NOTICE

COOKEVILLE CITY COURT INFORMATION

Court Location and Appearance date: The Cookeville City Court is located at 1019 Neal Street, in Cookeville. City Court convenes twice each month at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. Your Court appearance date is shown on the face of your citation.

Payments to Court: If you choose to pay the Non-Appearance Amount printed on your citation, you do not have to attend court. The amount must be paid in full before 4:00 p.m. on your scheduled court date. You may pay in person by check, cash, or debit card at the address below between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or online.  If you pay your moving traffic citation before your court date, the violation will be entered on your driving record by the Tennessee Department of Safety. If you are currently unable to pay your fine and cost in full, you may request a Payment Plan for payment of your fines and cost by coming on your court date. If your request is granted by the judge, but you fail to comply with the Payment Plan, the state of Tennessee will be notified of your failure and your license may be suspended by the state. You may also avoid entry of the moving violation on your driving record by requesting to attend a defensive driving school as described below. For information on your fine and Court cost amounts, see the face page of your citation or contact the City Court Clerk’s office at 931-520-5254.

Defensive Driving School: You must come into the City Court Clerk’s office at 1019 Neal Street before 4:00 p.m. on your scheduled court date if you wish to request driving school without attending court.  If you wish to keep the moving traffic violation conviction off your record (this only applies to moving violations such as speeding, traffic signals, failure to yield, hands free, etc.), you may request to complete a defensive driving course at a State certified school in person or online. A list of state certified schools is available on-line at www.tn.gov/safety, then enter “defensive driving schools” in the search box, or you may request one at your scheduled court appearance date. You will not be eligible to attend a driving school or online course if you have attended one within the 12-month period immediately prior to your current citation, or, if you are the holder of a Commercial Driver’s License. The City of Cookeville Police Department offers a defensive driving school at a cost of $35.00. You may also attend any of the other State certified online schools, but you will be required to make your own arrangements to do so, and you must pay that school directly for the cost of the school and obtain from the school a Certificate of Attendance and return it to the Court Clerk by your scheduled court date before your case will be dismissed. The cost of the listed schools may vary significantly. Regardless of which school you elect to complete, you will still be required to pay the City Court cost in the amount of $100 dollars directly to the City Court. Except for hands free violations you will be required to pay the City Court cost in the amount of $10.00 directly to the City Court.

Request for Trial: If you wish to plead “Not Guilty” and have a trial, please call the City Court Clerk prior to your Court date and ask the clerk to set your trial for the trial docket. You do not have to come to Court on your original Court date if your case has been set for trial on the trial docket by the Clerk. The telephone number is (931) 520-5254. You may bring witnesses to testify on your behalf. If you need subpoenas, you must notify the court no less than two weeks prior to the Court date so the subpoenas can be issued and served. You may bring pictures, drawings, or diagrams. You may hire an Attorney, but it is not required. Trials are informal and you will be given the opportunity to question all witnesses.

Continuances: If you cannot attend Court on the date set forth on the front page of your citation, you may be allowed (1) continuance. You must call (931) 520-5254 at least three (3) days prior to the court date shown on the front page of your citation if you require a continuance. Medical and family emergencies will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Failure to Appear: Failure to appear in Court or satisfy a citation may result in suspension of your driving privileges by the Tennessee Dept of Safety.

Proof of Insurance:  You must come into the City Court Clerk’s office at 1019 Neal St. any time before 4:00 p.m. on your scheduled court date if you wish to provide your insurance without attending court. You will be asked to show proof that you had a valid liability insurance policy at the time your citation was issued. If you had a valid liability policy at the time the citation was issued, your case will be dismissed. If you did not have a valid liability policy at the time of your citation, you will owe $163.75 at the Cookeville City Court. In addition, the State of Tennessee will be notified of the violation, and you will receive instructions from the state on additional requirements you must meet to avoid a one-year suspension of your driver’s license. Be sure to watch for this separate letter from the state. It will be mailed to the address on your driver’s license.