Court Procedures
*You have the right to be represented by an attorney, or you may proceed without one. If you want an attorney, you must retain one at your expense.*
*Jury trials cannot be request for any municipal/traffic charge except Operating While Intoxicated or Prohibited Alcohol Content (OWI/PAC).*
Appearance: The top of your citation indicates whether your appearance is mandatory. If marked mandatory, you must appear in Court on the date/time on the citation. If marked not mandatory and you do not want to dispute the citation, you need to pay the ticket before the court date on the citation. See payments for payment options.
Initial Appearance: You will be expected to enter a plea of Guilty, No Contest, or Not Guilty.
When you enter a plea of Guilty, you are admitting that you committed the offense. In most cases, a penalty will be imposed immediately.
When you enter a plea of No Contest, you are not contesting that you committed the offense. The Court will find you guilty and impose the appropriate penalty. However, you will not be admitting your civil liability. A no contest plea cannot be used against you in any other action or in any other Court.
When you enter a plea of Not Guilty, you deny committing the offense, and the case will be scheduled for a pre-trial conference with the City Attorney in an attempt to settle the case. If you do not come to an agreement, a trial will be scheduled before the Municipal Judge without a jury. You may submit a written plea of Not Guilty anytime before the scheduled initial court appearance. Below is printable Not Guilty form that can be mailed or dropped off at Seymour Municipal Court, 328 N Main St., Seymour, WI 54165. Once the Not Guilty plea is received, a pre-trial notice will be mailed to you giving information on how to discuss your citation with the City Attorney. If you do not contact the City Attorney by the date listed on the pre-trial notice, you will be found guilty and penalty assessed.
OWI Citations: You may request a jury trial before Outagamie County Circuit Court. Request for a jury trial must be made in writing within ten (10) days of your initial appearance, and must include a $36.00 check made payable to Outagamie County Court Clerk. The case will then be transferred to Outagamie County Circuit Court. All further communication will be from them. If you do not properly request the jury trial within the 10-day period, you are forever barred from do so, and your trial will be held in this court. The WI Department of Transportation website offers a lot of information regarding OWI citations: Impaired Driving (OWI) in Wisconsin
Substitution of Judge: You have the right to request that your trial be held in another Municipal Court. Your request must be made to the Seymour Joint Municipal Court in writing within ten (10) days of your initial appearance, or you are forever barred from transferring the trial.
Dispositions: If you are found guilty, whether by entering a plea of Guilty or No Contest or upon completion of a trial, the Court may impose a forfeiture. Forfeitures should be paid in full within 60 days of the initial appearance. If you need more time to pay, you must contact the court. Failure to pay your fine, could mean any of the following may occur:
-Suspension of driver's license, which also carries a mandatory reinstatement fee with the DMV
-Debt is referred to Department of Revenue for Tax Intercept
-Debt is referred to State Debt Collection (Pursuant to Sec. 71.93(8) Wis. Stats.
Traffic cases, in addition to the forfeiture imposed by the Court, the WI Department of Transportation may assess demerit points against your driving record. The demerit points are listed on the citation and the Court will inform you during your initial appearance. The WI DOT may suspend your operating privileges when you accumulate twelve (12) points in twelve (12) months (Violation Date to Violation Date).
Juveniles: Municipal Court has jurisdiction for youth 12 through 16 years old. If the juvenile is 17 at the date/time of the initial appearance (not the date/time of the incident), he/she is considered an adult and will be heard in adult court at 5:30 p.m. Juveniles 12 through 16 will be heard in a closed hearing.