Pleasantville Village Court
(Pleasantville Justice Court)
Westchester County, New York

GENERAL TRAFFIC TICKET AND CRIMINAL COURT INFORMATION

Pleasantville Court responsibilities include: arraignments, civil trials, criminal, trials,  motor vehicle trials, speeding tickets, violations of Vehicle & Traffic Law. Pleasantville Justice Court has preliminary jurisdiction over all criminal and traffic related cases arising out of incidents occurring in the Village. Such cases are on the court’s Tuesday evening calendar. The Justice Court has trial jurisdiction over all cases if the jail term that can be imposed does not exceed one year.

The office of the Westchester County District Attorney prosecutes criminal cases twice a month (alternate Tuesday evenings). The other two alternate Tuesday evenings consist of vehicle and traffic matters, parking tickets, civil matters and small claims matters. Court is held on Tuesdays at 6:00 pm on the 2nd floor of Village Hall.

Cases charging the commission of a traffic infraction are filed in the Pleasantville Village Court if the alleged offense took place in the Village’s jurisdiction. A plea of “not guilty” is required to either be timely filed with the court either by the motorist or their attorney if they so elect. There are basically two choices: a plea of “not guilty” which allows a defense to be presented in the case, versus, a plea of “guilty” which locks in a conviction of the offense “as charged” which closes the door on a negotiated resolution or trial.

In New York, an attorney may go to court on a motorist’s behalf without the motorist having to personally appear. The attorney may be able to negotiate a resolution for the motorist or set the matter down for a future trial date where the police officer is required to appear to testify and the defense puts on their case as well.  On traffic infractions, trials are held before a judge or “bench”; not a jury.

In addition to fines and sur-charges imposed by the court, convictions for speeding tickets and other moving violations can create other problems for motorists, such as, increased insurance premiums and a New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Driver’s Responsibility Assessment – additional fines or assessments owed directly to DMV based upon a motorist’s point accumulation.  Additionally, eleven (11) points accumulated with eighteen (18) months will result in a license suspension or revocation depending upon one’s record of conviction. See Point Chart below: