Please read our disclaimer. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. These forms are meant to be used as “boilerplates” (templates) to help you quickly and easily assemble your statement of facts. The documents are examples of written declarations that our friends have used to win their case or get a significant fine reduction. You may or may not have the same result. Either way, it’s your responsibility to fill out the forms correctly, submit them on time and to the correct address with the proper bail amount. Good luck.
To contest your ticket by mail, there are two documents you must send to the court:
- Written Not Guilty Plea
- Trial by Written Declaration form TR-205
1. How to write your Written Not Guilty Plea
This one is pretty simple. It’s a single page. Here is a blank one. Here’s an example of one filled out. You can copy/paste all of it into an empty Word doc, then fill out the empty spaces. Print it out and sign it. Congrats, you’ve finished part one.
Legal requirements:
You must include the full bail amount indicated on your “courtesy” notice when submitting your Written Not Guilty Plea. If you mail your plea, it must be postmarked at least five days prior to your appearance date via certified or registered mail.. This appearance date is indicated on the bottom of your ticket. If you have less than five days left before your appearance date, you can still walk it into the court in person.
(Trust me: spend the two bucks and send it certified. I can’t tell you how many times a month I get email from upset members about how the court lost their paperwork. Sending it by certified mail gives you the proof that you sent it on time.)
You can send in your Written Not Guilty Plea with your check and wait for the court to send you your TR-205 form. However, most courts will accept your TR-205 along with your Written Not Guilty Plea. I therefore encourage people to send it all together. Get it out of the way and off your mind.
Note: DO NOT pay your bail online. If you pay your bail online, you are pleading guilty and the court will close your case (which they might not reopen). You can check for the fine amount online (no traffic school fee added), but DO NOT pay the fine online.
2. How to write your Statement Of Facts and properly fill out your Trial by Written Declaration form TR-205
You can wait for the court to send you a blank TR-205, or you can use this blank one here (right-click, save as).
To maximize your odds of success, FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS CLOSELY. If you’ve sent me your declaration to review and you haven’t followed these instructions, I’m going to roll my eyes at you.
- Open your favorite word processing program (Microsoft Word, MacOS Pages, etc.).
- On the documents page, find the declaration you want to use.
- Copy/paste the whole thing into your Word processing program.
- The first line of your declaration should be STATEMENT OF FACTS in all caps and bolded. You can bump up the font size a bit, too, if you want.
- Edit the document. Change the facts of the declaration to fit your case (case number, your name, officer’s name, time and date of the citation, the road you were cited on, etc.). Make sure to include all relevant facts of your unique case. In this way, you can customize your declaration to fit the unique circumstances of your case using the example as a template.Be sure to remove any details not specific to your case. I repeat: Be sure to remove any details not specific to your case.THIS IS IMPORTANT! You don’t want any template facts inadvertently appearing on your declaration. This would seriously undermine your credibility and decrease your chance of success.Do not include irrelevant information (i.e. your past good driving, how pissed you are about being cited, your opinions about the cops’ “attitude” or anything else that might indicate that you may be abusing prescription drugs). Keep your declaration simple, short, and to the point.Remember, some of these judges are old, with bad eyesight; don’t make it hard for them to read your declaration. When printed, your Statement Of Facts should be in 12-point type (or larger). It should also be double-spaced. Now that you have your printed customized declaration in hand, read your declaration out loud. Have a friend read your finished document to catch any errors you may have missed.
- Take your blank Trial by Written Declaration form TR-205 and fill all relevant spaces neatly and in print. On the back, under item #6.”Statement of Facts”, write: “Please see attachments.“
- In the space “Number of pages attached,” write the number of pages you are attaching to the TR-205. If it’s just the Trial by Written Declaration form TR-205, then it’s “1”. If you are including photos and diagrams (always recommended!) then count up the number of attachments and put that number there, instead.
- Sign and date BOTH the TR205 Trial By Written Declaration form and your attached Statement Of Facts.
That’s it!
Look it all over. Make sure you’ve signed your documents. Fold it all and put it in an envelope. If your photos are large, use an oversize envelope. Mail all documents at least five days prior to your due date via certified mail, return receipt requested. Don’t forget to ask for a RETURN RECEIPT: this is your proof of delivery.
Still confused? Get some rest, then read the instructions again. Still baffled? Send us an e-mail here.
Cross your fingers, rub your rabbit’s foot or work those rosary beads, because you have a decent chance of winning. Even if you used the five-second “idiot’s” defense, you stand about a 30% chance of having your citation dismissed (30% of the time the officer does not respond, and the case is dismissed for lack of prosecution).
In a few weeks, the court will mail you a verdict.
If you win your case:
If the court dismisses your case or finds you not guilty, please make sure you have honored our Shareware Agreement and paid your membership fee. If you have not yet paid your membership fee, please do so here. By paying this nominal membership fee, you will allow me to continue helping others contest unfair traffic tickets.
Tell your family, friends, and neighbors about Ticket Assassin. By encouraging others to vigorously fight their unfair citations, we can return the current revenue-driven traffic courts to their legitimate function as courts of justice. Also, I’d appreciate it you would let me know about your success using my system!
If you lose your case:
If you lose your Trial by Written Declaration case and want to continue the fight, all is not lost. You have twenty days to demand a new trial by sending in a Trial De Novo form. This new trial is a second opportunity to win your case with an in-person court trial. A Trial de Novo is a legal right in Written Declaration cases only. Click here for information on submitting a Trial de Novo.
If you don’t have time for a Trial de Novo, you can still keep your driving record clean by attending traffic school. Upon completion of traffic school, your conviction is set aside and your citation is dismissed. Click here to learn more about traffic school.