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If you’ve lost your Nassau County traffic ticket, don’t fret. There are ways to search for and look up those tickets without having to pay any additional fees. But keep in mind that misplacing or losing your ticket is not justification for failing to respond or to appear in court. You are required by law to respond to your ticket whether you’ve lost it or not.
Nassau County Traffic Ticket Costs
Before we get into the process for finding lost Nassau County traffic tickets, we’d like to discuss what those tickets cost. Most traffic tickets in this county will fall into one of the following pricing categories:
- $150.
- $175.
- $200.
- $225.
- $250.
- $300.
These categories cover a long, long list of violations, offenses, and crimes and still don’t include every single law under New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL). There are plenty of violations that, if you’re convicted, can result in you having to pay well over $300. However, a pretty accurate rule of thumb is that your Nassau County traffic ticket will include a fine between $150 and $300.
But that’s only the beginning. Once you’re convicted of a traffic ticket, you have to pay much more than just the fine. There are also surcharges, any number of applicable fees, and insurance premium increases. Depending on the particular circumstances of your specific case, you might even have to pay financial damages if the court finds you liable for them.
Surcharges
There are two kinds of surcharges in New York State: civil and criminal. Civil surcharges related to traffic convictions make up the majority of surcharges charged each year in the state. Criminal surcharges, on the other hand, are less common but oftentimes much more expensive. However, when people say “surcharges” in the context of traffic law, they’re almost always talking about civil surcharges. So that’s what we’ll talk about here.
Surcharges are often considered hidden fees. The reason for this is the fact that most people don’t know they’ll have to pay them until after they’ve already plead guilty. That is, you are not charged a surcharge for a traffic ticket until after your conviction has been confirmed by the traffic court. You might plead guilty to a $150 traffic ticket only to find yourself paying nearly a hundred dollars more.
Traffic ticket surcharges in Nassau County come in three different varieties: $0, $55, and $88. Which surcharge you have to pay depends on your conviction. The violation that you’ve been found guilty of and where that violation took place are the two most important factors in determining this. For example, a ticket for one violation might cost you an $88 surcharge in Nassau County but a $93 surcharge in New York City.
Applicable Traffic Ticket Fees
Applicable fees account for another sizable portion of traffic ticket costs in Nassau County. Common fees can cost anywhere from $2 to $125 and less common fees can cost even more. The table below lists the titles, costs, and descriptions of a few of Nassau County’s most likely applicable fees:
| Title | Cost | Description |
| Public Safety Fee | $55.00 | This fee applies to each traffic and camera violation. |
| Driver Responsibility Fee | $45.00 | This fee applies to each traffic and camera violation. |
| Initial Deferred Payment Fee | $15.00 | This fee applies to each ticket when granted approval for a deferred payment plan. |
| Subsequent Deferred Payment Fee | $10.00 | This fee applies to each ticket each time a deferral is granted. Multiple deferrals for the same ticket can result in multiple instances of this fee. |
| Scofflaw or Default Judgment Administrative Processing Fee | $15.00 | This fee applies to any scofflaw or default judgment. |
| Default Conviction Administrative Processing Fee | $75.00 | This fee applies to any default conviction. A default conviction occurs when you fail to appear in court for a scheduled trial or hearing. |
| Motion to Vacate Disposition Fee—Written Application Fee | $125.00 | This fee applies to any written application for a motion to vacate a disposition. |
| Motion to Vacate Disposition Fee—Oral Application Fee | $50.00 | This fee applies to any verbal request for a motion to vacate a disposition. |
| Transfer of Notice of Liability Fee | $30.00 | This fee applies when reassigning the Notice of Liability for a red light camera or speed camera violation. |
| Credit Card Chargeback Processing Fee | $50.00 | This fee applies when reversing any credit card transaction. It may also result in additional Motion to Vacate Disposition Fees. |
| Bounced Check Fee | $25.00 | This fee applies any time that a check bounces during processing. |
| Convenience Fee | $2.00 | This fee applies to each ticket when using a credit card to pay a ticket over the phone or at 16 Cooper Street. |
| Suspension Lift Fee | $70 (or $400) | This fee applies when lifting a suspension. |
Car Insurance Premium Increases
The government does not directly increase your insurance premiums as a result of a traffic ticket conviction. In fact, it’s possible, though highly unlikely, that your insurance premiums won’t increase at all following a ticket. The much more probable outcome, however, is this: The DMV will add your conviction to your driving record abstract and insurance providers will use it to increase your insurance rates for up to four years.
Rising insurance premiums are often the most expensive part about getting a traffic ticket. A single conviction for a speeding ticket, for example, could result in your premiums rising by 29.5%. If you’re paying the average price for car insurance in the state ($1,600), that would mean an added $472 every year for four years.
Add that to your fine, surcharge, and applicable fees and you could find yourself paying well over $2,000 in total.
How To Find Your Nassau County Traffic Ticket
To find a lost Nassau County traffic ticket, use the Nassau County Traffic & Parking Violations Agency Online Self Service portal. This portal is a simple and easy-to-use website with a straightforward user interface that turns finding lost tickets into less of a hassle. Compared to other counties in the state, this service is fantastic.
Start by going to https://nc.surecourt.com/search. Once there, you’ll immediately see the Search for Summons section. It includes three different methods of searching for your ticket: searching by summons number, license plate and state, or personal information. That page also includes a brief list of icons displaying the payment methods the county accepts should you decide to pay your ticket through that portal once you find it.
- Search by summons.
Your summons number (a.k.a., citation numbers of ticket numbers) is the five- to seven-digit number on your ticket. This option is the most direct way to find your ticket. Think of summons numbers as your ticket’s fingerprints. Summons numbers are unique to each ticket, meaning only one ticket in the county’s system will have that summons number: your ticket.
The problem is that most people don’t have photographic memories or just don’t remember to take photographs of their tickets right after receiving them. If you don’t remember your summons number or have a record of it somewhere accessible, then you won’t be able to use this search method.
- Search by license plate and state.
This search method allows you to enter your vehicle’s license plate number and state. It’s designed to pull up not just the ticket you’re looking for but each and every single ticket that the county has a record of for that vehicle. Even if you’re not looking for a specific ticket, this could be a helpful search to perform because it can show you tickets that you might not have known about.
- Search by personal information.
This search method functions similarly to the option to search by license plate and state in that it shows all of the tickets that match your personal information. To search using this method, you’ll need access to the following pieces of information:
- Your driver license number.
- The name of the state that issued your driver license.
- Your last name.
- Your date of birth.
Once you’ve entered each of those pieces of information into the relevant search fields, you’ll be able to click “Search” and find all of the tickets that Nassau County has issued in your name.
How To Pay Your Nassau County Ticket
Before you decide to pay a Nassau County traffic or parking ticket, download the WinIt app or go to www.appwinit.com and talk to an attorney. You might find that your odds of beating your case are better than you think, which can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the long run.
If, however, you’ve decided that you’re going to accept the costs of your ticket and pay it anyway, you can still do that through WinIt. WinIt’s app and website both allow you the opportunity to remit payments to the Nassau County traffic court system over the Internet with the push of a button.
Alternatively, you can use the Nassau County Traffic & Parking Violations Agency Online Self Service portal or travel to the address listed on your ticket and pay in person.
