Most infraction violations must be paid within 30 calendar days from the date the ticket was issued. Please read your citation for instructions to pay, attend a court hearing or other options or requirements.

If a ticket is not paid within 30 calendar days from the date of issuance, a suspension will be entered against your driver license, which could affect your insurance rates and will subject you to additional penalties.

If you receive a letter from the State of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (Florida DHSMV) informing you that your license will be suspended, you must comply on or before the business day prior (before) the date stated on the letter. The suspension date listed on the letter goes into effect at midnight on that date. Therefore, if you come in on the that date, you will be late and your license will already be suspended.

Tickets must be satisfied in the county in which they were issued. For example, if you received a traffic ticket in Tampa, Florida, you must pay for it in Hillsborough County. You may not pay for it in Pinellas County.

In Pinellas County, the Clerk’s 24-hour Automated Payment and Information Line, (727) 464-4846, will provide information about your traffic ticket including the amount of the civil penalty due, the options available to you to satisfy the charge, the due date, the status of the ticket and other general information. Using your VISA, Mastercard, American Express or Discover, you may also make a payment for any non-criminal, non-delinquent (within 30 days of issuance) ticket. Please have your copy of the ticket with you when you place the call. You will be charged a 3.5% convenience fee by the credit card processor for this service.

Deputy clerks cannot advise you on the number of points assessed against your driver history record or on how points will affect your insurance or how many times you have elected school. You must address these concerns with the Bureau of Driver Licenses and/or your insurance agent.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

If you have been arrested for a crime, the first decision that you have to make is who is going to be your attorney. If you have no resources, you may not have a choice but to have the court appoint you a public defender. But if you have some resources, you may wonder whether it is worth it to incur the expense of a private attorney. Perhaps we should consider the factors involved in this decision.

Court-appointed defender

The court appoints a public defender at no cost. But since the court appoints the lawyer, the defendant has no choice on who is picked for the job. If the public defender proves to be unsatisfactory, it may be difficult for a defendant to get a different court-appointed lawyer.

Such public defenders are employees of the government, and they tend to earn less than private attorneys.

Heavy caseloads

Also, since many people are unable to afford hiring a private lawyer of their own choice for their defense, private defenders also tend to have many, many clients and heavy caseloads. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 60 to 90 percent of defendants can’t afford to hire their own attorney and must instead have a court-appointed public defender.

Because of these factors, public defenders may have little time to meet with a defendant and prepare their client’s case. Indeed, as you may have seen on many lawyer TV series and movies, a public defender may have mere minutes to meet a defendant before demanding that the defendant choose a plea of guilty, not guilty or no contest.

Overworked

Being overworked by handling perhaps dozens of cases at a time, a public defender also may be more prone to making mistakes — mistakes which could cost a defendant dearly when he or she comes to trial.

Also, having a heavy caseload sometimes means a public defender is more likely to recommend a plea bargain agreement, also known as a “plea deal.” That avoids a trial by having the defendant plead guilty before a trial in exchange for certain considerations, such as a reduced sentence.

But plea bargains are not always a “bargain” for defendants.

Also, by trying to “plead out” as many cases as possible in order to ease their own caseload, public defenders may fail to take advantage of well-considered legal strategies to reduce a charge or even to get a charge dismissed before trial, or to reduce punishment after a guilty plea. A quick plea deal may mean the public defender’s caseload is reduced, but that could be at the expense of the defendant, who may wind up in jail.

Underpaid

How much are public defenders overworked and underfunded?

A lot.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that public defenders handle as many as 590 cases in one year. But the American Bar Association recommends that defense attorneys handle no more than 150 felony cases in one year.

Fordham University also reports that public defenders earn only about one-third what private attorneys make. Because public defenders tend to get lower wages, that also means there are fewer attorneys in this line of work, which leaves a heavier caseload for those who are public defenders.

Why Hire a Private Defense Attorney

While many public defenders are dedicated public servants, they are simply spread too thin to do the job that a private lawyer can do. Indeed, hiring a private attorney can have great advantages.

For instance, a defendant can choose his or her own private attorney, based on the attorney’s success record and other factors. Such a private lawyer will require a fee, unlike a court-appointed public defender, but that fee may be all that stands between freedom and jail time when a top-notch defense lawyer is needed.

Unlike public defenders, private lawyers tend to have a more focused caseload and have more time to spend with each client. This helps them to gain information and build an effective defense, while pinpointing flaws in the case of prosecutors — flaws which could enable a private lawyer to get a charge reduced or even dismissed, with no need for a trial.

A private lawyer also should have more legal resources to protect a defendant’s rights. He or she may engage an expert witness to testify in support of the defendant, or get a private lab to test the evidence.

A private defense lawyer also may have the means to track down security camera footage to prove a client’s innocence. And a private attorney is also likely to have paralegals and others on staff to assist in handling a case and protecting a defendant’s legal rights.

You also may find it far easier to contact your private attorney than a public defender, whose abilities are spread thinly over a wide array of cases, with little time to process them.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.