Fighting a ticket, need to find some info....

1) I need to find out when a particular street sign was erected. I assume there is a public record of this....

2) I need to look at any laws associated with signing changes.

Where would I find this information? The city is Plano, btw....

Thanks!

 

County Commisioner's court has jurisdiction over setting speed limits in most places.

City Council has some obligation as well.

You probably will have to pull records of the meeting minutes to find out if there was a zone change ...

 

It was for an illegal left turn. According to the officer, the sign was in place for "about a month and a half".

I've driven that particular route on a regular basis for the better part of the past decade............... All they threw up were two small signs, no markings on the road, no "attention getters" around the sign, no "city *******" preventing a left turn, nada.....IMO, public safety isn't their first priority.

Where would I find those records of the meetings? City Hall?

 

Not knowing that a street sign is there when IT IS there is not a valid legal defense...the city has no legal duty to post up signs to let you know that a new traffic sign was posted or changed...you have a duty as a driver to stay aware of these things...The two “small signs” you mentioned will suffice for the state to meet its burden

IMO if this is your only defense then ask the prosecutor for a deferred or for a fine reduction, that will be the best that you can do...

 

I agree, go for deferred adjudication and a fine reduction, especially if your record is not too bad already. If that doesn't work, try requesting def. driving. It's hard to fight the system and it doesn't sound like you have much on your side.

 

I agree that this is gonna be an uphill battle.

Call your county commisioner and ask him/her where to get minutes from pervious meetings. BTW ... I doubt it will be free. There will probably be some sort of copying fee associated with the labor to make you the copies ...

 

what the hell is and illegal left? were in plano was this.. and i wont try to talk you out of fighting it becasue i know that youll wanna fight it anyways

 

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/index.htm

And you need to check your city/county ordinances.....

 

Thanks for the lecture Phat .........

Thank you, n2ceptor.

That's my goal. I HIGHLY doubt they'll throw it out, but I still believe public safety wasn't of their foremost concern, therefore, I feel obligated to scrutinize the incident.

Adam, pm sent.

 

I am working with a municipal court prosecutor and judge as their intern for the summer...only trying to help since I deal with this DAILY

 

...and I appreciate the advice......this rubbed me the wrong way though......

 

wasn't my intention to preach, just telling you what the prosecutor will more than likely say...anyways, good luck and let us know how it goes

aggiez28,
more like legal researcher, no coffee

 

So, your the Book-Boy, or should I say, you do all the work, and the attorney get the credit... Hope you get a bonus when the Firm wins a case.

 

No firm, it is a government job (municipal court)...and it goes more like this...I get excellent experience now and soon when I am done with law school I can get the nice paying job with interns to help ME out in the summers

Btw, the prosecutor & Judge do A LOT more work than any intern could ever do in an internship