New Orleans Traffic Court
General Information
Frequently Asked Questions General Information To Pay a Traffic Ticket or Contest a Traffic Ticket To Contest a Ticket, (Plead Not Guilty) and Request a Trial Date Failure To Appear
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I pay tickets or fines online or at the City of New Orleans' website?
A. Yes, you can pay online through the City of New Orleans website. Do not pay online through any other payment center because your transaction will NOT be recorded. Traffic Court accepts Cash, Cashier's Checks, Money Orders and credit cards. No personal checks accepted. DO NOT send cash through the mail.
Q. How do I get my license reinstated?
A. You must bring or mail a $100 "Contempt Fee" to receive a Trial Date and a Reinstatement Letter to take to the DMV. With your payment include your Name, Date of Birth, SSN, Ticket number, Address at time the ticket was issued, Current Address & Phone number, and your Driver's License number.
Q. I have a ticket for DWI. What do I do?
A. Appear at the Section (A, B, C, or D) to which you were assigned at 727 South Broad Street to adjudicate the matter.
Q. I have a speeding ticket. Where do I go?
A. Mail in your fine or appear at 727 South Broad Street.
Q. How do I get to 727 South Broad Street?
A. For driving directions, click here.
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General Information
A traffic citation (ticket) has one or more violations, hand-written on the front of the ticket by the police officer. Each violation has a numeric code and a short, written description. Each violation listed on the ticket has a specific fine and fee associated with it.
At the bottom of the traffic citation, the police officer has written the arraignment due date (first appearance date). This is the date by which the motorist must take action on his/her ticket. The action taken by the motorist must be:
- Plead guilty and pay the fines and fees
- Plead not guilty and request a trial date before a Traffic Court Judge
If the motorist takes no action on or before his/her first appearance date, a late fee of $100.00 will be added to the original total amount due for the traffic citation.
Normally, Traffic Court receives traffic tickets from police agencies between seven (7) and ten (10) days after a ticket was issued to a motorist. Upon receipt, Traffic Court employees enter the tickets into the Courts computer, and the ticket is immediately available for processing. Please remember that no action can be taken on a specific traffic ticket until it is available for processing on Traffic Courts computer system. Therefore, please wait at least seven (7) days from the ticket issue date before contacting Traffic Court to take action on that traffic citation.
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To Pay a Traffic Ticket or Contest a Traffic Ticket
To Pay a Ticket (Plead Guilty)
Payment can be made at Traffic Court offices:
Main Office
New Orleans Traffic Court
727 South Broad Street
New Orleans, LA 70119
Tel: (504) 658-8500
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Satellite Office
New Orleans Traffic Court
225 Morgan Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70114
Tel: (504) 364-4060
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Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except City Holidays.
PLEASE NOTE that only cash, cashier's checks, money orders and credit cards are accepted.
Note: If your drivers license was confiscated, it will be mailed to you after full payment for your traffic citation, including late fees, has been received by Traffic Court.
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To Contest a Ticket, (Plead Not Guilty) and Request a Trial Date
In order to contest a ticket, and if the First Appearance Date has not passed, a motorist may request a trial date in person, at Traffic Court. To avoid late fees, you must request your trial date on or before your first appearance date (the date written by the police officer on the front of your traffic citation).
If no action has taken place on a traffic ticket within 30 days of the violation date, the drivers information will be sent to the Department of Public Safety for license suspension, and an Arrest Attachment may be issued for the motorist. If this situation occurs, additional fees will be required by the Department of Public Safety for reinstatement of the motorist's license.
To request a trial date:
Please come to Traffic Court at 725 S. Broad St. Please see the information above for addresses and hours of operation. If you request a trial date after your first appearance date, you must pay a late fee of $100.00 before the trial date will be issued to you.
If you were arrested, you must report to the Division of Court on the date and time written at the bottom of your traffic citation. If you fail to appear at the designated Division of Court, date and time, your bail bond will be forfeited and an Arrest Attachment will be issued for you.
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Failure To Appear
Failure to Appear (FTA) will Always Add Late Fee Charges to Your Traffic Citation
1 Failure to Appear On or Before Your First Appearance Date
The traffic citation you were issued has the first appearance date or arraignment date written on the front of the ticket by the police officer. On or before this date, you must:
a) Make payment for your fines and fees
b) Set a trial date to plead your case before a Traffic Court Judge
If neither action is taken, you will be in Contempt of Court, and you will be assessed a late fee of $100.00, which is added to the original fines and fees associated with your traffic violations. In addition, an Arrest Attachment may be issued for you which could result in your arrest if you are stopped for any additional traffic infractions.
If your case is in a Failure to Appear status, you should appear at Traffic Court, immediately to make arrangements to change your delinquent case status.
2 Failure to Appear to Make a Deferred Payment
If you fail to make a deferred payment that you scheduled with Traffic Court, your case will be in Contempt of Court and your case will be assigned an FTA status. This means that additional late fees will be added to your case, and an Arrest Attachment may be issued for you. Should this condition occur, please appear at Traffic Court to complete the procedures to immediately resolve all issues associated with your traffic citation.
3 Failure to Appear for Trial
If you failed to appear at Traffic Court for your trial, you must appear as soon as possible at the original division of court and time you were assigned to make arrangements to have your trial rescheduled. In this situation, a contempt of court fine may be applied to your case.
An unresolved Failure to Appear for any of the above will result in the forwarding of your traffic citation information to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, which will result in the suspension of your drivers license and additional fees.
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