New Suffolk County Traffic Court Update

As a follow-up to my October, 2011 post entitled “More Details On The New Suffolk County Traffic Violations Bureau“, last week, a bill to create the infrastructure to establish a Suffolk County Traffic Violations Bureau (SC TVB) was passed at the General Meeting of the Suffolk Legislature in a vote of 16-0. The bill was co-sponsored by Legislators Rob Calarco and Kate Browning.

Critically, a press release from Calarco’s office about the bill states that the new Suffolk traffic court will have a “similar” model to the Nassau County and will “reduce the need for police overtime”. I interpret this statement as the first official confirmation that motorists with Suffolk County traffic tickets WILL be able to engage in plea bargaining for most traffic tickets, a huge improvement for the driving public.

It further appears that the Suffolk traffic court will be located in the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppague. This is a relatively convenient location for most Suffolk County residents and benefits from being a stone’s throw away from the current location for those motorists who mistakenly show up at the State Office Building.

Now if only New York City will follow Suffolk County’s lead.