Old Speeding Violation & Late Fees

[Kovell]

The State I reside in is Ohio, the State in which the violation exists, is Michigan. In March of 2008 I received a Notice of Violation from the Ann Arbor, 15th Judicial Court. The notice indicated that I owed $204 and a case number was listed. Immediately, I contacted that office to find out what this was about. The clerk that I spoke with indicated that it was an unresolved ticket for speeding in Ann Arbor in May of 2002. I informed the clerk that I was sure I sent in my payment information (credit card number). She indicated that the system in place at the time of the violation was not as good as it currently is and that she was going to have to search through archived information. The following day she called back and indicated that the Court had a copy of my credit card information, however, it apparently did not charge the card for the $95 fine associated with the speeding violation. I indicated that I had never received anything from the Court that indicated that this matter was not taken care of until March 2008. I also stated that since this matter had taken place so long ago, I do not have any records of my own that would indicate whether or not my credit card was charged. I then verbally, over the phone, requested that the late fees associated with the ticket be dropped. The clerk indicated that she did not have the authority to waive the fees, but that she would see what she could do and get back to me. A few days later she called and gave me the unfortunate news that the fees would not be dropped unless I went to court to contest the ticket. I also submitted a letter to the Chief Judge of the 15th Judicial Court regarding the dollar fine associated with this ticket. Again, I have been told to appear in court to contest the violation. This is not a sensible option for me, as the amount of money that I would spend missing work and fueling my vehicle would outweigh the cost of the ticket with the late fees attached. Is there any way that I can avoid paying the late fees associated with this violation?