Speeding Tickets

[patricksouthern]

Copy/pasted from the October LSAT results waiting thread, because no one else knew what to tell me.

I started freaking out a bit last night, realized I didn't have specific info on past speeding tickets (a couple of law schools I'm applying to actually said they wanted dates and other details on those) so I went to the DMV today. Got my driving record. It has nothing on it -- which is odd, because I know I've gotten two speeding tickets in this state in my life. I was told they remove them from your record after seven years. Is there some other avenue I need to pursue to get that information for applications? I'm not sure I'd even know where to start.

Also, I had an incident two years ago where I was pulled over and cited for driving with an expired registration (the sticker on my license plate was dead; it was still registered to my family's address in another part of the state, blah blah). Had to ultimately go to the courthouse once I got the documentation and prove that I had a valid registration. This also didn't show up on my records from the DMV. Would that be somewhere else? Do I have to wrangle with the courthouse to get some of this stuff? Does it even matter, since it doesn't appear this stuff will be readily cross-referenced by schools or the state bar when time comes for the bar? Am I making a big deal about nothing solely because I'm ready for score release day to get here already?

[rebexness]

[patricksouthern]

Did you have the option of a full driving record vs just an insurance record? State PD? Sorry that the DMV wasnt any luck.

Re: options, nope, didn't have any. I'm going to try the state police tomorrow, I suppose. This is making me really unsure about what to do re: my apps.

[kalvano]

I just included an addendum that said something like:

"I've had a lot of tickets because I've been driving for 15 years and cops around here are assholes. I can't locate them all, but below I've disclosed the ones I can find information on:

Speeding - Addison, Texas (10/31/1999)
Speeding - Plano, Texas (02/01/2002)
Etc., etc., etc.

Any omission is not intentional or an attempt to hide them, but instead an inability to locate the necessary information."


That worked fine for me. The school doesn't care. It's for the state bar to compare to your record and see if you lied.

[elcee1987]

I'm from Washington State, and just paid $13 for a complete copy of my driving record, all online through the DMV website. Hopefully your state has that option. It was super quick for me and had all of the dates and everything I needed.

[The Valkyrie]

Maybe go to the court clerk in the court where you got the tickets and copy the file if they still have it?

[nolabreeze]

I had the same problem where I knew for sure I had a speeding ticket that wasn't showing up on my driving record. If you remember what county and state you can try emailing the county clerk or one of the courts. That worked for my ticket in Alabama (I had also called 5 different numbers that directed me to 5 other numbers that all deadended.) It was a headache but I now have a copy of the ticket.