Very few people understand the duties and the inner workings of the local Justice of the Peace court. In this weekly column, Justice Esther Barger will explain frequent situations and procedures of the JP court in Diboll in "easy to understand" terms.

Issues such as traffic tickets, filing small claims cases, evictions and truancy, just to name a few, will be explained. One issue a week will be the focus of the column.

All courts in the state of Texas, from district court to JP court, are conducted differently. Any judge will tell you this. This column is to explain policies and procedures of the Justice of the Peace Court, Precinct 5, of Angelina County. It will not necessarily be procedures and policies of other JP offices in the county, the city of Diboll Municipal Court or the Lufkin Municipal Court.

Justice Barger has been in office for eight years and sees the sharing of this information as one of her duties to the people of the community who have entrusted this office to her for two terms.

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What happens if …

You get a ticket from the Department of Public Safety?

The ticket, or citation, will have all the information regarding your traffic stop. You should also be given a sheet listing the fines for most violations, the phone number of the justice of the peace court you are to contact and information regarding payment of your fine. The original citation is brought to the JP court usually within five to seven days of issue. The court cannot advise you on how to proceed with your ticket until the original is filed with the court. If the court has not received your ticket from the DPS, you will be asked to call back in a few days.

Your ticket will have a date, which is an appearance date. It is not necessary

to appear in person, but you must contact the JP court where your ticjket will be filed and be entered into the court's computer ystem. At the time of contact, you may enter your plea, guilty or not guilty. The court clerk will advise you of further procedures depending on your plea. The DPS trooper may tell you

to "call the judge" or "get in touch" with the judge. You must make contact with the court. The Judicial Code of Ethics does not allow the judge to discuss the ticket with you if the DPS trooper is not present. This is considered "ex-parte communication" and does not allow the jusdge to render a fair and impartial ruling when only one party is present to tell his or her side of the situation. The court clerks will be able to advise you on procedures and policies of the c ourt. That is part of their job.

Remember, always contact the court on or before your appearance date. Failure to do so could result in a higher fine or additional fees.

Next week: What happens if you want to enter a pleas of not guilty?