What should I do about a traffic ticket issued in the Village of Matinecock?
Start with the return date printed on your summons, and treat it as the only date that exists. Matinecock Village Court instructs drivers not to appear on any day other than the return date shown on the ticket or a date the court itself directs. Showing up on the wrong evening does not get your case heard; it wastes a trip and can leave the actual deadline unanswered. Before you plan anything, have a traffic attorney look at what you were charged with.
Court Convenes in a School Library
Matinecock has no courthouse. Village Court is held once per month at the Portledge School, in the Gilmour Library and Upper School Library, 355 Duck Pond Road, Locust Valley, NY 11560. Sessions begin at 7:00 p.m.
The setting is modest and the proceeding is not. This court is part of New York’s Unified Court System with jurisdiction over violations of local village ordinances and most offenses under the state Vehicle and Traffic Law. A conviction entered in a school library reaches the DMV exactly like any other, carries the same points, and reaches your insurer on the same schedule.
Matinecock Village Court
Court location: Portledge School, Gilmour Library / Upper School Library, 355 Duck Pond Road, Locust Valley, NY 11560
Sessions: Once per month, beginning at 7:00 p.m., unless the court calendar states otherwise
Mailing address for pleas and payments: Matinecock Village Court, P.O. Box 227, East Norwich, NY 11732
Court Clerk: Susan K. Egan, (516) 922-8198
Village Justice: Robert S. Rubine, Jr.
Associate Village Justice: Ernest R. Jones
Prosecuting Attorney: Dwight A. Kennedy, Esq.
One practical note the village makes a point of: the court clerk does not have an office at Village Hall. Going to Village Hall with a court question gets you nowhere. Contact the clerk directly by phone or email instead.
Why a Named Prosecutor Changes the Calculation
Matinecock publishes the name of its prosecuting attorney, which tells you something useful. Your case is not resolved by a clerk stamping a form. There is an attorney on the other side who reviews the charge, considers what the officer wrote, and decides what disposition the village will accept.
That is an opening. A reduction from a moving violation to a non-moving one is a negotiation, and negotiations go better when the person making the request understands what this particular prosecutor tends to consider and what your driving record allows you to ask for. An unrepresented driver walking into a 7:00 p.m. session usually does not know either of those things.
Who Writes Tickets Here
Matinecock is served by the Brookville Police Department, which began operations on June 1, 2022 and covers the Incorporated Villages of Brookville, Cove Neck, Matinecock, and Mill Neck from headquarters at 195 Brookville Road. Before that, patrols came from the Old Brookville Police Department under a six-village agreement that expired the previous month.
The village itself is a quiet stretch of the north shore: large wooded lots, Duck Pond Road and Piping Rock Road running through, and Locust Valley just beyond the line. There is no commercial strip and no highway. What generates summonses here is speed on two-lane roads that feel emptier than they are, along with stop sign and traffic control device violations at intersections drivers pass through on habit.
Points, Assessments, and Premiums
Speeding carries three to eleven points depending on the recorded speed. Running a stop sign is three. Handheld cell phone use is five, and so is texting while driving. Accumulate eleven points within eighteen months and your license is exposed to suspension. Accumulate six in the same window and New York adds a Driver Responsibility Assessment billed annually for three years, on top of the court’s fine and surcharge.
Insurance is where the number grows. A conviction is on your abstract for years, visible at every renewal, and the compounding increase generally exceeds the fine several times over. Paying the ticket is rarely the cheap option; it only looks that way on the day you pay it.
How We Handle Matinecock Cases
The Law Offices of Isaac Abraham represents drivers throughout Nassau County’s village courts. In a monthly court with a single evening session and a named prosecutor, preparation before the date is nearly the whole case. We review the summons alongside your driving abstract, identify what is genuinely contestable, and determine what reduction is realistic given your record.
For most traffic infractions we appear on your behalf, so a Thursday drive to Locust Valley at seven in the evening is not on your calendar. Where a charge requires your presence, such as a misdemeanor, we tell you before the date rather than on it.
New York drivers have left us over 2,000 five-star reviews. Start with a free case review and find out where you actually stand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I go to court on a different day if my return date is inconvenient?
No. Matinecock instructs drivers not to appear on any day other than the return date on the ticket or a date the court directs. If your date genuinely does not work, the answer is to request an adjournment through the court clerk in advance, not to show up on another evening.
Where is Matinecock Village Court actually held?
At the Portledge School, in the Gilmour Library and Upper School Library, 355 Duck Pond Road, Locust Valley. Sessions run once a month starting at 7:00 p.m. Pleas and payments go to the court’s post office box in East Norwich, not to the school.
I went to Village Hall and no one could help me. Why?
Because the court clerk does not have an office there. The village says so directly. Contact the clerk, Susan K. Egan, by phone at (516) 922-8198 or by email, and direct court questions to that office rather than to Village Hall.
Which police department issued my ticket?
The Brookville Police Department, which has served Matinecock since June 1, 2022. Tickets written before that date came from the Old Brookville Police Department, and either way the case is answered in Matinecock Village Court.
Do I need a lawyer for a single speeding ticket in a village this small?
The size of the village has no effect on the points, the assessment, or your premium. What a lawyer changes is whether anyone negotiates on your behalf with the prosecuting attorney before a plea is entered. We will look at your ticket for free and tell you if it is worth it. Call or text 646-397-9529.
Free Case Review
If your summons is returnable to Matinecock Village Court, call or text 646-397-9529, or use the form on this page, and we will review it at no cost before your date.