Boca Raton Police Services Department Traffic Citations PDF

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Standard Operating Procedure 61.04 TRAFFIC CITATIONS Revised: December 11, 2014 I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this departmental standards directive is to establish guidelines for the Boca Raton Police Services Department for the processing and issuance of traffic c...

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Standard Operating Procedure 61.04 TRAFFIC CITATIONS Revised: December 11, 2014 I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this departmental standards directive is to establish guidelines for the Boca Raton Police Services Department for the processing and issuance of traffic citations. II. POLICY: It is the policy of the Department to improve traffic safety and insure driver compliance with state statutes and city ordinances through a program of motorist education and aggressive but fair and impartial enforcement. Officers conducting traffic enforcement duties will not engage in discriminatory practices such as racial and bias-based profiling. III. DEFINITIONS: Hazardous Violations: Violations that expose a person or property to risk, loss or damage, e.g., running a red light/stop sign, careless driving, reckless driving, DUI, and speeding. Juvenile/Youth/Child: Any unmarried person under the age of eighteen alleged to be dependent, in need of services, or from a family in need of services, or any married or unmarried person who is charged with a violation of law occurring prior to the time that person reached the age of eighteen years. Non-Hazardous Violations: Violations that are not likely to involve or expose persons or property to risk, loss or damage, e.g., tag violations, brake lights, headlights. Probable Cause: More than mere suspicion but less than that evidence needed for a conviction, and exist where the facts and circumstances within the LEO's knowledge, of which he or she had reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient to warrant a person of reasonable caution and belief that an offense has been or is being committed. IV. PROCEDURES: A. TRAFFIC CITATIONS: 1. PREPARATION: a. Employees shall complete traffic citations as stated in the Traffic Citation Manual. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 1 of 18 2. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: a. ink. Employees who handwrite citations shall fill out traffic citations in black b. After the employee writes the first entry, he/she shall check the last page to make sure that all copies are legible. i. If not all copies are legible, the employee shall trace the citation over, beginning with the third (blue) copy. ii. This procedure takes only a few minutes, and in many instances, saves the employee and DHSMV personnel a considerable amount of time in correcting the unreadable copy. c. If an employee issues a citation for "unlawful use of" or "improper" driver’s license, he/she must explain in the "comments" section how the driver improperly used the driver's license. d. If the officer issues a citation for a suspended driver license, he/she must explain in the "comments" section the reason for the suspension. e. The statute number and check-marked violation must match. If they conflict, it is impossible to make a proper file entry at DHSMV. Refer to Appendix C of the Uniform Traffic Citation Procedures Manual. f. Employees shall keep up-to-date on court day changes from the county court. g. It is important to make sure that the defendant’s address is current, as a considerable amount of paperwork is mailed to the defendant in case of suspension or court proceedings. h. When a citation is issued for a violation that contributed to a traffic crash, a Court Information Form containing the name of the defendant, the citation number, and the names and addresses of witnesses shall be attached to the citation so that the witnesses may be subpoenaed to court. 3. PROCESSING: a. After an employee completes and issues a handwritten citation, he/she shall submit the appropriate copies to his/her supervisor for review before they are given to the Records Section for processing. b. Records personnel will enter handwritten citation information into the computerized records system. c. The four (4) copies of a handwritten traffic citation are distributed as follows: Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 2 of 18 d. i. White: Court ii. Blue: DHSMV iii. Yellow: Defendant iv. Pink: Retained by the employee Copies of electronic citations are distributed to the following: i. Two copies of the citation are printed. ii. The first copy has an instruction page attached and is given to the defendant. No signatures are required on this copy. iii. The 2nd copy is signed by the employee and also the defendant when applicable. This is known as the court copy. iv. The court copy is then turned over to his/her supervisor for review. v. The citation is submitted electronically as well as in hard copy to the Records Section for processing. vi. Hard copies are checked against the electronic copies in the Department’s records management system. e. form. Completed citations are sent to the Clerk of the Court with a transmittal f. The transmittal forms are sent in the court folder to the Clerk of the Court in Delray Beach, Florida. i. The Court enters the initial information into their system and transmits it electronically to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. ii. A second copy of the transmittal is kept in Records until the transmittal from the court comes back to Records dated and signed by the court. iii. Transmittals shall be retained for future audits for period as specified in the Florida public records retention schedule. iv. The Clerk’s Office will accept witness lists at the time of filing the original citation. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 3 of 18 4. HANDWRITTEN UNIFORM TRAFFIC CITATIONS PROCESSING: a. Uniform Traffic Citations are issued to employees through their supervisors. See Departmental Standards Directive 62.100 Traffic Administration, Organization and Law Enforcement. b. Uniform Traffic Citations are arranged in numerical order for processing by the citation number that appears in the upper right hand corner. An RMS entry of each citation is made using a pre-existing format to insure that all information is included on the citation. c. Cross-referencing of the citation is available through name, location, citation number, driver's license and tag, and other informational fields. d. Transmittals shall be processed as follows: i. Once the citation is entered into the computer, after any corrections have been made, it is sent to the Clerk of the Court with a transmittal form. ii. Once the transmittal sheet is printed, verify the citations that were entered against the printout. Make two copies of transmittal. iii. One transmittal copy goes with the white electronic copies (top white copies) of the citations in the court folder to the Clerk of the Court in Delray Beach, Florida. iv. Blue copies can be discarded. v. The pink copies are kept by the employees. vi. The second copy of the transmittal is kept in records until the transmittal from the court comes back to records dated and signed by the court. vii. Transmittals shall be retained as specified in the Florida public records retention schedule for future audits. viii. The Clerk’s office will accept witness lists at the time of filing the original citation. e. The following procedures apply to computer entry and filing of traffic citations: i. Place in numerical order by using the citation number in the righthand corner at the top of the ticket. ii. Enter the citations in the Traffic Citation Module of the computer on 4 screens, e.g., charge, name, vehicle, and notes. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 4 of 18 iii. Send the letter and the original copy of the citation to the Clerk of the Court within five days after issuance to the violator as per FSS 316.650(3). iv. Mail a copy of the citation and letter to the offender. v. Check the court date on the citations. vi. Send the blue or green copy only of all citations written for DUI on a separate transmittal sheet to Drivers Improvement Office, West Palm Beach, per Florida State Statute. The white copy will be given to the entry personnel to enter in the computer, and then sent to the Court via the court folder. If the original went to the county with the defendant, then a copy is requested by the agency for data entry purposes. The issuing employee maintains the pink copy of the citation. a) Boat citations are entered into the computer and require a separate transmittal form. White copies of the boat citations will be sent to the Delray Courthouse. Blue copies of boat citations are sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Law Enforcement, Office of Enforcement Assistance, Room G21, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399. Pink copies are retained by the employees. f. If there is a mistake on the citation, the citation must be returned to the issuing employee through his/her supervisor for the corrections prior to entry in the RMS. i. A correction letter request will be sent to the employee on City letterhead stating the employee’s name and ID number, the citation number, and a statement requesting a correction letter due to incorrect information on the traffic citation. ii. The following procedure is to be followed when a correction letter is issued: a) Log in the citation number, date returned to the employee, name of defendant, reason for correction employee's name and ID number in the Citation Rejection Log. b) Complete and sign the correction letter, the employee’s supervisor must also sign. c) When the employee returns the request, check it against the log, the return date entered, and enter the correction into the computer. d) After the entry personnel sign the correction letter, his/her supervisor must sign it. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 5 of 18 e) The entry personnel will make two (2) copies of the returned correction letter. g. When an employee is subpoenaed to appear at a final hearing, he/she shall submit the witness list and attach a copy of the court memo, then return to the Clerk’s Office as soon as possible, if the witness list was not filed at the time of submittal of the original citation. i. It is very important that a copy of the court date is attached. ii. If the witness list is sent by itself, there may be a chance that it will be sent back. iii. The file copy shall be retained for the period specified in Florida public records retention schedule. 5. RELATED REPORTS: a. Except when specifically provided otherwise by a supervisor, all required reports or forms relating to daily activities, such as citations, incident reports, and arrest reports, shall be completed and submitted at the end of the tour of duty during which such activities were performed. b. Unless employees receive permission from their supervisor, completed crash reports shall be submitted by the end of their tour of duty. 6. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HANDWRITTEN TRAFFIC CITATIONS: a. Accountability for traffic citations begins when the citations are obtained from the Florida Highway Patrol and received by the Department’s quartermaster for distribution to appropriate Department sections. b. Citation boxes available for assignment shall be stored in KeyTrak lockers located in Field Services and Special Operations with access restricted to supervisors. Employees requiring a citation shall request their supervisor to assist with retrieving one from the KeyTrak locker. c. When a supervisor issues a citation book to an employee, the supervisor shall sign out the citation booklet in the Citation Log Book. The receiving employee shall sign the receipt attached to the booklet and immediately return it to the issuing supervisor. d. The issuing supervisor shall forward the citation booklet receipt to the Records Section for processing. e. The Professional Standards Bureau will conduct an annual random audit of handwritten traffic citations. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 6 of 18 7. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ELECTRONIC TRAFFIC CITATIONS: a. Citation numbers are issued to employees electronically in blocks of 25. b. Blocks remain ‘active’ until all 25 citations are used, at which time a new block is issued. c. Completed citations are transmitted electronically into the RMS system. d. Completed blocks are checked against the Citation Module by the Records Section to see that all 25 citations are accounted for. e. The Professional Standards Bureau will conduct an annual random audit of electronic traffic citations. 8. SIGNATURE OF DEFENDANT: a. Except as provided in sections 316.1001(2) and 316.0083, any person cited for a violation requiring a mandatory hearing listed in section 318.19 or any other criminal traffic violation listed in chapter 316 must sign and accept a citation indicating a promise to appear. The officer may indicate on the traffic citation the time and location of the scheduled hearing and must indicate the applicable civil penalty established in section 318.18. For all other infractions under this section, except for infractions under sections 316.1001, the officer must certify by electronic, electronic facsimile, or written signature that the citation was delivered to the person cited. This certification is prima facie evidence that the person cited was served with the citation. b. If the defendant refuses to sign a citation as required by paragraph (a) above, the LEO shall arrest him/her and charge the defendant with violation of FSS 318.14 (3). c. Before charging a defendant with FSS 318.14 (3), the LEO shall explain the following to him/her: i. Signing the citation is not an admission of guilt, but a promise to appear and/or respond to the charge. ii. Refusal to sign is an arrestable offense and that the defendant would be arrested. 9. The charging document for this arrest is a Uniform Traffic Citation. Bond requirements in this case shall be determined by the current administrative order issued by the Chief Judge. a. Mandatory bond for a second-degree misdemeanor and for a first-degree misdemeanor will be determined by the current bond schedule. LEOs shall transport violators to the Palm Beach County Jail to post bond if one is required. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 7 of 18 10. VOIDS AND DISMISSALS: a. Voided and dismissed citations shall be handled in the following manner: i. Employees shall gather all copies of the handwritten citation for the purpose of voiding the citation. If the citation is electronic, only one copy will be needed. ii. The employee shall give the citation to his/her supervisor with a signed correction letter including a reason for the void or dismissal. iii. Records personnel shall document the void and/or dismissal information in the Void and Dismissal Log. The request will then be forwarded to the Special Services Bureau commander or his/her designee for final approval. iv. All copies of the citation shall be forwarded to the Records Section with the approved correction letter. a) Records personnel assigned to process citations shall enter the voided or dismissed citation into the traffic citation module and will sign the correction letter attached to the voided or dismissed citation. b) The documentation will then be given to the records supervisor for his/her signature. v. The Records clerk shall mail the voided blue citation copy (or white, if electronic) along with a copy of the correction letter to the Uniform Traffic Citations Bureau in the Neil Kirkman Building, Tallahassee. vi. The Records clerk shall list all blue (or white) copies of voids on a separate transmittal sheet to be mailed to Tallahassee. vii. The Records clerk shall maintain scans of voided citations with attachments on file in the Department’s electronic RMS system for the DHSMV audit for the period specified on the General Records Schedule GS2. viii. If a yellow copy of citation has been issued to a defendant for any reason, a Request for Dismissal is required to void the citation. ix. Lost or stolen citations shall be treated like voided or dismissed citations by the employee who is reporting the lost or stolen citations. x. To void or dismiss a lost or stolen citation the following must occur: Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 8 of 18 a) Only a citation correction letter is submitted by the employee requesting for the citation to be voided or dismissed. b) A supervisor must approve the request for a correction letter. c) Records personnel will enter the lost or stolen citation number in the citation module for accountability purposes and forward the approved request for citation dismissal correction letter to the appropriate agencies once it is approved by the designated sworn supervisor. 11. CORRECTIONS: a. When it comes to the attention of an employee that any portion of an issued traffic citation is incorrect, incomplete, or inadvertently left blank, that employee shall initiate a correction letter. b. Records will inform the appropriate parties of the change(s). c. The correction letter is a self-explanatory form, which describes the correction or omission to the Court Clerk's Office. d. For this form to be complete, the following forms must be filled out: i. Citation number(s) ii. Employee’s name and ID # (print) iii. One or more boxes checked indicating the change or correction iv. Any blank fields within the checked box(es) v. Date and signatures of issuing employee and his/her supervisor e. The citation is reviewed/audited by Records personnel. If there is a mistake on the citation, the citation must be returned to the issuing employee through his/her supervisor for correction. f. In Records, a clerk shall perform the following tasks: i. Submit the correction letter and citation to a supervisor for approval. ii. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Make two (2) copies of the form letter: a) Send one copy to the issuing employee’s supervisor b) Send one copy to the defendant Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 9 of 18 iii. Attach (staple) the original to the original citation and send it to the Court Clerk's Office with the other citations. g. Citations are occasionally returned from the Court Clerk’s Office to Records for corrections. The clerk will, upon receipt of the returned citation, copy it for the file and send a copy to the issuing employee with a request for a correction letter. h. The issuing employee shall fill out a correction form per the above procedure. i. When a citation has been signed/issued to a defendant, it shall not be voided without supervisory approval for any reason. i. If there was a mistake or circumstance indicating that the citation was issued inappropriately, the issuing employee shall fill out a Void/Dismissal Request form. ii. The employee must arrange for voiding/dismissing criminal offenses through the State Attorney’s Office. iii. A detailed explanation will be attached to the Department's citation copy. j. A correction letter request will be sent to the employee on City letterhead stating the employee’s name and ID number, the citation number, and a statement requesting a correction letter due to incorrect information on the traffic citation. The following procedure is to be followed when a correction letter is issued: i. Log in the citation number, date returned to the employee, name of defendant, reason for correction employee's name and ID number in the Citation Rejection Log. ii. The employee must complete and sign the correction letter and his/her supervisor must also sign it. iii. When the employee returns the request, it is checked against the log, the return date entered, and the correction entered into the computer. iv. After the entry personnel sign the correction letter, his/her supervisor must sign it. v. The entry personnel will make two (2) copies of the returned correction letter. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 10 of 18 vi. The original of the citation and the letter shall go to the Clerk of the Court within five days after issuance to the violator as per FSS 316.650(3). vii. A copy of the citation and letter are mailed to the offender. viii. Check the court date on the citations. k. When an employee is subpoenaed to appear at a final hearing, he/she shall submit the witness list and attach a copy of the court memo, then return both documents to the Clerk’s Office as soon as possible, if the witness list was not filed at the time of submittal of the original citation. i. It is very important that a copy of the court date is attached. ii. If the witness list comes by itself, there may be a chance that it will be sent back. l. The file copy shall be retained for the period specified in Florida public records retention schedule. i. The Court Clerk’s Office at the Palm Beach County Courthouse in Delray Beach logs all court dispositions concerning traffic citations issued by members of the Department. 12. INFORMATION TO MOTORIST DURING ISSUANCE OF CITATION: a. When issuing a traffic citation that does not require a court appearance, the employee shall give the violator written instructions explaining his/her options to settle the citation. The options include mailing payment, requesting driver improvement school, or requesting a court hearing. See Appendix A. b. When issuing a traffic citation that does require a court appearance, the LEO shall fill in that portion of the citation that includes court information; e.g., date, time, court, and location. c. If the offender is incapacitated, the issuing employee will be responsible for ensuring that a copy of the citation is mailed to the offender at a later date, when the offender has regained capacity. 13. PARKING CITATIONS: a. Employees who handwrite parking citations shall fill out parking citations in black ink. b. Electronic parking citations shall be completed in the same manner on the employee’s computer. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 11 of 18 c. Employees will complete as much information on the top of the citation as they can gather. d. area. If the driver is not present, owner/operator may be written in the name e. The appropriate box for the violation will be checked and any important comments will be added on the comments line. 14. f. The employee will sign the bottom of the citation. g. The top copy or one printed copy will be left with the vehicle. h. The remaining copies or printed copy will be turned into the front desk. PLACARD SEIZURE a. When an employee seizes a placard the appropriate citation shall also be issued. b. A case number shall be generated and a report written to document the incident. c. The seized placard will be placed into evidence and marked hold for trial. d. An e-mail will be sent to the State [email protected] Ofc 850-617-2405, Fax 850-617-3945 indicating the seized placard number and the reason for the seizure. e. The seizure log will be completed indicating the placard number, the date seized, the date the state was notified, and the case number. f. After a finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo contendere has been entered, the charging agency shall destroy the confiscated permit. A confiscated permit may not, under any circumstances, be returned to its registered owner after a finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo contendere has been entered in court. g. If as directed by the hearing officer, magistrate, or judge, after a not guilty verdict or the case is dismissed, the placard will be returned to the registered owner. h. After the hearing, the employee will update by email the state as to the disposition of the placard, destroy the placard if applicable, and the log will be completed. i. The CSO supervisor will periodically check the log to confirm its accuracy and direct any placards that have been in evidence over a period of 180 days to be destroyed and update the state by email of all destroyed placards. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 12 of 18 j. In all cases, a supplement shall be added to the original case to indicate the final outcome of each case. B. TRAFFIC CITATIONS RECORDS SECTION PROCESSING: 1. GENERAL: a. Uniform Traffic Citations are issued to employees through their supervisors. See Departmental Standards Directive 61.200 Traffic Enforcement and Administration. b. Uniform Traffic Citations are arranged in numerical order for processing by the citation number that appears in the upper right hand corner. An RMS entry of each citation is made using a pre-existing format to insure that all information is included on the citation. c. Cross-referencing of the citation is available through name, location, citation number, driver's license and tag, and other informational fields. d. Once the citation is entered into the computer, after any corrections have been made, it is sent to the Clerk of the Court with a transmittal form. Once the transmittal sheet is printed, verify the citations that were entered against the printout. Make two copies of transmittal. One transmittal copy goes with the white electronic copies (top white copies) of the citations in the court folder to the Clerk of the Court in Delray Beach, Florida. i. The Court enters the initial information into their system and transmits electronically to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. ii. As of 12/9/2002, County Sheriff’s Offices and Municipal Police Departments were no longer required to transmit the blue agency copy of the citation to DHSMV with the exception of voided citations. iii. Blue copies can be discarded. iv. The pink copies are kept by the employees. v. The second copy of the transmittal is kept in records until the transmittal from the court comes back to records dated and signed by the court. vi. Transmittals need to be retained for future audits. vii. The clerk’s office will accept witness lists at the time of filing the original citation. e. The following procedures apply to computer entry and filing of traffic citations: Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 13 of 18 i. Place in numerical order by using the citation number in the righthand corner at the top of the citation. ii. Enter the citations in the Traffic Citation Module of the computer on four (4) screens, e.g., charge, name, vehicle, and notes. iii. If there is a mistake on the citation, the citation must be returned to the issuing employee through his/her supervisor for the corrections prior to entry in the RMS. a) The citation is not to be entered in the computer until the correction(s) have been made. b) A correction letter request will be sent to the employee on City letterhead stating the employee’s name and ID number, the citation number, and a statement requesting a correction letter due to incorrect information on the traffic citation. c) The following procedure is to be followed when a correction letter is issued: 1) Log in the citation number, date returned to the employee, name of defendant, reason for correction, employee’s name and ID number in the Citation Rejection Log. 2) The employee must complete and sign the correction letter and his/her supervisor must also sign. 3) When the employee returns the request, it is checked against the log, the return date entered, and the correction entered into the computer. 4) After the entry personnel signs the correction letter, his/her supervisor must sign it. 5) The entry personnel will make two (2) copies of the returned correction letter. iv. The original of the citation and the letter shall go to the Clerk of the Court within five days after issuance to the violator as per FSS 316.650(3). v. A copy of the citation and letter are mailed to the offender. vi. Check court date on the citations. vii. LEOs will send the blue or green copy only of all citations written for DUI on a separate transmittal sheet to Drivers Improvement Office, Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 14 of 18 West Palm Beach, per Florida State Statute. The white copy is given to the entry personnel to enter in the computer, and then sent to the Court via the court folder. If the original went to the county with the defendant, then a copy is requested by the agency for data entry purposes. The issuing LEO maintains the pink copy of the citation. viii. Vessel citations are entered into the computer and require a separate transmittal form. White copies of the vessel citations are sent to the Delray Courthouse. Blue copies of vessel citations are sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Law Enforcement, Office of Enforcement Assistance, Room G21, 620 South Meridian Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399. Pink copies are retained by the LEOs. f. When an employee is subpoenaed to appear at a final hearing, he/she should submit the witness list and attach a copy of the court memo, then return both documents to the clerk’s office as soon as possible, if the witness list was not filed at the time of submittal of the original citation. i. It is very important that a copy of the court date is attached. ii. If the witness list comes by itself, there may be a chance that it will be sent back. g. Retention of the file copy is under the General Records Schedule (GS2) for Law Enforcement Agencies published by the Florida State Bureau of Archives and Records Management. 2. ELECTRONIC UNIFORM TRAFFIC CITATIONS: a. The citation is checked by Records personnel. If there is a mistake on the citation, the citation must be returned to the issuing employee through his/her supervisor for correction. b. form. Completed citations are sent to the Clerk of the Court with a transmittal c. The transmittal forms are sent in the court folder to the Clerk of the Court in Delray Beach, Florida. i. The Court enters the initial information into their system and transmits it electronically to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. ii. A second copy of the transmittal is kept in Records until the transmittal from the court comes back to Records dated and signed by the court. iii. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Transmittals need to be retained for future audits. Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 15 of 18 iv. The Clerk’s Office will accept witness lists at the time of filing the original citation. d. A correction letter request will be sent to the employee on City letterhead stating the employee’s name and ID number, the citation number, and a statement requesting a correction letter due to incorrect information on the traffic citation. e. The following procedure is to be followed when a correction letter is issued: i. Log in the citation number, date returned to the employee, name of defendant, reason for correction, employee’s name and ID number in the Citation Rejection Log. ii. The employee must complete and sign the correction letter and his/her supervisor must also sign. iii. When the employee returns the request, it is checked against the log, the return date entered, and the correction entered into the computer. iv. After the entry personnel sign the correction letter, his/her supervisor must sign it. v. The entry personnel will make two (2) copies of the returned correction letter. vi. The original of the citation and the letter shall go to the Clerk of the Court within five days after issuance to the violator as per FSS 316.650(3). vii. A copy of the citation and letter are mailed to the offender. viii. Check the court date on the citations. f. When an employee is subpoenaed to appear at a final hearing, he/she should submit the witness list and attach a copy of the court memo, then return both documents to the clerk’s office as soon as possible, if the witness list was not filed at the time of submittal of the original citation. i. It is very important that a copy of the court date is attached. ii. If the witness list comes by itself, there may be a chance that it will be sent back. g. Retention of the file copy is under the General Records Schedule GS2 for Law Enforcement Agencies published by the Florida State Bureau of Archives and Records Management. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 16 of 18 3. CITATION COPIES DISPOSITION: a. Copies of citations will be distributed in the following manner: i. Originals will go to the courts or be turned over to the county jail. Court information sheets will be sent to the courts. 4. ii. Yellow copies go to the offender. iii. Pink copies are maintained by the issuing employee. VOIDED CITATIONS: a. Voided citations will be handled in the following manner: i. Employees have to make sure that all four copies of the citation are together for the purpose of voiding the citation. ii. Employee gives citation to his/her supervisor along with a request and justification for the void. iii. The request will be forwarded to the employee’s watch commander or district commander for final approval. iv. All copies of the citation are forwarded to the Records Section with the approved correction letter. a) The citation personnel will enter the voided citation into the traffic citation module and will sign the correction letter attached to the voided citation. b) Then, it will be given to the records administrator for his/her signature. v. Records Section will mail the voided blue citation copy along with a copy of the correction letter to the Uniform Traffic Citations Bureau in the Neil Kirkman Building, Tallahassee. vi. Records Section will list all blue copies of voids on a separate transmittal sheet to be mailed to Tallahassee. vii. The Records Section will maintain the white, yellow, and pink copies of voided citations with attachments on file in the Records Section for the DHSMV audit for the period specified on the General Records Schedule GS2. viii. If a yellow copy of citation has been issued to a defendant for any reason, a Request for Dismissal is required to void the citation. Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 17 of 18 ix. Lost or stolen citations shall be treated like voided citations by the employee who is reporting the lost or stolen citations. x. To amend or dismiss a citation the following must occur: a) The employee who is requesting that a citation be amended/dismissed must fill out a correction letter. b) A supervisor must approve the request for a correction letter. c) Records will forward the approved request for citation dismissal correction letter to the appropriate agencies once approved by the designated sworn supervisor and entered as a dismissal in the citation module. V. REFERENCES: A. FSS 119.07 B. FSS 316.650 C. FSS 318.14 D. FSS 322.2616 E. FSS 324.201 and 627.733 F. Departmental Standards Directive 44.100 Juvenile Delinquency Prevention, Control and Commitment G. Departmental Standards Directive 61.200 Traffic Direction, Control, and Ancillary Services H. Departmental Standards Directive 82.200 Records Section Operations I. Florida Uniform Traffic Citation Procedures Manual Approved: Daniel C. Alexander Chief of Police Effective: January 27, 2014 Revised: December 11, 2014 Date: Traffic Citations SOP No. 61.04 Page 18 of 18