Handle a ticket

A plea of no contest will be entered upon receipt of payment. A no contest plea means that a defendant is not admitting guilt.

You can pay for your ticket in one of four ways:

• Call the courthouse at (512) 974-4800
• Mail a check or money order to Austin Municipal Court, P.O. Box 2135 Austin, TX 78768-2135 with the following information:
  • License plate number
  • Date of violation
  • Citation number
  • Your contact information (Name, Address, Phone number)
• Go to one of the two courthouse locations:
  • Main Courthouseopen_in_new: 6800 Burleson Road, Building 310, Ste 175 Austin, Texas 78744
  • Jaime Padron Substationopen_in_new: 12425 Lamplight Village Avenue Austin, Texas 78758

If you are unable to pay, you can request alternative payment options.open_in_new

You can ask for a deferral in judgement depending on the kind of offense. A request for deferral includes a no contest plea. A deferral is a postponement of judgement. It gives you a window of time to remedy or offset an offense, for example by obtaining and maintaining insurance, or by taking a driver safety course. You must also pay associated court fees and avoid committing the same kind of infraction during the deferral period. If you can successfully complete the terms of your deferral, the case will be dismissed. The exact cost of your deferral varies and will be reflected in the online case portal after your request is processed. You can also use this fine scheduleopen_in_new to estimate costs.

For some infractions, you may be able to show the court that you fixed the issue online or in person and request that the case be dismissed. This is called a compliance dismissal and it sometimes carries an associated fee of up to $20. You can fill out an online form to request a compliance dismissal for common issues such as:

• No driver's license
• Failure to display driver's license
• Expired driver's license
• No motorcycle license
• No child safety seat
• No insurance
• Expired registration
• Unregistered vehicle
• Unregistered out-of-state vehicle

Other charges, such as defective equipment, may also be eligible for compliance dismissals. If you don't see your charge listed, please contact the court to ask if your charge is eligible and to learn the documentation necessary to request a dismissal.

For disabled parking violations, you can submit an online form to show that you were not responsible for the vehicle at the time of the offense or that you did have a disabled parking placardopen_in_new.

In a hearing you will discuss your case with a judge.

If you would like to discuss your case with a prosecutor you can e-mail the court to request that.

If you would like to waive your right to a hearing—also called appearance docket—and go straight to trial, you can use an online form to request a trial by judgeopen_in_new or e-mail the court to request a trial by jury.