Information Regarding Violation Notices (Tickets) and Central Violations Bureau (CVB) - Fresno Location
Central Violations Bureau (CVB)
If You Cannot Make a Scheduled Court Date
If You Fail to Pay your Fine or Appear for Your Scheduled Court Date
Changing the Court Location Where Your Violation Notice is Heard
Contact Information for the Court
Central Violations Bureau (CVB):
The Central Violation Bureau (CVB) is the Federal Court’s national center for processing violation notices (tickets) and payments in federal petty and misdemeanor offenses. (“Petty offenses” are those punishable by up to six months in prison. Misdemeanors can be punished by up to one year in prison.)
For information on how to pay a ticket, please visit the CVB website at www.cvb.uscourts.gov, or contact CVB directly at 1-800-827-2982. You may pay a ticket by mail or on-line through CVB’s website:
Do not mail a payment directly to the Court unless specifically told to do so by the Court. Additional questions may be answered at: www.cvb.uscourts.gov under the “FAQ” or “Instructions” captions.
Violation Notices (Tickets) Information:
When a federal law enforcement agency issues a ticket, it sends the original to the CVB in San Antonio, Texas. CVB enters the ticket into its database and tracks its status and payment history until the case is closed.
If CVB does not receive payment on a ticket within 30 days of its issuance, it will mail you/the defendant a notice to appear in court. This notice will be mailed approximately one (1) month prior to the scheduled court date shown on the ticket.
Violation Notice (Ticket) or Notice to Appear Marked with a fine amount
If a dollar amount is shown on your ticket in the section called “Total Collateral Due” (Box B) or in the “Amount Due “ section of your Notice to Appear, you may choose to do one of the following:
· Pay the fine before the court date by mailing a check to CVB or pay on-line at www.cvb.uscourts.gov. Your record will show you have been convicted of the offense, the case will be closed, and you will not need to appear in court (See the CVB “Notice to Appear” sent to you for further information);
OR
· Request a Payment Plan as provided in the section so titled, below.
OR
Do not pay the fine and appear in court on the scheduled date, time, and place and contest the ticket. At the court hearing, you will be able to set your case for a later trial. No trial will be held on the date of your first appearance. Alternatively, you may also pled guilty at the court hearing and request that the Court lower your fine amount. However, if this option is sought, the Court is not bound to accept your request and while the Court may accept a sentence you to a lower fine amount the Court may also increase the fine, up to the statutory maximum (the statutory maximum is always higher than the fine amount).
Violation Notice (Ticket) or Notice to Appear Marked “Mandatory Appearance” or “Appearance Required”:
If “MA” or “Mandatory Appearance” or “Appearance Required” appears in Box A of your ticket or in the “Amount Due” section of your Notice to Appear, you must appear in court on the scheduled date, time, and place indicated.
If you cannot appear in court at the scheduled time, you must call the appropriate Court Division to reschedule the appearance.
If you do not appear in court as scheduled or rescheduled in the manner provided below, an arrest warrant will be issued and/or a notice will be sent to DMV and you driving privileges may be suspended.
For additional information, please visit the ticket instructions page of the CVB website, or contact CVB directly at 1-800-827-2982
If you cannot make scheduled Court date:
In its discretion, the Court may grant one request for a continuance of your initial court date. No one should assume a continuance will be granted merely because it is requested. If you are represented by an attorney, no continuance will be considered until your attorney makes a formal written appearance in the case. A request to continue must be made at least one week prior to the scheduled hearing date. To request a continuance, please CLICK HERE.
If a continuance is granted and you fail to appear at that continued hearing, a warrant for your arrest will be issued and, if a moving violation, a hold will be placed on your driver’s license plus additional charges for your failure to appear. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 58; Eastern District of California Local Rule 410; and Collateral Forfeiture Schedule (General Order No. 574), effective January 1, 2017, at Section (e).
If You Fail to Pay your Fine or Appear for Your Scheduled Court Date:
If you fail to pay your fine or appear in court at the time scheduled, the Court will issue a warrant for your arrest and refer it to the United States Marshal for execution. If you are charged with a motor vehicle violation and fail to appear or pay your full fine, the Court will report a hold, an “abstract”, to the Department of Motor Vehicles of the state where your driving license was issued. This hold may affect your driving and registration privileges and the registration privilege for any vehicle involved in the offense.
Additionally, a failure to appear or timely pay a fine will cause the fine to be increased. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 58; Eastern District of California Local Rule 410; and Collateral Forfeiture Schedule (General Order No. 574), effective January 1, 2017, at Section (e).
To remove the warrant and hold on your driver’s license/vehicle registration, you have the following options (with further explanation as to each below):
OPTION ONE (Request a Court Hearing): If you wish to request a hearing, you must submit the “Request Of Court Hearing To Remove Arrest Warrant &/or Driver’s License-Vehicle Registration Hold” form by clicking here and completing the form in full. You will have only limited options for setting the matter on the Court’s calendar. You must appear at the time selected. (Generally, warrant recall matters are set on the first and third Thursday of the month at 10:00 a.m.) Your request will be promptly processed. You will receive a confirmation email notifying you of the date and time your matter is scheduled for court. Your warrant will not be removed until you personally appear at the court hearing and then only if the judge orders it removed. Merely requesting a hearing or having a hearing scheduled will not remove your warrant or the hold on your driver’s license or car registration.
OR
OPTION TWO [Pay in Full Your Original Fine plus the additional Failure to Appear Charges]: If your original ticket required only that you pay a fine, you can pay the original fine plus the additional fine assessment for your failure to appear. The total amount must be paid in full (original fine plus increased fine) before any warrant or hold will be removed. [NOTE: If your original ticket stated that your appearance was “Mandatory” or “Required”, your only option is to request a hearing under Option 1, above.]
To determine the increased fine amount due to your failure to appear or pay on time, refer to the United States Marshal Service’s letter advising you of the warrant (that letter will advise you of the increased fine amount you need to pay). If you did not receive such a letter, you may call the Central Violations Bureau (CVB) at (800) 827-2982 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 pm (Central Time) or email them at info@cvb.uscourts.gov. Include in your phone call or email your full name as it appears on your violation notice (ticket) and your violation notice (ticket) number. If you contact CVB within 30 days of your original failure to appear, your increased fine amount may not yet be calculated; be sure to ask CVB if the amount CVB shows due and owing includes a failure to pay fees. You may also contact this court at (559) 499-5209 and ask to speak with the courtroom clerk who handles CVB tickets. Please keep in mind that it you contact
Once you determine the full amount due on your ticket, you may pay either on-line at www.cvb.uscourts.gov (click “Pay On-Line”) or mail a check, made payable to “CVB”, to Central Violations Bureau, P.O. Box 71363, Philadelphia, PA 19176-1363. Please put your name, ticket number and location code on your check for accurate processing.
Under Option 2, your warrant and hold will be removed only after the fine amounts are paid in FULL , not before (unless you appear in court and request your warrant to be removed). If you wish to contest your ticket or the amount of the fine, you must select Option One, above.
If you have questions about your ticket or your arrest warrant, you may contact the Federal Defender’s office at (559) 487-5561 and ask for the attorney who handles misdemeanor cases. Under the law, you may be entitled to a court appointed attorney if you cannot afford counsel.
Motor Vehicle Offenses:
If you plead guilty to a traffic violation, points may be assessed against your driving record. An accumulation of points may result in the suspension of your license. Your license may also be suspended if you plead guilty or are found guilty of certain offenses under the vehicle code of your state. A driver's education course (traffic school) may be an option to prevent accumulating points or having your license suspended. If you are considering this option, see discussion of Traffic School section, below.
Traffic School:
With consent from the United States Attorney’s office, the Court may offer you the opportunity to avoid points on your driving record by attending traffic school. You may qualify for traffic school if the following requirement are met:
- Your Violation notice involves a moving violation;
- You have not attended traffic school for a moving violation within 18 months of the date of your ticket;
- You do not possess a commercial driver’s license;
- You were not cited for speeding more than 25 miles over the posted speed limit; and
- You were not cited for an offense involving alcohol or a controlled substance.
In order to determine your eligibility for traffic school, you will need to fully complete the Traffic School Request form by CLICKING HERE and then clicking on the “Submit Form” button at the bottom of the form. Your request will be sent to the United States Attorney’s Office (Fresno Division) for consideration. You must submit this request at least two (2) weeks prior to your scheduled court appearance. Follow-up questions may be directed to the U.S. Attorney’s office at USACAE.FresnoMisd@usdoj.gov. Do not contact the Court about your request.
The Court will promptly process your request if it is approved by the U.S. Attorney’s office. If you do not receive a “Notice and “Order” from the Court approving traffic school, you must appear at the time noticed or pay the fine listed on the violation notice.
If your request for traffic school is granted, you will receive a “Notice and Order of Traffic School” from the Court. It will identify your case, the fine amount, and the deadline for completing traffic school (usually three months). You must complete traffic school by the deadline stated, NO EXCEPTIONS. You must use a Traffic School certified by the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) in your state of licensure. (Consult your State’s DMV, telephone directory or internet for a listing of certified traffic schools. Do not contact the Court, its Clerk or CVB for such information.) The traffic school you select must mail your completion certificate to you so you can mail it, along with your fine payment and the “Notice and Order of Traffic School”, to CVB at U.S. Courts-CVB, P.O. Box 780549, San Antonio, TX 78278-0549. Do not select a school that sends completion documents to the State Court or this Court. Your completed certificate MUST be provided to CVB.
Without exception, these items and the fine payment must be received by CVB prior to the completion date to avoid the ticket being reported to your State’s DMV. If you fail to comply with these procedures, your attendance at traffic school will not serve to protect your record from points or otherwise.
Please note, too, that these are the traffic school options and procedures for federal court only. You must check with the governmental agency that issued your driver’s license for the ultimate decision as to what, if any, credit you receive for traffic school.
The decision to allow traffic school lies solely with the United States Attorney’s office. If your request for traffic school is denied, you will receive a notice from the U. S. Attorney’s office at the email address provided by you in your request. If your request is denied, you can pay the full fine listed on your ticket or appear in court at the time scheduled. If you receive no notice granting your request for traffic school before your scheduled court hearing, you must attend the scheduled court hearing. As noted, a failure to timely pay your fine or appear in court may result in a warrant being issued for your arrest, an increase in the fine amounts and a hold being placed on your driving record
You always have a right to plead not guilty and receive a trial. You also always have the right to timely pay the fine listed on your ticket.
If your ticket is marked “MA”, “Mandatory” or “Appearance Required”, you must appear in court at the time scheduled and discuss the matter with a representative of the United States Attorney’s office. This traffic school procedure is not available for mandatory appearances.
Payment Plans:
If you have a ticket or notice to appear which lists a fine amount and you want to pay the fine amount in full without coming to court but are unable to pay the full fine amount by the due date, the Court can authorize a payment plan of up to six months without you having to appear in Court. To request a payment plan, please CLICK HERE.
Please note that if you fail to make timely payments, additional fees will be assessed against you for failure to timely make payments pursuant to your Order to Pay.
If a payment plan is established, an Order to Pay will be issued setting forth the installment payment amounts and due dates in 6 equal payments due on the 15th of each month. Each and every payment must be paid by the date specified for its payment. Any late payment will result in additional charges being assessed, the matter referred to collections, a lien on any federal tax refund of payments, and, if your offense was for a moving violation, your driver’s license being suspended. If an Order to Pay is issued, you will not be allowed to contest your violation notice (ticket). However, if you simply want a lower fine or want to contest your ticket or you have a mandatory appearance (see Box A of your ticket), you must come to Court at the time scheduled. Unless an Order to Pay is issued or you pay the fine in full, you must appear in court at the scheduled time.
Changing the Court Location Where Your Violation Notice (Ticket) is Heard:
The courthouse where you are ordered to appear is the courthouse for the judicial district where the offense was alleged to have been committed, not where you reside. If you wish to change the location to a courthouse closer to where you live, you have two options:
OPTION 1 (Appear in Original Court and file a Motion for Change of Venue): You may request that your case be heard in a different court, but you must do so by filing a motion in the court where you were originally ordered to appear. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 21. To do so, you must appear in the original court and request that a motion hearing schedule be set. The Court will set dates for you to file your motion, for opposition to it to be filed, and the date of the hearing on the motion. In deciding the motion, the Court will consider your reasons for wanting to transfer the case, views of the prosecution, convenience of witnesses and victims, and the interests of justice.
OR
OPTION 2 (Agree to Plead Guilty in the Transferred Court): Under federal law, you may have your case automatically transferred without the need for you to appear but only if agree to plead guilty to the offense in the transferred court. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 58(c)(2). To pursue this process, you must first contact the United States Attorney’s office at USACAE.FresnoMisd@usdoj.gov or call the “Misdemeanor Unit” at (559) 497-4000 and obtain the necessary paperwork to plead guilty and transfer your case. Your email or telephone call must reference your name, violation number(s) and contact information.
If your case is not transferred before the date you are scheduled to appear, you must appear at the Court at the time and place originally ordered to appear; otherwise, a warrant for your arrest may be issued.
Contact Information for the Court:
If this website has not answered your question or you need to make a request over the phone, then contact the Court at (559) 499-5209. You will be required to leave a message so please be prepared to leave your full name (as reported on your violation notice), violation notice (ticket) number, the date you are scheduled to appear in court, and state your question or request. Please note that under no circumstances can a Court representative give you legal advice.