How to Request the County Seat and Fight Your California Traffic Ticket

General information, not legal advice. This post describes how traffic stops, accidents and traffic court work in general. Every case turns on its own facts, and reading this post does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your own ticket, call The Traffic Ticket Attorneys at (310) 455-6810 for a free consultation.

We all know traffic tickets can be a hassle. Not only that, but they can be costly and sometimes unwarranted. For instance, imagine you’re driving in an unfamiliar place, and you get lost, ultimately making a wrong turn. As you try to reroute yourself, an officer pulls you over and is unforgiving of your distressing situation, ending in a traffic citation. Normally, if you want to contest the citation, you’ll have to travel miles away from your home to the area you got your ticket to fight the case. Luckily, in California you can ask for your case to be relocated to a better location by requesting the county seat at the time you are cited. This gives you the chance to contest the ticket in a more centralized location.

But what is the county seat? The county seat is the governmental center of a particular county and is typically located in the downtown area of large cities. Thus, if your home or place of employment is closer to the county seat courthouse rather than where you were cited, you can ask for your case to be heard at the county seat instead, according to section 40502(b) of the California Vehicle Code. This can be helpful in large counties such as Los Angeles or in areas where you are unfamiliar with the court proceedings.

Why You Should Request the County Seat

Besides moving the case to a more convenient location, here is why some drivers request the county seat:

1. The county seat may be far from where the officer cited you—meaning the officer will have to take time away from their regular patrol duties to drive all the way to where your case is being held to contest the ticket. If the officer does not show up, the case may be dismissed.
2. The police officer may also not be familiar with the county seat’s court procedures or policies, making it more difficult for them to contest the ticket.
3. If the county seat is in your immediate area, the case is heard close to home.

How to Request the County Seat

If you want to ask for the county seat, you must do it at the time you are being cited. Drivers who want the county seat ask for it once it is clear the officer will issue a citation. If the police officer writes the ticket without saying so first, a driver can still request the county seat and write “requested the county seat” next to their signature when asked to sign the ticket. If the officer refuses the request, that note can still be raised in the defense.

Keep in mind that after you ask for a change in venue, the officer will know you are contesting the ticket and may make more detailed notes for the judge about the incident. A driver who lives or works closer to the county seat can tell the officer so, as the reason for the change of location.

What You Should Do Next

So, you requested the county seat and are back home, anxiously awaiting your court date. Now what?

Best course of action is to contact an experienced attorney, such as a traffic ticket attorney, and discuss the possibilities of winning your case with them. Many tickets are dismissed because the police officer fails to appear or doesn’t remember the case well enough in court—and this is where an attorney comes in handy. With the help of a traffic ticket attorney, you may not have to step foot in the courtroom yourself—so you can rest easy while they do all the heavy lifting.

Traffic ticket attorneys help guide you through the process—filing necessary paperwork, appearing in court on your behalf, speaking with the judge, and updating you in real-time on how your case is coming along. For a free consultation, contact The Traffic Ticket Attorneys, a firm that focuses on traffic tickets across California. Call (310) 455-6810 today to speak to an experienced attorney about your case.

Counties & County Seats in California:

• Alameda County | Oakland
• Alpine County | Markleeville
• Amador County | Jackson
• Butte County | Oroville
• Calaveras County | San Andreas
• City and County of San Francisco | San Francisco
• Colusa County | Colusa
• Contra Costa County | Martinez
• Del Norte County | Crescent City
• El Dorado County | Placerville
• Fresno County | Fresno
• Glenn County | Willows
• Humboldt County | Eureka
• Imperial County | El Centro
• Inyo County | Independence
• Kern County | Bakersfield
• Kings County | Hanford
• Lake County | Lakeport
• Lassen County | Susanville
• Los Angeles County | Los Angeles
• Madera County | Madera
• Marin County | San Rafael
• Mariposa County | Mariposa
• Mendocino County | Ukiah
• Merced County | Merced
• Modoc County | Alturas
• Mono County | Bridgeport
• Monterey County | Salinas
• Napa County | Napa
• Nevada County | Nevada City
• Orange County | Santa Ana
• Placer County | Auburn
• Plumas County | Quincy
• Riverside County | Riverside
• Sacramento County | Sacramento
• San Benito County | Hollister
• San Bernardino County | San Bernardino
• San Diego County | San Diego
• San Joaquin County | Stockton
• San Luis Obispo County | San Luis Obispo
• San Mateo County | Redwood City
• Santa Barbara County | Santa Barbara
• Santa Clara County | San Jose
• Santa Cruz County | Santa Cruz
• Shasta County | Redding
• Sierra County | Downieville
• Siskiyou County | Yreka
• Solano County | Fairfield
• Sonoma County | Santa Rosa
• Stanislaus County | Modesto
• Sutter County | Yuba City
• Tehama County | Red Bluff
• Trinity County | Weaverville
• Tulare County | Visalia
• Tuolumne County | Sonora
• Ventura County | Ventura
• Yolo County | Woodland
• Yuba County | Marysville

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