Texas - Lost Open Container Citation

[davew9128]

Significant other was driving in Texas. Stopped late at night, best I can tell from what I'm told, they opened the trunk, found empty beer cans in it, charged her with an open container and nothing else. I wasn't there, that's what I'm told and supposedly she is/was supposed to have a court appearance.

Well in her journey driving across the country, she lost the citation and after I asked, doesn't know where she was in Texas or which LEO agency gave it to her.

Short of going to every single county court site in Texas and looking it up, is there another way to find this case so I can at least tell her where and when she needs to appear or how to approach this? I don't suppose there might be something mailed as a reminder?

 

[quincy]

Significant other was driving in Texas. Stopped late at night, best I can tell from what I'm told, they opened the trunk, found empty beer cans in it, charged her with an open container and nothing else. I wasn't there, that's what I'm told and supposedly she is/was supposed to have a court appearance.

Well in her journey driving across the country, she lost the citation and after I asked, doesn't know where she was in Texas or which LEO agency gave it to her.

Short of going to every single county court site in Texas and looking it up, is there another way to find this case so I can at least tell her where and when she needs to appear or how to approach this? I don't suppose there might be something mailed as a reminder?

Is she sure she was handed a citation? They are often mailed.

What route through Texas did she take? How long ago?

Empty beer cans being transported in an enclosed trunk generally would not result in an open container ticket. Why was your wife stopped? Did she give officers permission to check the trunk?

I know, by the way, that I am not answering the question you asked.

 

[zddoodah]

Short of going to every single county court site in Texas and looking it up, is there another way to find this case so I can at least tell her where and when she needs to appear or how to approach this? I don't suppose there might be something mailed as a reminder?

I don't think anyone here can speak intelligently about the practices of every one of the 254 counties in Texas. Maybe try googling "pay texas traffic ticket online" and see what happens. I'm curious, though, about one thing.

doesn't know where she was in Texas

OK, but doesn't she have at least a general idea? If she was traveling "across the country," that suggests she may have been on one of the major east-west interstates that runs through Texas (the 10, 20, 30 or 40). Had she just entered Texas or was about to leave Texas? Near a major city like Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso or Amarillo? Where did she stay the night prior to getting the ticket? For example, if she was traveling east, had just spent the night in Las Cruces, NM, and it was in the morning, then it may have been somewhere near El Paso. Unless she was drunk or stoned, it seems like she ought to be able to narrow it down at least a little bit.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the Texas Highway Patrol where you can search for a citation issued within the last 24 months:

https://www.dps.texas.gov/highwaypatrol/citations/

 

[davew9128]

Is she sure she was handed a citation? They are often mailed.

Says it was handed to her and she gave a signature.

What route through Texas did she take? How long ago?

It was east to west, north of Dallas but I don't think it was on an interstate. Checking the google map phone locator record, she entered the state near Texarkana, went through Lubbock, and exited around El Paso. Best guess would be between Lubbock and Texarkana. Narrows it down a bit.

Why was your wife stopped?

Says she was never told. I'm guessing driving on a highway at 2am with out of state plates as the real world reason, the legal reason was never told to her.

Did she give officers permission to check the trunk?

She says she expressly did not.

I know, by the way, that I am not answering the question you asked.

No, but getting other perspectives is always helpful.

 

[davew9128]

OK, but doesn't she have at least a general idea? If she was traveling "across the country," that suggests she may have been on one of the major east-west interstates that runs through Texas (the 10, 20, 30 or 40). Had she just entered Texas or was about to leave Texas? Near a major city like Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso or Amarillo? Where did she stay the night prior to getting the ticket? For example, if she was traveling east, had just spent the night in Las Cruces, NM, and it was in the morning, then it may have been somewhere near El Paso. Unless she was drunk or stoned, it seems like she ought to be able to narrow it down at least a little bit.

I posted my viewing of her google map locator history in another post. As for her remembering, I'll just say that to call her geographically challenged is an insult to people who struggle with maps. Having driven cross country myself once, I could tell you exactly what major road I was on in every single state I drove though. I'm not her though. She gets lost locally. I consider it a minor miracle she made it the way she did.

 

[davew9128]

Here is a link to the Texas Highway Patrol where you can search for a citation issued within the last 24 months:

https://www.dps.texas.gov/highwaypatrol/citations/

I can confirm it wasn't this agency after searching.

 

[quincy]

This forum has a Texas attorney member who might have helpful information. I flagged @CavemanLawyer - but he doesn’t post here often so you might have to wait awhile.

 

[adjusterjack]

Try this one. Looks like you can do a statewide search of all local courts at once just by putting in her name.

Search Citations/Notices (txcourts.gov)

I have no idea if that works, it just came up in my search.

 

[CavemanLawyer]

If she received a ticket then the case would most likely be filed in a justice of the peace court or a municipal court. Rarely do these courts post their dockets online. The above database is very cool but it looks like it only lists district and county courts where a speeding ticket typically would not wind up. The only thing that I can think of would be to request your driving record from DPS's website. It should list tickets like this even while the case is pending. There is a fee for the driving record but its better than getting an FTA (failure to appear) warrant.

There is a possibility that the court will mail you a letter with the data/time to appear for the ticket, but you can't count on that.

Finally, I know that she can't recall exactly where she got her ticket but the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace court can be massive once you start getting into low population counties, and Texas has plenty of those. There might be alot less courts to call than you think to find the one that has her name on their list. For each county she went through you should google "justice of the peace precinct" and that county's name. There will be a map showing the precincts. If she can even ballpark the road she took it should be easy to eliminate all but one or two precincts per county.

 

[davew9128]

If she received a ticket then the case would most likely be filed in a justice of the peace court or a municipal court. Rarely do these courts post their dockets online. The above database is very cool but it looks like it only lists district and county courts where a speeding ticket typically would not wind up. The only thing that I can think of would be to request your driving record from DPS's website. It should list tickets like this even while the case is pending. There is a fee for the driving record but its better than getting an FTA (failure to appear) warrant.

There is a possibility that the court will mail you a letter with the data/time to appear for the ticket, but you can't count on that.

Finally, I know that she can't recall exactly where she got her ticket but the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace court can be massive once you start getting into low population counties, and Texas has plenty of those. There might be alot less courts to call than you think to find the one that has her name on their list. For each county she went through you should google "justice of the peace precinct" and that county's name. There will be a map showing the precincts. If she can even ballpark the road she took it should be easy to eliminate all but one or two precincts per county.

Well she got a yellow pre-warrant notice card in the mail today from a specific town showing a hand written amount and a hand written note stating the specific charge. I looked it up and it's a Class C misdemeanor and the stated fine owed is roughly $250. I'm loathe to tell her to pay it where this is a misdemeanor but the time and cost of traveling back and challenging it would be far greater. We're going to call tomorrow to get the citation number so if paying is the best option, it will be done before it escalates further.