Traffic Cases

Traffic Ticket

A police officer from Golden or the Colorado School of Mines may issue a Golden Municipal Traffic Summons. Police officers assign a court date and time on each summons; depending on the ticket, your court date may be located on the bottom left hand corner in a yellow box or between your personal information and charges.

The Golden Municipal Court holds 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. court sessions four Mondays a month and a 2:30 p.m. juvenile court session on the fourth Monday of each month.

Officers write three types of traffic summons into our court.

Traffic Summons Types

Payable Summons

These tickets do not require your appearance in court if you pay prior to your assigned court date. You may enter a guilty plea and mail payment of amount assessed on the summons prior to the court date so that the case is disposed and closed.

Choosing to pay a mail-in plea:

If you choose to pay a summons, a guilty plea is entered on the case. Once a plea is entered on your case the court will report to the Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division any penalty points assessed on the charge. If you have a license from another state, you may also be affected. Many states that have an agreement with Colorado will receive the penalty points and assess them on your out-of-state license. Accrual of too many penalty points may result in the loss of driver’s license privileges.

Payments in person:

Payments must be made by your court date. You may pay by credit card, check, money order or cash.

Payments made online:

Payments made online will not reflect on your case for 48 hours. Do not make your payment online the day you are due in court, you must appear to prevent your case from defaulting or going to a warrant status. If you cannot locate your case online contact the court at 303 384-8006

Payment by credit card:

Payments must be made by your court date. Call the Golden Municipal Court at (303) 384-8006, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. excluding holidays. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

Payments by mail:

Payments must be received prior to your court date. Attach a copy of your summons with your payment in full so we can match payment with summons. A check or money order is recommended whenever mailing your payment. Please verify that your payment has been received by the court by calling us at 303-384-8006.

Mailing Address:

Golden Municipal Court
911 10th Street,
Golden, CO 80401

Mandatory Court Summons

These tickets require your appearance in court so that you may answer to the charges. You will have the opportunity to talk to the city attorney about a possible plea bargain, and then address the judge in the courtroom.

Juvenile Summons

Tickets issued to juveniles require mandatory court appearance because parents or legal guardians need to be involved in plea and sentencing.

Special Instructions for Minors

Persons under 18 years of age on the date of the violation are summoned to appear in court. Colorado law requires that minors be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, unless declared by the court to be an emancipated minor pursuant to 42-4-1716(4)(a)(III). Minors must appear with a parent or guardian even if becoming 18 years of age prior to the court date. The court date shown on the front may be for arraignment only. If entering a plea of “not guilty” at that time, it may be necessary to return on another date for a trial or final hearing. Emancipated minors must show proof of emancipation.

Appearing in Court

First Court Appearance Process

  • Check in with clerks.
  • Read and sign Advisement of Rights.
  • Speak with city attorney.
  • Listen to the judge give advisement of rights.
  • When the judge calls your case, you may enter a plea:
    • If you enter a plea, you will have the opportunity to explain to the judge what happened and then the judge will impose a sentence.
    • If you enter a plea of not guilty, you will set the case for trial. In some cases you may be eligible for a jury trial. You are entitled to a trial to the court on traffic and criminal cases. If you would like a jury trial, ask the judge if you are entitled to one.
    • When requesting a jury trial, you must fill out a jury demand and pay, at the same time, a $25.00 fee within 21 days after pleading not guilty.
  • Request subpoenas for witnesses from court clerks at least 3 weeks prior to trial
  • Exit court room and check out
    • Review sentencing summary
    • Pay any applicable fines

Failure to Appear in Court

If you fail to appear, your driver’s license will be canceled or denied until you pay the court the amount of the judgment, plus any fee as required by law.  If you are charged only with a traffic infraction, the court will enter a default judgment against you, and the points listed will be entered on your driving record. If you are charged with an offense, the court will issue a warrant for your arrest, and you may be charged with the additional offense of “Failure to Obey a Summons.”

COG Mesa

 Golden has 402 acres of open space
and maintains 253 acres of parks right within the city itself.

Additional Resources

City of Golden, Colorado
COG Mesa
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