How to File an Appeal to a Traffic Citation Judgment

When you receive a traffic citation you have the option to accept the ticket and pay the fine or to challenge the citation in a court of law. As with any other trial, if you lose your case at the trial level, you also have the right to appeal the decision of the court to a higher court. The exact procedures will vary somewhat from state to state but the basic process is similar among the states.

• 1

  Locate the time frame within which you must file your notice of appeal. All appeals are time sensitive, meaning that you only have a short amount of time (sometimes as short as 20 days) to notify the court of your intention to appeal. Failure to file a timely appeal generally means you lose the right to appeal. The time frame for an appeal can usually be found online, at a local library, or by asking the court staff.

• 2

  Prepare your notice of appeal. All appeals begin with a notice of appeal. This document notifies the trial court and appellate court of your intention to appeal the judgment. The notice of appeal form can generally be found on the court's website or may be available in the court office.

• 3

  File the notice of appeal with the trial court that rendered the judgment. The notice of appeal is filed with the original court because they must prepare the record to send up to the appellate court.

• 4

  Pay the filing fee and any appellate bond required. Many courts require a party filing an appeal to file a bond along with the filing fee. The purpose of the bond is to ensure that the costs of the appeal will be paid by the appealing party. The court will let you know if a bond is required and the amount of the bond.

• 5

  Order transcripts and let the court know what records you want sent up to the appellate court. Many courts have a form that is used to indicate what records you are requesting. If you want an actual transcript of the trial you will need to pay the cost of producing the transcript.

• 6

  Write a brief or summary in support of your appeal. This is your opportunity to explain to the appellate court why you feel that the trial court erred in your case.