Does anyone out there know TX state traffic law well? Here's the background...
12/21/06- pulled over for speeding in a rural west texas county by a sheriff. He writes me a ticket, I ask him if he wants my current address, as it's not on the license. Of course, he never asked. He just wrote the ticket, and then I offered to help him with this. In the state I come from, you don't need to get a new license when you move. You only have to file a change of address with the Licensing Department. So after I let him know this, he offers to request that the ticket be dropped if I show up at the courthouse in the morning. Of course I'm going to do that! I show up, it's closed. I call. No answer. I end up leaving town and call once a week for a month, leaving messages that explain what this deputy told me. No returned calls. No nothing.
After a year I throw the ticket away. I figure they didn't want the headache and dropped it.
10/22/08- Failure to appear is filed by the Justice of the Peace. I didn't know this, as I had NEVER been contacted.
09/15/09- My parents let me know they're being called repeatedly by a law firm.
10/05/09- I follow up on it and find out that the ticket hasn't been dropped. I call the justice of the peace, she denies having any record of me calling. Apparently the issuing deputy no longer works with them. I end up finding out that the reason I was never contacted was that the deputy completely misspelled my address and wrote down the wrong Driver's License Number. This all happened when the license was in his hand, right in front of his face!
10/05/09- I discuss this with both the law firm and the Justice's office (the law firm referred me to the JoP). I decide to pay the ticket online, but not the failure to appear (as there's no link to it). I state my case with the JoP and get no substantial response. I call again and the phone line gets disconnected.
This doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the case, BUT I drive precious cargo around for work. If this goes on my record, I will most likely lose my job, as my traffic record was brought up as an almost issue when I was hired. The court is basically refusing to admit to any fault on the part of the county, even though the deputy was obviously acting as a representative of the county by enforcing its laws.
I've been told by a former Texas parking enforcer that ANY wrong information on a ticket will nullify it. Is this true? Is it true for traffic tickets? What recourse do I have? Do I just get fired and sue for damages? Because It's highly likely I'll get fired because of this county's incompetence and/or laziness.
12/21/06- pulled over for speeding in a rural west texas county by a sheriff. He writes me a ticket, I ask him if he wants my current address, as it's not on the license. Of course, he never asked. He just wrote the ticket, and then I offered to help him with this. In the state I come from, you don't need to get a new license when you move. You only have to file a change of address with the Licensing Department. So after I let him know this, he offers to request that the ticket be dropped if I show up at the courthouse in the morning. Of course I'm going to do that! I show up, it's closed. I call. No answer. I end up leaving town and call once a week for a month, leaving messages that explain what this deputy told me. No returned calls. No nothing.
After a year I throw the ticket away. I figure they didn't want the headache and dropped it.
10/22/08- Failure to appear is filed by the Justice of the Peace. I didn't know this, as I had NEVER been contacted.
09/15/09- My parents let me know they're being called repeatedly by a law firm.
10/05/09- I follow up on it and find out that the ticket hasn't been dropped. I call the justice of the peace, she denies having any record of me calling. Apparently the issuing deputy no longer works with them. I end up finding out that the reason I was never contacted was that the deputy completely misspelled my address and wrote down the wrong Driver's License Number. This all happened when the license was in his hand, right in front of his face!
10/05/09- I discuss this with both the law firm and the Justice's office (the law firm referred me to the JoP). I decide to pay the ticket online, but not the failure to appear (as there's no link to it). I state my case with the JoP and get no substantial response. I call again and the phone line gets disconnected.
This doesn't necessarily have any bearing on the case, BUT I drive precious cargo around for work. If this goes on my record, I will most likely lose my job, as my traffic record was brought up as an almost issue when I was hired. The court is basically refusing to admit to any fault on the part of the county, even though the deputy was obviously acting as a representative of the county by enforcing its laws.
I've been told by a former Texas parking enforcer that ANY wrong information on a ticket will nullify it. Is this true? Is it true for traffic tickets? What recourse do I have? Do I just get fired and sue for damages? Because It's highly likely I'll get fired because of this county's incompetence and/or laziness.
