Court

[Kate]

On a weekly basis, how often do you have to attend court? On days that you do have to go, how long are you usually there? What is the most common reason you have to make a court appearance?

Also, officers that are assigned to work at the courthouse, i.e. protection in the courtroom, etc. - are they usually retired officers, or are there officers trained specifically for that job?

Thanks in advance.

Kate

[JD45]

Traffic court is usually on a weekly basis depending on how many people are contesting the ticket. That's the most common reason for me to be in court.

Other than that, just the obvious. Preliminary hearings, motions to supress and jury trials.

Traffic court is about an hour or so depending on when the judge hears your case. Prelims are pretty fast. 1-2 hours max, again depending on when the judge can hear the matter. Jury trials depends on the type of crime and what's involved.

[Retired Trooper]

Im there at least every 2 weeks for a few hours.

[acreature]

I have an assigned date once a month. Superior Court cases are always on standby, and would be called in at the last minute. Juvenile Court is the same way.

[mcsap]

Traffic court is 5 days a week although how much an officer goes depends on how many tickets they write and how many plead not guilty. Criminal Court is every other month and I get placed on standby a lot more than I get called in.

I might have 3 or 4 traffic cases per month and criminal court I might actually go in 3 or 4 times per year. We prosecute ALL traffic cases without a DA, criminal court is handled by a DA.

[tpd_six]

I usually average an hour or two of court time a week, sometimes longer if I have a full trial, which is really pretty rare, maybe once every month or two. Most of the time you get the subpoena and they either plead in or settle somehow and you end up not needing you to testify after all.

Most of my appearances are for traffic offenses where the person plead not guilty just to stall the system. I have quite a few cases for domestic violence and drug & alcohol offenses, DUI, intoxication, etc. Most of my appearances in District Court are for felony drug cases, thefts, and burglaries.

In my state, each city has a Justice Court which handles most misdemeanors and traffic offenses. It is usually only held one day a week. Felonies and class A misdemeanors are handled in District Court. The cities usually provide a bailiff for the Justice Court, we have a retired officer who does it part time, but a lot of the time we end up having to fill in there.

The bailiffs in District Court work for the county sheriff for whichever distict the court is in. They handle court security and prisoner transports to and from the jail. Most of them are younger officers and that is their only function.

[Oldbillplod]

Court for me is like waiting to catch a bus, I won't get an appearance for months and then loads will come along at once

[Babysmamadrama]

I go once a month for sure on Muni court, and on average every three months on the State Circuit Court.

[Tankus]

a good traffic copper rarely has a ticket contested and therefore doesnt spend time in court......spends more time on the road giving out tickets......lol


seriously.....i went through a phase where i was in court every second day...or whenever it was sitting....then i didnt have any for months.....time place circumstance i guess

[JD45]

a good traffic copper rarely has a ticket contested and therefore doesnt spend time in court......spends more time on the road giving out tickets......lol


seriously.....i went through a phase where i was in court every second day...or whenever it was sitting....then i didnt have any for months.....time place circumstance i guess

It does seem to come and go in phases doesn't it??