You may appear before the court clerk during City Hall office hours 9:00 am - 5:00pm, Monday-Thursday and 9:00 am - 1:00 pm, Fridays (except holidays). There is a three (3) business day waiting period from the date of citation to allow time to process the citation. All business must be finalized no later than 4:30 pm the day before your court appearance.
If you would like to plead no contest, you can appear before the court clerk, who will look at your driving record and may be able to reduce the fine. The clerk uses the same fine schedule as the judge. If you have more than three (3) convictions on your driving record, the clerk will be unable to reduce the fine.
If you would like to plea no contest and explain to the judge what happened, this can be done in writing. All letters of explanation are given to the judge and must be received before your posted court appearance. The judge reads them, takes your statement and driving record into consideration and assesses fines accordingly. If you are fined less than the base fine and you submitted that with your letter, the refund should reach you within four weeks.
If your ticket is for No Insurance or Failure to Carry Proof of Insurance, and you have proof that you were insured for the vehicle on the date of the ticket, bring your proof to the Court Clerk prior to your court date and that charge may be dismissed. Be sure the proof contains the effective dates of the insurance.
You may also pay your ticket online. Please contact the court for your docket # at 503-873-5321 option #1 or email at finance@silverton.or.us.
The clerk can take not guilty pleas and set trials on all infractions either in person or in writing by sending in the copy of the summons with option three filled out, signed, and dated or by letter or email (must be received before your court date).
