Michigan: Search & Pay Traffic Ticket Fines

Knowingly or unknowingly, you sometimes violate a traffic rule/law. And in Michigan, you are issued with a traffic ticket for traffic violation. Here, a traffic violation may be a misdemeanor or a civil infraction. 

There are specific sanctions chargeable under these violations but it can vary. Similar to other countries, Michigan also runs a driving point system. This system indicates that every traffic violation is assigned with specific point value.

Consequences of a traffic ticket

It is to be noted that traffic ticket, when issued, comes with a range of consequences. You may have to deal with one or more consequences whether you have paid the fine or not. However, these consequences depend on traffic violation. Consequences of a traffic ticket are listed as follows:

• Penalties or fines
• Hike in auto insurance rates
• Traffic ticket points
• License suspension 
• Imprisonment, in some cases 

Also Read: How to Pay NJMCDirect Traffic Ticket Online

Michigan Traffic Violations

Ways to Respond to Traffic Ticket in Michigan 

When you are charged with a traffic ticket, you need to respond to it within the allocated time. In general, the ticket’s due date for responding is 15 days from the date of issuance. 

There are mainly three ways that you can respond to your traffic ticket. These ways are described as follows:

• Pay the ticket fine
• Request a contested hearing
• Request a mitigation hearing 

Pay the Ticket Fine

It means that you accept being guilty of a traffic violation. It involves waiving off the right to fight against the issues of traffic tickets in court.

Request a mitigation hearing 

You can request a mitigation hearing when you accept being guilty of the issued traffic ticket. This option offers you the opportunity to reduce your ticket fine. 

When you request mitigation hearing, you may have to face the following consequences:

• Reduction in ticket fine
• Community service
• Monthly payment plan 

Please note that the court does not allow for appealing against the judge’s decision in this case. Further, if you wish to request a mitigation hearing, then look at your traffic ticket and follow the instructions. 

Request a contested hearing

You can request a contested hearing if you desire to plead “not guilty” against the violation. Further, you can do so by checking the proper check box on the issued traffic ticket. 

There, you will find the relevant county court to request hearing. You need to mail this county court regarding the request for a contested hearing.

Ways to Pay a Traffic Ticket in Michigan 

When you admit to being guilty of a traffic violation, you need to pay the ticket fine. Additionally, the Michigan court offers you different ways to pay for a traffic ticket.

Following are those ways using which you can pay your traffic ticket:

By Mail

To pay ticket by mail, you can pay through money orders or checks. However, you need to ensure that your mail mentions case number as well as defendant’s name. Ticket is payable through mail at the following address:

3-A District Court

31 Division St

Coldwater, MI 49036

By Phone

You can make ticket payment through phone using credit and debit cards. GovPayNOW governs traffic ticket payment through phone. However, convenience fees are charged either 6% of total paid amount or $11.00 whichever is higher. The toll-free number to pay traffic ticket is

888-604-7888

In person

If you wish to pay ticket in person, then you can do this by visiting at the District Court. The court accepts ticket payment made through cash, money order or check. However, it is a time-consuming method since it involves personal visit to court. 

Here is the address to the court for ticket payment:

3-A District Court

31 Division St

Coldwater, MI 49036

Pay Traffic Ticket Fine Online

Method 1:

With advanced technologies, Michigan Court has kept its pace through online method. It is the easiest mode among ticket payment methods. If you wish to pay ticket online, you need to visit GovPayNOW website. 

Additionally, you can pay online using debit or credit card. Moreover, GovPayNOW charges a convenience fee for online payment of traffic ticket. Minimum fee of 3.5% of amount paid or $3.50, whichever is higher, is chargeable on online payments. 

In order to make online payment, you need to follow the below mentioned steps:

• Firstly, visit the official portal of GovPayNOW and provide some information. 
• You need to fill crucial information correctly such as:
  • Defendant’s name
  • Ticket or case number
  • Residential address
  • Zip code
  • Contact details (Phone and fax number)
  • Email address
• After filling information, you need to select the “Yes” box under “I plead guilty”. 
• Then click on “Continue” to proceed further to pay online. 
• After that, provide your payment information and complete the payment transaction. 

Method 2:

There is another official website available in Michigan for paying traffic tickets online. Michigan Government introduced an online ticket payment system. This system provides a new interactive tool to users for paying civil infraction tickets. You can pay for all traffic and non-traffic-related tickets through this system. 

Further, you can use Discover, Visa, or MasterCard to make payments on this website. To make an online ticket payment, you should follow the procedure as below:

• First of all, visit the official portal of Michigan Government using the link http://e.courts.michigan.gov/.
• You should then fill up basic information including name, ticket number, address and contact details. Then you should provide payment information and authorize your transaction. 

Once your transaction is completed, it will update in the system. However, it may take some time to get your ticket status updated in the system. 

GovPayNOW/Michigan.gov is a government-owned online portal. Therefore, your payment information and transaction is secure and safe.  

Search Michigan Traffic ticket 

If you want to search your traffic ticket, then you can do in the simplest manner. This way is online searching of MI traffic ticket. For this, you need to visit Michigan.gov official portal and provide some information. 

The following information needs to be filled in the given fields:

• Full name
• Date of birth 
• Driving License number

Reasons You Cannot Find MI Traffic Ticket

There may be many times when you are unable to find MI traffic ticket. So here is the list of reasons when you cannot find MI traffic ticket online:

• System shows only civil infraction for online payments
• There may be mismatch of information provided by you for search and information entered by the court. 
• Failure to pay ticket fine on time does not display traffic ticket. Consequently, arrest warrant is issued against the defendant for not paying fine on time. 
• Driving license number or date of birth is not displayed on parking tickets. So, you may find parking violation ticket using License plate if ticket is issued to registered owner. Further, tickets will not be displayed when the license of registered owner is on hold due to parking tickets being unpaid. 
• When you search for ticket, make sure you have provided information correctly. 
• The policy agency has not yet provided ticket information to the court. In this case, you should try searching after some days. However, make sure to check ticket’s due date. 
• More than 100 district courts exist in the State of Michigan. Therefore, make sure you choose appropriate county and court where the offense has occurred. 

Fight Michigan Traffic Ticket 

If you plead “not guilty”, it means that you are willing to fight against the ticket issued. In such a case, you need to fight in court. You can represent your “not guilty” case either through an attorney or in person. 

When you fight your traffic ticket, you can avoid license suspension, hiked insurance rates or ticket fines. To fight ticket, you have the option to hire an attorney. 

The traffic ticket attorney has the following functions when you fight your ticket:

• To represent you in the court during hearing
• To request your case discovery
• To make negotiations with prosecutor for reducing fines
• To respond to your ticket by requesting a contested hearing 

Traffic violations are common in Michigan and tickets are issued against traffic violation. It is advisable to respond to your traffic ticket within the due period. It is because delay in response may lead to serious consequences such as imprisonment.

You can also check:

• How to Pay Traffic Ticket in Texas
• Ways to Pay Traffic Ticket in Maryland
• Steps to Pay Traffic Ticket Fines in New York
• Methods to Pay Motor Vehicle Ticket Fines in Florida
• NJMCDirect Motor Vehicle Traffic Ticket Fines

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)