291D-5

Notice of traffic infraction; form; determination final unless contested

§291D-5 Notice of traffic infraction; form; determination final unless contested. (a) The notice of traffic infraction for moving violations shall include the summons for the purposes of this chapter. Whenever a notice of traffic infraction is issued to the driver of a motor vehicle, the driver’s signature, driver’s license number, and current address shall be noted on the notice. If the driver refuses to sign the notice of traffic infraction, the officer shall record this refusal on the notice and issue the notice to the driver. Individuals to whom a notice of traffic infraction is issued under this chapter need not be arraigned before the court, unless required by rule of the supreme court.

(b) The form for the notice of traffic infraction shall be prescribed by rules of the district court which shall be uniform throughout the State; provided that each judicial circuit may include differing statutory, rule, or ordinance provisions on its respective notice of traffic infraction.

© A notice of traffic infraction that is generated by the use of electronic equipment or that bears the electronically stored image of any person’s signature, or both, shall be valid under this chapter.

(d) The notice of traffic infraction shall include the following:

(1) A statement of the specific traffic infraction for which the notice was issued;

(2) Except in the case of parking-related traffic infractions, a brief statement of the facts;

(3) A statement of the total amount to be paid for each traffic infraction, which amount shall include any fee, surcharge, or cost required by statute, ordinance, or rule, and any monetary assessment, established for the particular traffic infraction pursuant to section 291D-9, to be paid by the driver or registered owner of the vehicle, which shall be uniform throughout the State;

(4) A statement of the options provided in section 291D-6(b) for answering the notice and the procedures necessary to exercise the options;

(5) A statement that the person to whom the notice is issued must answer, choosing one of the options specified in section 291D-6(b), within twenty-one days of issuance of the notice;

(6) A statement that failure to answer the notice of traffic infraction within twenty-one days of issuance shall result in the entry of judgment by default for the State and may result in the assessment of a late penalty, and, that if the person to whom the notice was issued fails to pay the total amount specified in the default judgment within an additional thirty days or to otherwise take action to set aside the default, notice shall be sent to the director of finance of the appropriate county:

(A) That the person to whom the notice of infraction not involving parking was issued shall not be permitted to renew or obtain a driver’s license; or

(B) Where the notice was issued to a motor vehicle, that the registered owner shall not be permitted to register, renew the registration of, or transfer title to the motor vehicle until the traffic infraction is finally disposed of pursuant to this chapter, except as provided in section 291D-10(b);

(7) A statement that, at a hearing requested to contest the notice of traffic infraction conducted pursuant to section 291D-8, no officer shall be present unless the driver timely requests the court to have the officer present, and that the standard of proof to be applied by the court is whether a preponderance of the evidence proves that the specified traffic infraction was committed;

(8) A statement that, at a hearing requested for the purpose of explaining mitigating circumstances surrounding the commission of the infraction or in consideration of a written request for mitigation, the person shall be considered to have committed the traffic infraction;

(9) A space in which the signature of the person to whom the notice was issued may be affixed; and

(10) The date, time, and place at which the person to whom the notice was issued must appear in court, if the person is required by the notice to appear in person at the hearing.

(e) In the case of traffic infractions involving parking or equipment, where the motor vehicle is found parked or stopped without a driver, the notice shall be affixed conspicuously to the vehicle as provided in section 291C-167 and shall include the information required by paragraphs (1) and (3) to (9) of subsection (d). [L 1993, c 214, pt of §2; am L 1997, c 60, §9; am L 2005, c 48, §2; am L 2007, c 85, §4]

Rules of Court

Notice, see HCTR rule 9.