Thanks Steve, your LEO opinion is appreciated. My attitude is, I'm willing to pay the $131.00 without arguing. I'm the one who was in the wrong, and I own that. I'm also perfectly willing to pay a lower amount if that opportunity is offered to me. I am definitely unwilling to pay a greater amount. I guess a lot of it depends on the local courthouse. In my case, it will be handled out of the Southlake courthouse, in a very affluent part of northeast Tarrant county. They may be used to "stickin' it to the rich," or they may just as easily be used to "givin' the rich a special break." Or, as easily, they may not care one way or the other about the rich, and the fine is what it is. Period.srothstein wrote:Some of the posts here made me curious, so I looked it up. Chapter 548 of the Transportation Code is the chapter on inspections.
Section 548.605 is very clear that the court is required to drop the ticket if the inspection is fixed within 20 days of getting it if the inspection is less than 60 days out of date. It is also clear that a court MAY drop the ticket if it is fixed within 20 days but is older than 60 days.
So, the JP has the choice on the older expirations but must do it if less than 60 days expired.
And TAM, I thought I would point out one thing before you take it to a judge. When you actually go in front of the judge, all bets on the outcome are off, as are all limits on the ticket. He is not bound by the amounts printed for mailing in. The possible fine for a violation is anywhere from $1 to $200, plus court costs. We are currently running just over $100 dollars in mandated court costs (this money goes to various special funds, like the crime victim's fund). So when you see a fine of $131 on the ticket, it is actually about $25 fine and $106 in court costs. The judge can make it $200 in fines plus the same $106 in costs. It doesn't happen often, and he might lower the actual fine to $1 (I see that a lot), but the costs is still almost as much as just paying the ticket. And yes, he could actually dismiss the ticket if he wanted to, for a small charge (10-25 I think). Just wanted you to be aware of the whole situation to make a decision on it.
I'm probably just going to go pay the fine and take my lumps, lesson learned.