Criminal Court

Any violation that is not a traffic violation is considered a criminal violation. There are some traffic violations that carry criminal penalties, which will be handled in accordance with the criminal court process.  These charges include, but are not limited to: Speed Contest, Reckless Driving, Careless Driving, and Speeding 25 mph or more. Police officers schedule a specific appearance date and time when a criminal summons is written.  The date and time are written on the summons.

Initial appearances before the court on violations of city criminal ordinances and traffic offenses are held on three Thursdays of each month at 6:00 P.M.  A docket at 6:30 P.M. will be utilized for review of cases.  Municipal trials will be held at 4:00 PM on the one Thursday per month. 

  • Some violations are payable violations that do not require a court appearance. If the violation you have been cited for is payable, the citation will indicate so.  In such cases, payment must be received prior to the appearance date.
  • If you decide not to pay the citation and cannot appear in court on the date specified, you may call the court at 719-336-1355 before the first appearance date to ask for a new appearance date.  We can only extend the hearing for up to two weeks.
  • The citation contains the date and location of the violation, followed by the section code that you have been charged with violating.  If you want to read that law ordinance, you may review the Lamar Municipal Code. 

 If you are under 18 years of age, your parent(s) or guardian must appear in court with you.  

 

 
What Can I Expect At My First Appearance?

At the beginning of the first appearance session, the judge will advise you of your constitutional rights. This information outlines each person’s rights in this court.  The judge will then call each case on the docket.  You will be asked to enter a plea of “not guilty” or “guilty,” or with the consent of court, “no contest,” you may explain to the judge what happened.   The judge may or may not accept the plea.  The judge may or may not impose a sentence at the initial appearance.  You may plea “not guilty” and:

Set the case for trial to court.  Witnesses will need to appear at the scheduled trial.

You have the right to have witnesses subpoenaed to testify at trial on your behalf.  Please provide the court with the number of subpoenas you will need at least three weeks prior to the trial date.  You may obtain subpoena forms from the court clerk or request that they are mailed to you.  On the subpoena forms you receive will be instructions on completing the subpoena forms and having them served.  Correct names and correct addresses will ensure that whoever you choose to serve them will be able to successfully serve the subpoenas in sufficient time.  If a witness is not placed under subpoena and does not appear in court at the time of trial, a judge is not likely to grant a continuance for that person to be properly subpoenaed.