I got a ticket in Cattaraugus County on the way to a ski weekend. What now?
First, find the court. Cattaraugus County has two city courts and dozens of small justice courts, and the one printed on your ticket is where your case lives, whether you were stopped by a trooper, a deputy or a local officer. Then answer before the return date; a missed date in a court that sits monthly can cost weeks or your license. Do not mail in a guilty plea until you know what the conviction will cost you, which is more than the fine.
Where Cattaraugus County Tickets Are Heard
The county has two cities, Olean and Salamanca, and each has a City Court. Olean City Court is at 101 East State Street. The District Attorney’s office describes its territory as two County Court judges, three City Court judges and 35 town and village courts, and the state court directory lists the same number of town and village courts, from Allegany and Ashford to Yorkshire.
Those justice courts mostly meet in the evening and many meet only a few times a month. The directory shows the Ashford Town Court in West Valley sitting Thursday evenings, the Mansfield Town Court on the first Monday and the second and fourth Wednesdays, and the Olean Town Court once a month, on the first Thursday. The County Court sits in Little Valley, the county seat, but an ordinary speeding ticket goes to the local court for the place you were stopped.
Who Writes the Tickets
Troop A of the State Police covers the county, and its southern zone has stations at Great Valley on US 219, at Machias on Route 16, and in Olean. The Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office and local police departments write tickets too.
The highway map is short. Interstate 86, shared with Route 17 as the Southern Tier Expressway, runs through the county, along with US Routes 62 and 219 and State Routes 16, 98, 240, 242, 353 and 417. The county also holds the Seneca Nation’s Allegany Reservation, Allegany State Park, and two ski resorts in the town of Ellicottville, Holiday Valley and HoliMont, which are popular with visitors from Canada.
How the Sheriff Works Speeding Here
The Sheriff’s Patrol Division conducts traffic enforcement every day as part of routine patrol. The county’s STOP-DWI Program funds two deputies who concentrate on impaired driving, adding patrols and running periodic sobriety checkpoints, usually alongside a neighboring police agency.
The office also says it regularly uses grant money for extra patrols devoted only to traffic enforcement, and that towns and villages were asked to name their problem areas, which then received heavy patrols at the problem times. Its radar trailer, which displays the speed of oncoming cars, is not only a warning sign: the office says officers can use the trailer’s radar unit for enforcement while it is on site, and that each placement is followed by patrols in the same area.
A ticket written near the trailer or during a grant detail is the plan working, not a fluke, and the radar evidence behind it deserves a close look.
We looked for a published traffic plea or diversion program on the Cattaraugus County District Attorney’s website and did not find one. Reductions are still negotiated with the prosecutor; the process simply is not posted online, so it runs through the court named on the ticket.
What a Conviction Costs
Three different parties send you a bill for one ticket, and each prices it differently.
The court. The judge imposes the fine within the range the law allows, and the state surcharge is added on top. This is the only cost most people think about, and the only one you pay once.
The DMV. The Department of Motor Vehicles prices the conviction in points, and for speeding the price tracks the radar reading: 3 points if you were no more than 10 over, 4 if you were 11 to 20 over, 6 in the 21 to 30 range, 8 in the 31 to 40 range, and 11 past 40. Phones and texting cost 5 points. So does reckless driving. Blowing through a stop sign or a red light costs 3, as does a failure to yield, and passing a stopped school bus costs 8. Collect 6 points in 18 months and the DMV adds a Driver Responsibility Assessment, which it bills annually for three years. Collect 11 within 24 months and it can suspend your license.
The insurer. Your insurance company reads the conviction off your driving abstract at renewal and prices the risk for itself, year after year, for as long as the conviction stays visible. Over time this is usually the biggest of the three bills.
A reduction to a lesser or non-moving charge changes the second and third bills, which is where the real money is.
How We Handle Cattaraugus County Tickets
The Law Offices of Isaac Abraham represents drivers with tickets returnable to courts across New York State, including Cattaraugus County. For most traffic infractions we appear on your behalf and you do not have to travel; where a charge requires your presence, we tell you well before the date.
That matters most for the visitors who were ticketed on the way to a ski weekend and now face a monthly evening calendar hours from home. New York drivers have left us more than 2,000 five-star reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which court handles a ticket written in Salamanca?
If the stop was inside the City of Salamanca, Salamanca City Court. If it was outside the city line, the town or village court for that location. Your ticket names the court.
Does Cattaraugus County have a traffic diversion program like other counties?
We did not find one published on the District Attorney’s website. That does not rule out a reduction, which is negotiated with the prosecutor through the court.
I was ticketed near the sheriff’s radar trailer. Is that legitimate?
The Sheriff’s Office says its radar trailer contains a radar unit officers can use for enforcement while it is on site, and that placements are followed by patrols. The details of how your speed was measured are still worth checking.
I live in Pennsylvania. What happens if I just pay it?
Paying is a guilty plea, and the conviction that results is passed along to Pennsylvania under the Driver License Compact.
Free Case Review
Send us a photo of the ticket and we will tell you which court has it, when it sits, and what a reduction could save you on all three bills. Call or text 646-397-9529, or use the form on this page, at no cost.