6 Administrative Order No. 6. Traffic Offense Procedure

For the purpose of instituting uniform administrative procedures in those courts handling traffic offenses, the Supreme Court, under the authority of 4 V.S.A. § 3, issues the following order:

§ 1. All prosecutions of traffic offenses as defined in 23 V.S.A. § 2201, with the exception of violations of municipal ordinances which regulate, restrict or define the time, place or manner of parking a motor vehicle and violations of municipal ordinances regulating parking so as not to interfere with the policing, construction or maintenance of the highways, including but not limited to snow removal, shall be instituted by means of the Vermont Uniform Traffic Ticket, hereinafter known as the traffic ticket.

§ 2. The traffic ticket shall consist of five parts:

(a) The court’s copy. This shall also be known as the complaint. It shall contain information as follows:

(1) necessary to specify the traffic offense, the time and place of the offense, the individual accused of committing the offense and any other information pertinent to the commission of the offense. It shall also contain the time and place of court appearance and the name of the complaining law enforcement officer;

(2) the permanent court record, including all proceedings and the final disposition of the case.

(b) The copy for the department of motor vehicles after conviction. This shall also be known as the abstract of the court record. It shall contain all information specified in § 2(a)(1) and (2).

(c) The prosecutor’s copy. It shall also be known as the prosecutor’s record. It shall contain all information specified in § 2(a)(1) and (2).

(d) The officer’s copy. This shall also be known as the police record. It shall contain all information specified in § 2(a)(1). It shall also contain information concerning the offense that would be helpful to the officer in the preparation of testimony in case of trial; and information concerning the condition of the vehicle used in the commission of the offense, if applicable.

(e) The violator’s copy. This shall also be known as the summons. It shall contain all information specified in § 2(a)(1). It shall also contain information concerning pleading for the violator.

§ 3. Each traffic ticket shall contain the following two paragraphs which shall be prominently displayed in bold-faced type:

(a) Failure to comply with the instructions on this ticket will result in the suspension of your operator’s license, or privilege to operate a motor vehicle.

(b) If you admit you have committed a traffic offense or are judged to have committed the offense, you will be liable to a fine, and in addition, your operator’s license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle or your certificate of registration and number plate are subject to suspension and revocation as prescribed by law.

§ 4. Pursuant to agreement, the commissioner of motor vehicles will be responsible for the issuance of and accounting for the traffic tickets. The commissioner may promulgate procedures, rules and regulations for the issuance of and accounting for the traffic tickets with the approval of the court administrator.

§ 5. The court administrator shall make periodic inspections of issuing and accounting procedures of the commissioner.

§ 6. All traffic tickets shall be numbered in sequence. A record shall be kept of the law enforcement agency to which the traffic tickets are issued and the numbers of the traffic tickets that have been issued to that agency. All law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers shall be responsible to account for each and every ticket issued to them.

§ 7. Any traffic ticket which is spoiled for any reason, including but not limited to error or faulty ticket, and not served upon a violator, shall be voided by the issuing law enforcement officer and returned to the agency responsible for the issuance of the traffic ticket as specified in § 4, supra.

§ 8. The schedule of fines as defined in 23 V.S.A. § 2205(b) shall only be applicable to those traffic offenses in which personal appearance in court by the violator is not required by the prosecuting attorney.

§ 9. All records of court proceedings, docket entries, and other pertinent information relating to the adjudication of traffic offenses shall be made on the reverse side of the court’s copy, the copy for the department of motor vehicles after conviction, and the prosecutor’s copy.

§ 10. Following final disposition of a traffic offense either by plea or trial and payment of fine, the district court shall forward the abstract of the court record to the department of motor vehicles.