Failure to Appear for a Traffic Ticket

What is Failure to Appear?

If you do not respond to your Traffic Citation in a timely manner a Failure to Appear (FTA) will be added to your court file.

When you receive a traffic citation, you are required to respond to the court within 15 calendar days from the date of the infraction.

A failure to appear may make resolving your infraction more complicated. This depends on when the ticket was issued and which court has jurisdiction.

Failure to Appear Can Cause a License Suspension.

According to RCW 46.20.289.The Washington State Department of Licensing can suspend all driving privileges if they receive notice from the court that a person has:

Failed to respond to a traffic citation.
Failed to appear at a hearing.
Violated a written promise to appear in court for the infraction.

How Long is my License Suspended or Revoked?

Your license can be suspended until you pay the fine or comply with the requirement to appear in court.

Steps to Reinstate Your License.

Once your failure to appear has been cleared with the court, they will issue a certificate of adjudication.
After the court notifies DOL that your failure to appear has been cleared, DOL will update your driving record to show your license is not suspended or revoked any more.
You will need to apply for a new license. You may need to pay a:
- $75 reissue fee plus your licensing fees if the original charge wasn’t drug or alcohol related, or
- $150 reissue fee plus your licensing fees if the original charge was drug or alcohol related.

There are many ways an experienced traffic attorney can fight your ticket for you.

      
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   Jose Baez 
 September 26, 2026
 
 
  Excellent firm to work with got my speeding ticket dismissed highly recommend
  
 
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 September 16, 2026
 
 
  Highly recommended never visited everything done on call thank you
  
 
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 September 11, 2026
 
 
  They were very straight forward and easy to communicate with. I had a pending deferral speeding ticket which i did my community service hours for and did the 4 hour arive at 25 class to get dismissed. But while I was doing that, I got a second speeding ticket and I was worried it will void my deferred ticket. But they got it dismissed. Thank you very much.
  
 
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 September 6, 2026
 
 
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 September 6, 2026
 
 
  My son got his first speeding ticket. We called these guys and sent them a photo of the ticket. They took care of everything and got the ticket dismissed. Lucky kid. Hope he learned his lesson...
  
 
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 September 3, 2026
 
 
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 September 3, 2026
 
 
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 August 18, 2026
 
 
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   Xavier Hecker 
 August 17, 2026
 
 
  Second speeding ticket in a row dropped, and I never had to step foot in a court room.
  
 
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 August 15, 2026
 
 
  Great experience, big thanks, ticket dismissal went smoothly.
  
 
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   Jordan Cabral 
 August 14, 2026
 
 
  Huge thank you to Reece Merrill for helping me resolve an issue with the Department of licensing. He was so quick to help me fix what seemed to be an overlook on the DOL’s part. I highly recommend him to anyone who needs legal help big or small.
  
 
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 August 12, 2026
 
 
  This place is amazing. They had a super simple process, provided clear instructions, and were able to get a speeding ticket dismissed, FAST!
  
 
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 August 12, 2026
 
 
  Merrill law saved the day, I will highly recommend. All I had to do was stop in and tell them I needed help they did EVERYTING else!!
  
 
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 August 4, 2026
 
 
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 August 4, 2026
 
 
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