Quicker resolutions on traffic tickets among goals of new 36th District docket

Detroit drivers - and law enforcement officers - could be spending less time in court for traffic tickets, thanks to a new pre-hearing docket at Detroit's 36th District Court. The traffic ticket pre-hearing docket, which starts on Monday, Aug. 19, allows each driver to meet with a representative of the law enforcement agency that issued the ticket, explained Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Michael Talbot, the court's special judicial administrator. "Here's how it will work: at the pre-hearing, the driver can meet with a representative of the Detroit Police, Wayne County Sheriff, Michigan State Police - any law enforcement agency with authority to issue traffic tickets in Detroit. The representative will review the driver's record and determine whether the agency can offer a reduced plea. If the driver accepts the offer, he or she can go straight to the case window and pay the reduced ticket," Talbot said. "If the driver does not want to accept and requests a hearing, the court will then schedule the hearing, but no deals will be offered at that hearing," Talbot added. Deborah Green, Region I director of the State Court Administrative Office, said one goal of the pre-hearing docket is to reduce the time that drivers will spend in court to resolve a ticket. "We also believe that this docket will help keep more patrol officers out on the road, by reducing the number of days they have to be pulled off patrol to attend court hearings," Green said. A number of Michigan district courts already have similar programs for traffic tickets, Green noted. Published: Thu, Aug 15, 2013

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