Jefferson Parish Traffic Court

Jefferson Parish is a parish government with its seat in Gretna and includes the New Orleans suburb. There are seven parishes in New Orleans and Jefferson parish is the largest parish in the state of Louisiana. The parish took its name from Thomas Jefferson and his statue stands in the seat of the parish. In a report, it says that in the first year of operation of automated traffic enforcers, Jefferson Parish cameras generated around 144,000 tickets and a fine of more than eleven million. As the generation of traffic tickets increase, so are cases, also in Jefferson Parish traffic court.

As much as possible, one should try not to enter into the traffic court because an adverse decision can cause you more than the fine imposed for your traffic ticket should you fail to put a good defense in your not guilty plea. This is because included in the traffic court's decision, if adverse, would be the fees of the prosecutor and the judge. Not only that, the overtime fee of the police officer for attending the hearing, the fees for the courtroom, the paper work, the documentary stamps and other personnel. To put it simply, it will cost a lot. Here are some of the important things you should know about Jefferson Parish traffic court.

There are many important people in the Jefferson Parish traffic court. The judge is the person who decides the cases in a traffic court, although in certain cases, the judge may also appoint a magistrate to preside over the trial of the case. The judge is to act on a neutral side and to decide the case without bias. Then there is a prosecutor, who acts as the lawyer of the state and who is often a new law graduate. Thus, to take advantage of the situation, an experienced lawyer may give you a judgment of dismissal. If your traffic offense is a civil one, then more likely, the enforcement officer represents the state in the hearings and not the prosecutor.

In cases where the prosecutor represents the state, the enforcement officer who issued the traffic ticket is the witness of the state in Jefferson Parish traffic court. This is because the officers are the ones present in the situation. They can offer the best testimony. Oftentimes, the enforcement officers and the police, with their experience and the times that they have been to a traffic court, are able to deliver very convincing testimony. In turn, a good lawyer is required to properly make objections and scrutinize the testimony.

Then, the court staffs are there including the court clerk. From the filing of the charge to the rendition of the judgment, the clerk performs almost all of the legal procedures involving the traffic court process including the receiving of the documents and affidavits, the evidence, the fines and the bonds required, and the records of the case. The court bailiff is there to serve as the help of judges to maintain the proper order of the courtroom. There are still several other people that you may be able to meet in Jefferson Parish traffic court. The most important thing that you should remember is to accord these people the greatest respect if you do not want to further aggravate the charges against you.