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Rule 17: trial by declaration on a Vehicle Code infraction under Vehicle Code Section 40902, a trial de novo requested no later than twenty (20) days from the date of mailing of the original decision (17(A)); a failure to appear deemed an election for trial by written declaration under Vehicle Code section 40903, and the Courtesy Notice, the second FTA/Pay notice and the final notice warning of civil assessments of up to one hundred dollars ($100), referral for debt collection and referral to the Court Collections Division (17(B)); proof of correction accepted by the Clerk with the $25.00 proof of correction fee - correctable citations, tinted windows, no proof of insurance, and a driver's license or vehicle registration valid at the time of the citation or obtained after it - and Veh. Code § 24004 and § 24002(a) moving violations not correctable (17(C)); no not guilty plea on a misdemeanor citation through the mail or over the counter (17(D)); bail for a trial by declaration placed in trust (17(E)); one change of proceeding type between a Court Trial and a Trial by Declaration, additional changes with judicial approval (17(G)); traffic school granted by the Clerk if the defendant is eligible, judicial approval for more than three (3) infractions or one (1) misdemeanor in the last two years, out-of-state driver licenses, the fee not converted to community service, and requests up to six (6) months after bail is forfeited and paid in full (17(H)); one 30-day extension and one 45-day traffic school extension granted by the Clerk without judicial approval (17(I)); payment plans set up by the Clerk (17(J)); community service for minors, the minor appearing on the 1st Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m., fines converted at double the minimum wage (17(K)); and motions and petitions filed in the Traffic Department in Merced or the Traffic Division of the Los Banos Clerk's Office, not accepted as a walk-in, set on an arraignment calendar at least one week out in Courtroom 9 in Merced or Courtroom 12 in Los Banos, petitions to reduce or vacate a civil assessment (rule 4.106) by walk-in or remotely by video, and ability-to-pay determinations (rule 4.335) requested in writing on form TR-320 or online (17(L))
California > Fifth Appellate District > Merced County > Superior Court of California, County of Merced
RULE 17: TRAFFIC RULES A. Traffic Notice to Appear Pursuant to VC Section 40500 Pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 40902, the Court hereby provides that a defendant may elect to have a trial by declaration upon any alleged infraction involving a violation of the California Vehicle Code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to said code. Testimony and other relevant evidence may be introduced in the form of a notice to appear issued pursuant to Vehicle Code Section 40500, a business record or receipt, a sworn declaration of the arresting officer, or a written statement or letter signed by the defendant. A request for a trial de novo pursuant to Vehicle Code Section 40902(d) must be filed no later than twenty (20) days from the date of mailing of the Court’s original decision. (Eff. 7/1/04; Rev. 1/1/13, 1/1/18; Renum. 7/1/18) B. Traffic Procedures Re: Failures to Appear (FTA) 1. FTA Deemed Election for Trial by Declaration Pursuant to Vehicle Code section 40903(a), the judicial officer presiding over a traffic matter may deem a defendant's failure to appear as an election for trial by written declaration upon any alleged infraction(s). In the defendant's absence, pursuant to Vehicle Code section 40903(b), the judicial officer will determine the issue of guilt on the alleged infraction(s) based on the notice to appear signed by the officer under penalty of perjury. (Eff. 7/1/18) 2. First Notice - Civil Assessment The Court’s Courtesy Notice includes notice to the defendant that FTA or comply with one of the options listed on the Courtesy Notice may result in civil assessments of up to one hundred dollars ($100). (Eff. 1/1/23; 7/1/24) 3. Second Notice – Referral for Debt Collection The Court will provide an additional FTA/Pay notice to the defendant as a warning. FTA or pay bail on or before the due date will result in the case being referred for debt collection. A civil assessment of up to one hundred dollars ($100) may be added to the original bail amount, pursuant to Penal Code Section 1214.1. (Eff. 1/1/23) 4. Final Notice -Report to DMV The Court will provide a final FTA/Pay notice to the defendant for FTA in court on or before the due date, and for failure to respond to the Court’s Courtesy Notice and Failure to Appear warning. This will result in the case being referred to the Court Collections Division. A civil assessment of up to one hundred dollars ($100) may be added to the original bail amount pursuant to Penal Code Section 1214.1. (Eff. 1/1/23; 7/1/24) C. Proof of Correction 1. The Clerk has authority to waive the mandatory appearance on Veh. Code § 40616 cases and accept proof of correction including the $25.00 proof of correction fee. For cases without proof of correction, the Clerk must accept the total bail due. 2. If a citation is issued as correctable, the Clerk will accept the signed off citation, along with the $25.00 proof of correction fee, and dismiss the charge. 3. If a citation is issued for tinted windows, Veh. Code § 26708(a)(1), the Clerk will accept the signed off citation along with the $25.00 proof of correction fee if the citation is marked correctable. 4. If a citation is issued for tinted windows, Veh. Code § 26708(a)(1), and Unlawful Operation after Notice of Unsafe Condition by Officer, Veh. Code § 24004, the Clerk will accept proof of correction on the Veh. Code § 26708(a)(1) and the $25.00 proof of correction fee. However, Veh. Code § 24004 is not correctable and is considered a moving violation with one point. The defendant may pay the bail and, if eligible, attend traffic school. 5. If a citation is issued for operating an unsafe vehicle, Veh. Code § 24002(a), and the officer has listed tinted windows as the offense, the Clerk will not accept proof of correction as this is also considered a moving violation with one point. The defendant may pay the bail and, if eligible, attend traffic school. 6. When a citation is issued for no proof of insurance, Veh. Code § 16028(a), if defendant brings or submits valid insurance showing valid coverage on or before the citation date, the Clerk may accept with $25.00 proof of correction fee and dismiss the charge. Defendants may take care of this matter without an appearance in court. This can be handled over the counter and/or through the mail. 7. When a citation is issued for driving without a valid driver’s license, Veh. Code § 12500(a), if defendant provides proof that their license was valid at the time of the citation, or if defendant shows proof that they obtained their license after the citation date, the Clerk may dismiss the charge with a $25.00 proof of correction fee. Payment in full is accepted over the counter. 8. When a citation is issued for no vehicle registration, Veh. Code § 4000(a), if defendant provides proof that their registration was valid at the time of the citation, or if defendant shows proof that they obtained their registration after the citation date, the charge may be dismissed with a $25.00 proof of correction fee. Payment in full is accepted over the counter. (Eff. 1/1/24) D. Not Guilty Plea on a Misdemeanor A defendant may not enter a plea of not guilty on a misdemeanor citation through the mail or over the counter. The defendant must appear in court. (Eff. 1/1/24) E. Post Bail Prior to Setting a Trial by Declaration If a defendant enters a plea of not guilty and requests a Trial by Declaration, payment of bail may be submitted at the time the declaration is submitted. Otherwise, the Clerk will notify the defendant of the date their payment is due. When a defendant posts bail for a trial by declaration, the money is placed in trust. (Eff. 1/1/24) G. Change of Proceeding Type A defendant may request to change the type of proceeding from Court Trial to Trial by Declaration, or from Trial by Declaration to Court Trial one (1) time. Any additional changes must be submitted in writing and will require judicial approval. (Eff. 1/1/24) H. Traffic School 1. The Clerk shall grant traffic school if the defendant is eligible. 2. The Clerk cannot grant Traffic school for defendants with more than three (3) infractions or one (1) misdemeanor on their driving record in the last two years, including traffic school dismissals. Traffic School in these cases would require judicial approval, either by personal appearance or by letter. If a defendant has a misdemeanor on their driving record that is over two years old, traffic school may be granted if otherwise eligible. 3. Out-of-State Driver License: Upon request and if otherwise eligible, a defendant with an out-of-state driver license shall be granted traffic school. 4. Community Service: Veh. Code § 42007 states bail associated with the citation, upon a Court’s order to grant Traffic School, shall become a fee. Therefore, the fee in a case resulting in Traffic School cannot be converted to Community Service. 5. Request after Case is Forfeited and Paid in Full: The Clerk may approve traffic school requests up to six (6) months after the defendant forfeited bail and paid in full, if the defendant is eligible. If the time exceeds six months, the defendant is required to appear in court. If travel time is more than an hour away, the request may be made by letter. (Eff. 1/1/24; Rev. 01/01/26) I. Requests for Continuance / Extensions of Time 1. General: A Clerk shall have the authority to grant one 30-day extension without judicial approval. Requests for extensions beyond 30 days shall require judicial approval. 2. Traffic School: A Clerk shall have the authority to grant one 45-day extension on all Traffic School cases whether or not a court appearance was made. Request for extensions beyond 45-days shall require judicial approval. (Eff. 1/1/24) J. Payment Plans The Clerk has authority to set up payment plans utilizing Plea by Mail instructions and forms through the mail, or over the counter utilizing a minute order and plea form. (Eff. 1/1/24) K. Community Service – Juvenile Matters: Upon request of the minor or their parent/legal guardian, or as ordered by the Court, the minor may be granted community service. The minor must appear in court as scheduled (1st Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m.). Fines are converted as required by Penal Code section 1209.5(c)(1) at an hourly rate of double the minimum wage established in Labor Code section 1182.12(b)(2). The Clerk’s office is authorized to accept the completion of community service over the counter and vacate the future hearing date as long as no other matters are pending on the case, except when charged with Health and Safety Code § 11357(b). A minor charged with Health & Safety Code § 11357(b) must appear in court as scheduled to present proof of completion of community service. L. Motions and Petitions All motions and petitions shall be filed in the Traffic Department in Merced or the Traffic Division of the Los Banos Clerk’s Office. Motions cannot be accepted as a walk-in and shall be scheduled on an arraignment calendar at least one week from the date received in the designated courtroom, unless assigned elsewhere by the court. In Merced, Traffic matters are set in Courtroom 9. In Los Banos, Traffic matters are set in Courtroom 12. (1/1/24) 1. Reduce or Vacate Civil Assessments – California Rules of Court, Rule 4.106 a. If the defendant received a notice that a civil assessment was added to the citation, the defendant may petition the court to reduce or vacate the assessment. b. The defendant may appear as a walk-in to be scheduled for a hearing or appear remotely by video (see Local Rule 2.2). c. A petition to reduce or vacate an assessment does not stay (stop) any order requiring payment of bail, fines, penalties, fees, or assessments unless specifically ordered by a judicial officer. d. If the defendant does not establish good cause as to why they did not appear or did not pay, the Court may still impose the civil assessment. e. The Court may consider such factors as a defendant’s due diligence in appearing or for payments made after notice of the assessment has been given. (Eff. 1/1/23) 2. Ability-to-Pay Determination – California Rules of Court, Rule 4.335 a. The defendant may request an ability-to-pay determination at the time of sentencing, if they are currently on an installment plan, or while the judgment remains unpaid, including when the defendant’s case is delinquent or in collections. b. The defendant has the right to a review by a judicial officer. A request for an ability-to-pay determination may be submitted in writing unless the Court directs a court appearance. The Court will consider any information or documentation the defendant provides that support the request. Judicial Council Form TR-320 may be used to make this written request and can be found at https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/TR- 320. The defendant may also apply online for a fee reduction, payment plan, and/or community service hours at https://mycitations.courts.ca.gov/home. c. The Court will make a determination based on the information and supporting documentation provided in the written request. Specific documentation as to defendant’s financial status will be required for the Court to make a determination. d. If an ability-to-pay determination has already been requested and a determination, made, a subsequent ability-to-pay determination may be requested only in the event of a change in financial circumstances. In order for the Court to consider an additional request, proof of the change in circumstance must be provided with the written request. e. Parties may use judicial council form TR-320, which can be found at Can’t Afford to Pay Fine: Traffic and Other Infractions | California Courts | Self Help Guide or apply online at https://mycitations.courts.ca.gov/home. (Eff. 1/1/23; Rev 01/01/26) RULE 18-99: [RESERVED]
RULE 17: TRAFFIC RULES A. Traffic Notice to Appear Pursuant to VC Section 40500 Pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 40902, the Court hereby provides that a defendant may elect to have a trial by declaration upon any alleged infraction involving a violation of the California Vehicle Code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to said code. Testimony and other relevant evidence may be intro
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-15 (California T4 Merced build 2026-10-15) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-merced/docs/local-rules/2026-july-local-rules.pdf (the court's rule book, its cover “MERCED COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT LOCAL RULES OF COURT EFFECTIVE July 1, 2026”, as fetched 2026-10-15; 711888 bytes, sha256 2fed23656f258d9056d180aa94888ac04a69db55e60e3b6c1a7a4b601cde7fbd; 112 pages; this part PDF pages 62 to 67, page marks 62 to 67) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow): the rules (PDF pages 13 to 97) composed as one text and cut at the rule headings that open each part (“RULE 1: COURT ORGANIZATION”, “RULE 2: FILING PROCEDURES”, “RULE 3: CIVIL RULES”, “RULE 16: CRIMINAL RULES”, “RULE 17: TRAFFIC RULES”, “RULE 100: PROBATE RULES – PREFACE”, “RULE 200: ACCESS TO JUVENILE COURT RECORDS”, “RULE 400: FAMILY LAW - GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT”, “RULE 500: APPELLATE DIVISION”), each matched once as a whole line; every page's running head (“Merced Superior Court”, named) and page mark (“13 | P a g e” to “97 | P a g e”, named) removed as chrome - 170 chrome lines; lines reflowed into the rules' paragraphs, each rule heading and lettered or numbered subdivision starting a line; the strike report (review/strike-report-2026-10-15.txt) finds no struck run in the book; 1 whitespace-only fix (build/book-fixes.json: Rule 2.1's “California Rules of Court,” and “Rule 1.150.”, split where a line opens “Rule 1.150”, rejoined); the vertical-gap, short-line, page-break, false-break, structural-break and row-join audits (review/book-gap-audit-2026-10-15.txt, review/book-short-lines-2026-10-15.txt, review/book-extra-audits-2026-10-15.txt) list candidates read one by one (build/book_fixes.py) - the rest kept as printed; proof 1 (whitespace-only) and proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) pass. The cover (PDF page 1), the judges' page (2), the summary of changes (3), the instructions (4 and 5), the contents (6 to 11), the cities and communities served (12), the list of rules and effective dates (98), the lists of approved local forms (99 to 107) and the index (108 to 112) belong to no card. Review note: Rule 17(B) warns of civil assessments of up to one hundred dollars ($100) on a failure to appear or pay (Eff. 1/1/23; 7/1/24), as do the Traffic page (carded: “up to $100.00 in civil assessment penalties”) and the Financial Hardship and Ability to Pay Your Fine page (carded: “an additional fee of up to $100”); Standing Order #2024-01 (carded) discontinued the imposition of civil assessments for failure to appear or failure to pay effective July 1, 2023, judicial discretion remaining - the review task asks whether the rule's notices and the pages still describe the court's practice. The book's Summary of Changes records the removal of subdivision f from Rule 17 and the rule prints none; its table of contents still lists “Speeding Violations – Veh. Code § 22348(b)” without a page. Rule 17(L) says motions “cannot be accepted as a walk-in”, while Rule 17(L)(1)(b) lets a defendant petitioning to reduce or vacate a civil assessment “appear as a walk-in to be scheduled for a hearing”. Standing Order 2022-06 (carded), the clerk's traffic procedures, states most of Rule 17's clerk procedures in the same words.
Division XI: information forms for data processing (Rule 11.2); required action - action taken on all calendared cases and a future date always set (Rule 11.19); and pro tem judges - an attorney named as a plaintiff in a civil or small claims case may not sit as a judge pro-tem during the case or within six months following its resolution, nor one named as a defendant in two or more such cases (Rule 11.22). Rules 11.1, 11.3 to 11.5, 11.7 to 11.18, 11.20 and 11.21 are repealed, and Rule 11.6 (voluntary arbitration; see Local Rule 10.2) was repealed and renumbered.
Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.