Every ticket has a hearing date. If you do not take care of your ticket before the hearing date, you must come to ECB on that date or ask for another date.

Asking for another hearing date
If you cannot come to ECB on the scheduled hearing date, call 311 or the ECB office where your case is supposed to be heard. You must call before the hearing date. If you have missed your hearing date, contact ECB right away for instructions on how to proceed.

Arriving for a Hearing
When you come for your hearing, you will need to check in with the receptionist. The receptionist will give you a form to fill out. This form is called a Notice of Appearance. Fill out the form and give the form and your ticket to the receptionist. After this, please wait in the waiting area.

Participating in a Hearing
The ALJ will call your name and will take you to a hearing room. If you brought witnesses with you, they should go with you into the hearing room.

There may also be other people in the hearing room. There may be an agency representative. This is a person who works for the City agency that gave you the ticket. The person or agent who wrote the ticket might be there too. However, the person or agent is not required to be at the hearing because the ticket itself states the charge.

When everyone is in the hearing room, the ALJ will introduce him or herself and will explain how things will be done during the hearing. All hearings are recorded. If someone from the issuing agency is present, that person will talk first. You are allowed to ask questions. When the agency is finished, you will have a chance to state your case. This is called testifying. The agency representative is allowed to ask you questions. Both you and the issuing agency are also allowed to make a statement to the judge about whether the law charged applies to this case. This is called a legal argument. When everyone is finished, the judge will end the hearing.

Sometimes your case may be adjourned or rescheduled to another date. Either you or someone from the City agency that wrote the ticket can ask for another hearing date. Reasons for asking for another hearing date include needing to gather more evidence or so that the issuing officer or another witness can come to the hearing to testify. The judge is the person who decides whether to grant a request to have the case heard at a later date. If your case is adjourned, you must return on the new date.

When the hearing is finished, everyone leaves the hearing room. At some time shortly after the hearing, the judge will write a decision and order. This will then be sent to you. For some types of cases, this decision and order may include an order that you correct the problems stated in the ticket and show the agency that you have done so.