Malverne Traffic Ticket Lawyer

Where does a Malverne traffic ticket go?

A Malverne traffic ticket written inside the village is answered at the Malverne Village Court, not at the county’s traffic agency in Garden City. The complication is that the Malverne name reaches farther than the village itself. Two small neighborhoods next door chose to stay out when the village incorporated, and a ticket written in either one follows county rules instead. So before you mail anything, find the court named on your summons; that line settles the question.

Malverne Village Court or the County Agency?

Malverne is an incorporated village of about one square mile in the Town of Hempstead, with 8,560 residents at the 2020 census. Its justice court hears Vehicle and Traffic Law tickets from inside the village. The court’s location, clerk hours, plea forms and insurance letter rule are on our Malverne Village Court page; this page deals with the earlier question of whether that court is really yours.

Step over the village line into unincorporated territory and the case belongs to the county. The Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency, whose building is at 801 Axinn Avenue in Garden City, hears most of those moving violations. That agency works differently: a county prosecutor makes any offer, and a Judicial Hearing Officer has to approve it. Lynbrook, the neighboring village, keeps a court of its own, so a ticket written there goes to neither Malverne nor Garden City.

A charge that is a crime is a third track. The Nassau County District Court in Hempstead has trial jurisdiction over misdemeanors and over traffic tickets charging a crime, which covers DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation in county territory. If you were arrested, your paperwork names the court and the date, and that date is not optional.

The Neighbors That Said No in 1921

When Malverne voted to incorporate in 1921, residents of two adjoining sections asked to be left out. Malverne Park Oaks and North Lynbrook are still unincorporated hamlets, governed directly by the Town of Hempstead, and neither has a village court.

That century old decision still sorts tickets. Part of Malverne Park Oaks, the section called Malverne Park, shares Malverne’s 11565 ZIP code, its fire district and its school district, so a driver stopped there can honestly believe the stop was in Malverne. For court purposes it was not. North Lynbrook sits between the villages of Lynbrook and Malverne, which means a short drive down a residential street can carry you out of one village court’s territory, through county territory, and into another village’s. The test is the municipal boundary, not the mailing address.

Who Wrote the Ticket

Malverne keeps its own police department, and the county’s directory of police agencies lists that department for the village rather than a Nassau County precinct. A summons from a Malverne officer will normally be returnable to the village court. A Nassau County police officer on the ticket is a clue that the stop happened in a neighboring hamlet.

State troopers are the other possibility. Troop L serves Nassau and Suffolk and took over parkway patrol in 1980, when 193 State Parkway Police officers transferred to the State Police. The Southern State Parkway crosses into Malverne and meets Hempstead Avenue at the exit 17 cloverleaf, runs along the northern edge of Malverne Park Oaks, and continues east through Lakeview, another unincorporated hamlet. A trooper’s ticket near exit 17 could belong to any of those territories, so read the return court rather than guessing from the exit number.

Two Small Tickets, One Large Bill

Picture a common pairing: a stop sign ticket in the spring and a handheld phone ticket a few months later. Neither one feels serious on its own. Together they put 8 points on your record, 3 for the stop sign and 5 for the phone, and 6 or more points within 18 months triggers the DMV’s Driver Responsibility Assessment.

At 8 points that assessment is $100 a year plus $25 a year for each of the two points over six, so $150 a year for three years, $450 in all, owed to the DMV on top of the court’s fine.

The next line is suspension, which can follow 11 points within 24 months. A speeding conviction alone adds 3 to 11 points, and every conviction lands on the same DMV record, the one your insurer reads at renewal, whichever court it came from. Our speeding ticket lawyer page explains the speed scale, and the cell phone ticket page covers the 5 point phone charge.

How We Handle Malverne Tickets

The Law Offices of Isaac Abraham represents drivers on tickets returnable to Nassau’s village courts, the county traffic agency and courts across New York State, Malverne included. For most traffic infractions we appear in your place, so you need not give up an evening at Village Hall. Where a charge requires you to attend, as DWI or aggravated unlicensed operation usually does, we tell you well before the date. New York drivers have given us more than 2,100 five-star reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions

My ticket says Malverne, but a Nassau County officer wrote it. Which court is it?

Go by the court printed on the summons. A county officer usually means the stop was outside the village, perhaps in Malverne Park Oaks or North Lynbrook, and those tickets generally go to the county agency in Garden City.

Is West Hempstead part of Malverne?

No. West Hempstead is an unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Hempstead with no village court, so a moving violation there generally goes to the county agency rather than to Church Street.

Can I settle a Malverne ticket by mail?

That depends on which court has it. Malverne accepts a not guilty plea by mail and then sends you a date. The county agency will consider a reduction by mail on some tickets, though never on a speeding charge, and not when you already have another charge within the past 18 months.

I was stopped on the Southern State near the Hempstead Avenue exit. Do I go to Malverne?

Not necessarily. The interchange is in Malverne, but the parkway also borders Malverne Park Oaks and runs through Lakeview. Check the return court on the ticket, and if it is unclear, send it to us before the deadline.

Free Case Review

Send us both sides of your Malverne ticket and we will confirm which court has it and what a conviction would add to your record. Call or text 646-397-9529, or use the form on this page, at no cost.