Reckless Driving Lawyer in Scottsdale, AZ

Inside city limits, these citations come from Scottsdale Police patrol officers or from the Traffic Enforcement Section, which the department places in its Special Operations Division. The department's Halloween weekend task force announcement also mentions a Nighttime Traffic Unit. A misdemeanor written by any of them goes to the City Attorney's Prosecution Division, which places traffic violations next to DUI on its list of misdemeanors, and the case is heard at Scottsdale City Court on 75th Street.

Other agencies send their tickets elsewhere. The justice courts handle tickets from state and county officers and from some tribal police, so a DPS trooper's citation from Loop 101 can be heard at a justice court such as McDowell Mountain, whose service area the county lists as including Scottsdale. The court printed on the citation is the one that controls.

Two of these charges leave the city system entirely: unlawful flight from a pursuing police car (class 5) and a second racing violation in the 24 months following a first racing conviction (class 6). Both are felonies. The County Attorney's Vehicular Crimes Bureau describes reckless driving incidents as part of its caseload, with certain state felonies going to the Arizona Attorney General's Office instead, and either office takes the case to Superior Court downtown. The Sheriff's Office describes Scottsdale's own initial appearances as covering city charges, so a felony booking ends up before a county judge rather than a Scottsdale one, within the 24 hours that Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 4.1 allows.

Read the citation first. The justice courts point to a box on the ticket: the check mark there tells you whether a count is civil or criminal, and a criminal count means standing before a judge at the listed date and time. Scottsdale City Court's civil traffic page says the same from its side: when a citation includes criminal charges, you must come to court for the arraignment. Answering a criminal count by mail is not like paying for a parking space. It is a plea, and a plea of guilty or no contest to reckless driving ends in a conviction that the judge reports to MVD, as the statute requires.

Do not assume the court will appoint you a lawyer. Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 6.1(b) entitles an indigent defendant to appointed counsel in a proceeding that may result in punishment by loss of liberty. In misdemeanor court, the prosecutor can avow that no jail will be requested and the judge can rule that no jail will be imposed, and once that happens, there is no right to appointed counsel at all. Arizona's Court of Appeals upheld exactly that in Campa v. Fleming, 134 Ariz. 330 (App. 1982). Scottsdale City Court's criminal page adds its own screen: a public defender is available only if the case qualifies, with a prosecutor seeking jail as its example, and only if you qualify financially.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A reckless driving or racing conviction can bring a suspension, stays on your driving history, and can cost you a job that depends on a clean record behind the wheel. It also becomes a possible prior: a second reckless driving offense inside 24 months, or a new racing violation within 24 months after a first racing conviction, carries mandatory jail. If you are not a U.S. citizen, get immigration advice before any plea.