Juvenile Citations

The traffic division processes juvenile cases involving only infractions.  You may pay a traffic infraction by telephone, online, or in person unless the citation indicates it is a mandatory appearance.  If a mandatory appearance is required minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.  All other cases, including non-traffic misdemeanor charges are processed at Juvenile Court.

About Red Light Citations

Red light camera citations are issued to the registered owner of the vehicle that is on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles.  The citations are issued by the law enforcement agencies and are mailed to you.

The law enforcement agency will assign your court date at the time the citation is issued.  When the court receives its copy, a courtesy notice will be mailed to you at the address listed on the citation.  If you do not receive a notice in the mail, you must appear or pay the fine by the date listed on the bottom of your citation.  If you were not the driver, follow the directions located on the back of the citation.  You do not need to do anything further.  However, if you wish to inquire on the status of the citation, you may check by searching the court records.

Parking Citations

Parking citations are no longer handled by the Superior Court.  Each issuing city or agency now processes its own parking citations.  Contact the city or agency that issued the parking citation for information.

The court conducts hearings on appeal if you contest an administrative decision of the parking agency.

Contesting a Parking Citation

If you wish to contest a decision made by the parking agency, you may file an appeal with the court.  The following criteria must be met before submitting an appeal on a parking citation:

• An administrative review was conducted by the parking agency
• A decision by the administrative review was completed
• The appeal was submitted within 30 days of the administrative decision
  
  

You must submit the following information to the court in order to file an appeal:

• Notice of Appeal - Parking Violation (parking appeal form)
• The contestant's copy of the original Notice of Parking Violation
• A $25.00 filing fee (Vehicle Code 40230(b)) made payable to the 'Riverside Superior Court'.

Upon filing the Notice of Appeal, the matter will be set for Trial de Novo. The date, day, and time of the trial will be inserted on the Notice of Appeal. The contestant must serve the Processing or the issuing Agency (Thereafter “Agency”) with the Notice of Appeal (Vehicle. Code 40230(a), and a proof of service – parking violations must be filed by the contestant with the court at least 10 days before the trial date.

Upon receiving the Notice of Appeal the agency will forward to the court its entire file, including the Final Decision of the Examiner and the manner and the date of service of that Decision. The agency file should be received by the Court at least 10 days before trial.

After the Trial De Novo, the court will notify the Contestant and the Agency of its Decision. If the agency prevails, the parking penalty will then be retained by the Agency or if not previously collected by the agency, will be collected by the agency (Vehicle. Code Section 40230(3). If the contestant prevails, the Agency shall promptly refund to the Contestant the $25.00 fee for filing the Notice of Appeal, together with any parking penalty previously deposited. (Vehicle. Code Section 40230(b).

Note: If the contestant’s check is returned to the court uncollected, the court will automatically dismiss the appeal and a $30.00 check return fee will be assessed.