PAYMENT OF TRAFFIC VIOLATION PENALTIES
Failure to pay a traffic ticket issued by the Goodlettsville Police Department will result in your driver’s license being suspended by the State of Tennessee Department of Safety.
Please choose one of the following 4 options for settlement of your traffic offense.
1) By mail:
You may mail your ticket with a check or money order for the fine amount to the following address:
Traffic Violations Bureau
105 South Main Street
Goodlettsville, TN 37072
Your payment must be received before your court date listed at the bottom of the ticket. Make your check or money order payable to The City of Goodlettsville. Please do not send cash in the mail.
2) In Person:
You may pay your traffic ticket in person Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (except holidays) by coming to the Goodlettsville City Hall building at 105 South Main Street in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. (This is at the intersection of Long Hollow Pike and Main Street, across the street from Eckerd Drug Store and Walgreen’s Drug Store) Enter City Hall and the Police Department is on the left side of the lobby. Go to the Court Clerk’s Office window just off the lobby. Acceptable payment methods are cash, debit card, credit card, (Master Card, Visa, Discover), personal check or money order if the ticket is being paid before the court date assigned.
Personal checks will not be accepted on tickets after the court date ahs passed. Late tickets can only paid with cash or money orders. Late fees will be added.
3) Go to Court and Plead Guilty:
You may choose to go to Court on the date assigned at the bottom of your ticket and plead guilty. If this is your first offense in our City, you may ask the Judge if it would be possible to attend our first offender driver improvement school. If the Judge feels this is an acceptable solution, you will be assigned a date for a Driving School. (See schools below)
For more serious violations or repeat offenders the Judge may order you to pay the assigned fine plus court costs or he may assign you to an 8-hour Defensive Driving School. (See schools below).
4) Go to Court and Plead Not Guilty:
You may choose to plead not guilty. Not guilty pleas are only heard on one court night each month. You must call the Court Clerk’s Office at (615) 851-2214 before your Court date and ask to have your ticket’s court date changed to the Trial Court night. The officer who wrote the ticket will be subpoenaed to appear in court with you and both of you will be allowed to present the evidence and/or details of your case before the Judge. The Judge will render a verdict of not guilty or a verdict of guilty and order the fine for the offense by paid plus court costs or the Judge may order attendance at a Driving School to satisfy the offense.
Driving School Options and frequently asked Driving School questions:
For Traffic Court sentencing options, the City of Goodlettsville conducts 2 different Driving Schools, which the Judge may assign violators to attend, instead of ordering a fine be paid. When you are assigned to a Driving School you do not pay the fine on the ticket, instead you only pay a fee to attend the Driving School. After you have completed the Driving School the ticket will not appear on your state driving history and will only be recorded on our in-house Court Records System for future reference.
First Offender Driving School $85.00 2 – hours
Cash only accepted-paid day of class
(Usually held on Thursday p.m.)
Registration begins at 6:30 p.m.
Class begins promptly at 7:00 p.m.
Class over at 9:00 p.m.
Defensive Driving School $185.00 8 – hours
Cash only accepted-paid day of class
(Usually held on Saturday morning)
Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.
Class begins promptly at 8:00 a.m.
Class over at 5:00 p.m.
Other frequently asked Court questions:
When is my Traffic Court?
Your court date is at the bottom of your ticket. Goodlettsville traffic Court is always at 5:30 p.m. to allow most people to attend without missing work.
How long will Court last?
Usually Traffic Court takes less than 1 hour.
What if I can’t come to Court on the assigned night?
Call the Court Clerk’s office (615) 851-2214 as soon as you know of your scheduling problem. Explain your scheduling problem and the Clerk will review your situation and attempt to resolve any scheduling issues. Your Court date will only be changed one time so do not forget your new date.
What if I forgot to come to Court?
First, call the Court Clerk’s Office (615) 851-2214 and you will be advised what options are still available for the resolution of your ticket, depending on how many days it is past due. Tickets over 30-days past due will be sent to the Tennessee Department of Safety and your drive’s license will be suspended. Once this occurs you will have to pay a reinstatement fee to the Department of Safety, plus the original ticket fine, plus a default fee of $50.00 for each offense on the ticket.
How much do I owe for my ticket?
Look at the front, top, center of your ticket. There is a box labeled “number of offenses”. For example, if it says “2” you have been cited for 2 different offenses. Each offense is marked in the center of your ticket in the boxes labeled “A-S”. The fine for each offense is listed below. Determine your total cost due by adding the fine for each of your offenses marked on your ticket. For example if your ticket says you have two offenses and they were a muffler violation ($75.00) and a speeding violation of 12 miles per hour over the speed limit ($90.00) you will owe $165.00.
If your violation is not listed below, the fine is $85.00 (all other violations).
TRAFFIC FINE SCHEDULE
VIOLATION FINE
Reckless Driving $100.00
Driver’s License Law $ 75.00
Passing School Bus $ 95.00
Speeding (1-9 mph) $ 85.00
Speeding (10-19 mph) $ 90.00
Speeding (20+mph) $ 95.00
U-Turn $ 85.00
Bumper Law $ 85.00
Light Law $ 75.00
Registration Law $ 75.00
Muffler Law $ 75.00
Red Light $ 85.00
Stop Sign $ 85.00
All Other Violations $ 85.00
OTHER COSTS/VIOLATIONS
Seat Belt Law $ 20.00
Child Restraint $ 20.00
Financial Responsibility $100.00
Driving School $ 85.00
Defensive Driving School $185.00
Late Fees $ 50.00 + $50.00 per year overdue for each
