I am working on my criminal history addendum and was able to track down all of my traffic violations except for one. I was driving through the middle of Colorado and got a speeding ticket 7 years ago. The CO DMV is unable to provide any information on the incident and since I don't know what county the event took place I don't know where else to look for specific information. How are other people handling this type of situation? Is it really necessary to provide the exact specifics to these traffic violations?
Below are a couple of options I came up with. What do you think?

Summer 2001. Traffic Violation – Colorado.
I was issued a citation for speeding. The fine was paid and the issue was resolved.

Summer 2001. Traffic Violation – Colorado.
I was issued a citation for speeding. The fine was paid and the issue was resolved. I contacted the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles to inquire about the specifics of the incident and was unable to locate a record of the violation.

I just put all the ones I can remember and stated that, due to the age of the infraction and the fact that they were dismissed, records were unavailable, and that any omission is not intentional or purposeful.

That should satisfy the Bar, as I had a couple lawyers look at it.

They just don't want to catch you lying or not disclosing the fact that you killed a hooker and drove around with her in the trunk for 3 weeks before getting caught.

great example

Do not leave ANYTHING off. Disclose EVERYTHING you even for a moment think that you need to.

I have a similar problem.

I am writing my addendum in the format of a business letter, directed to each specific school's admissions committee. Is that appropriate? Also, is it acceptable to save/upload the document to my applications with the title "Criminal History?" The offense of California VC 23111--throwing a cigarette butt out of a vehicle...I feel like the title 'criminal history' is more alarming than the actual offense...

My addendum reads:

November 3, 2009

School Name
Address 1
City, State, Zip

School Name Admissions:

On August 19, 2008 I had a court appearance for California citation VC 23111—throwing a cigarette butt out of a vehicle window. I was assessed a fine of $419.00 to be paid by December 17, 2008. The court extended my due date until April 19, 2009 because of a financial hardship. The issue was resolved after I paid the ticket in full on April 8, 2009.

The above dates are accurate to the best of my knowledge but due to the dismissal of my infraction court records are unavailable.

Sincerely,


Advice would be appreciated...

Are you sure that is not just an infraction in CA?

Is it necessary to include the exact code and payment ammount for the violation? Below is an example of what I have been doing. Do you think I need more information?

06/15/2007 – Traffic Violation – Ventura County, CA
I was issued a speeding ticket for exceeding the maximum speed limit of 65mph. The fine was paid and the matter was resolved.

I think only VERY specific schools ask for this much information ... most of them just want to know about anything "other than minor traffic violations" right?!

It very well may be. I am airing on the side of caution at the advice of the schools on my list.

[quote="Hattori Hanzo"][quote="karlieann"]
On August 19, 2008 I had a court appearance for California citation VC 23111—throwing a cigarette butt out of a vehicle window. I was assessed a fine of $419.00 to be paid by December 17, 2008. The court extended my due date until April 19, 2009 because of a financial hardship. The issue was resolved after I paid the ticket in full on April 8, 2009.
quote]

My personal opinion would be to leave out the part about extending your due date. I would just say this:

On August 19, 2008 I had a court appearance for California citation VC 23111—throwing a cigarette butt out of a vehicle window. I was assessed a fine of $419.00. The issue was resolved after I paid the ticket in full on April 8, 2009.

Thanks for the advice. I just don't want them to wonder why it took so long for me to pay it off.

And how do we feel about it formatted as a letter? It feels too informal to just throw those two sentences on a page, ya know?

You can format essentially however you would like. Admissions offices don't care about that. Like kalvano said, they just want to make sure that you're not a bonafide criminal. I have two speeding tickets, a drinking in public infraction, and a DUI. I simply wrote a paragraph for each of the two more serious infractions. The two speeding tickets I rattled off in a sentence each. I was still accepted into WUSTL with $$. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself though...I have yet to hear back from t14 schools.

Being over cautious is always the best policy. The function of asking these questions is so that the school avoids accepting an applicant that won't be able to pass the bar and to allow itself and future bar examiners a method of determining whether you were honest.

I had a bunch of traffic violations on my record and the extent of the problem it caused me was my character and fitness interviewer making fun of me for it before he rubber stamped my admission to the NY bar and asked how the partners he knows at my firm were doing. In short. Overdisclose and don't worry about it.