ homes to collect amounts. The officer will arrive armed with a weapon and handcuffs. They will also will have a machine ready to swipe your credit card (you better make sure they take American Express and or Discover). I am sure they will also take cash. You will be given an option to pay all or part of what is due. If you pay only part, the officer will set a date in the future (I am guessing 60 days) for you to appear in the LVJC to explain why you have not paid the full amount, and to possibly arrange to be placed back on a payment plan. If you “show good faith” (what this means is yet to be determined) you will not be arrested. In part, I understand, “showing good faith” means that you will need to pay some amount that is greater than a nominal.

While the Constable only wants to collect fines you owe for your traffic tickets (which means they really do not want to arrest you), if you do not pay what you owe, or do not show good faith, expect to be arrested.

For those who wish to spend time in jail instead of paying amounts owed for traffic citations, I understand courts in Clark County are allowing a $60.00 / day credit. So do the math, if you owe $600.00, expect to spend 10 days away from your family, friends and work with cellmates you likely have not met before.

As I gain more detail about how LVJC will handle this type of situation, I will keep you informed.