You may pay with cash, check, MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover. The City does accept credit card payments via telephone and online but not by mail. Your ticket may be paid by credit card via telephone or online only if a plea has been previously entered on the ticket.

Your citation number or case number can be found on your ticket in the top right hand corner. It will be either 8 numbers and one letter (i.e. E00123456) or 7 numbers and two letters (i.e. CN0012345).

Court clerks are authorized to give a two week continuance from original court date on the bottom of your citation or Notice to Appear. In order to receive this continuance, you must phone in prior to your court date and request the continuance.

If you haven't paid your ticket before your court date, you must come to Court.

In all cases in Municipal Court, you have a right to representation by an attorney. If you have been charged with an offense that may result in jail time as part of the sentence, and you want an attorney but cannot afford one, an attorney will be appointed for you. The Court will only appoint an attorney if you are indigent and there is a possibility you may go to jail. You will be asked to fill out a financial statement regarding your household income and expenses and the judge will either approve or decline the appointment of counsel.

No. The decision to be represented by an attorney is entirely up to you. You have the right to represent yourself in any court proceedings this is called Pro Se representation.

The Shawnee Municipal Court has put into place a policy for getting traffic tickets that are moving violations amended to non-moving violations. Amendment Policy

Arraignment is the term used for the time scheduled for a defendant to appear in court and enter a plea. You may enter one of three pleas:

• Guilty
• No Contest
• Not Guilty

Pleading "guilty" means you admit to committing the act charged, that the act is prohibited by law, and that you have no defense for the act. Before entering a plea of guilty you should know that the City has the burden of proving its case against you.

Pleading "no contest" means you do not wish to contest the City's charge. Upon a plea of no contest, the judge will enter a finding of guilty and order a fine, jail time or another appropriate sentence. A plea of no contest is not an admission of fault and cannot be used against you in a civil suit for damages.

Pleading "not guilty" means you deny guilt and that the City must prove its charges. On a plea of not guilty, a trial is scheduled at a later date and the City will be required to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" all of the allegations against you in the complaint.

No. You can not have your case tried before a jury in Municipal Court.

You have the right to have the court issue subpoenas for witnesses to ensure their appearance at trial. However, you must furnish names, addresses, and telephone numbers of these witnesses to the court as quickly as possible so they can be located and subpoenas served no later than 10 days before the scheduled date of your trial.

At the trial, the prosecutor will call witnesses to testify against you. After each prosecution witness testifies, you have a right to cross-examine each witness. After the prosecution has presented its case, you have the right to call any witness on your behalf.