Suffolk County District Court - Parking Tickets: FAQ

The public windows (located on the 2nd floor of the Cohalan Court Complex) open for business Monday - Friday at 8:30 a.m. All business must be commenced by 4:30 p.m.

Your parking ticket will tell you the last date that you must answer your ticket, either by mail or in person. If you come to the courthouse on or before that date, you will speak to a clerk and either get a trial date or plead guilty.

If you have not answered your parking ticket by the date written on the ticket, the court will mail a notice to you giving you a date that you must respond.

If you do not respond a default sentence will be imposed against you, and a judgment filed with the clerk of your county of residence as a lien, and your license and registration may be suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

You may mail a request for a new court date. Address your correspondence to Parking Division Clerk, 1st District Court, 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip NY 11722

Not at this time - the parking calendars are not available online (calendars and case information for criminal court cases - heard in the same District Court building in Central Islip - are available on the WebCrims site. Log in as Guest).

Past calendars are not available to the public on the internet. Other agencies may view completed calendars for the entire District Court through our secure site.

Indicate guilty on the back of the ticket, sign the ticket and carefully print your name and address, and include payment. The parking ticket should indicate the set fine amount. If it does not, look up the minimum fine acceptable for the section of law violated in the chart below.

Indicate the ticket number on your check or money order, payable to the “First District Court.” Do not send cash.

Dishonored checks will result in the immediate entry of a default judgment with an additional $20 returned check fee.

At this time there is no way to pay "online" or by telephone.

You may pay the fine by credit card by appearing in person with photo identification.

Indicate “not guilty” on the back of your ticket, sign the ticket and carefully print your name and address.

Mail the ticket to the court as specified on the ticket. You will be notified of a date for pretrial conference and/or trial.

Your not guilty plea must be postmarked within 48 hours of the time the ticket was issued. If the plea is not timely you will be notified of a date to appear to enter a plea in person.

Other than as allowed for handicapped parking tickets below, you may not submit proof by mail. All proof that you are “not guilty” must be presented in court, in person, while you are under oath before a judicial officer of this court.

Yes. If you received a parking ticket for illegally parking in a handicapped parking space, and at that time the driver or a passenger had a valid handicapped parking permit for the vehicle, you can submit an Ex parte motion to dismiss handicapped parking ticket, supporting affidavit, and consent to adjudication by a Judicial Hearing Officer (JHO) (form DC-422). With the form, along with a photocopy of the ticket, you must include

• a photocopy of the permit,
• a letter from the town or other issuing agency stating that the handicapped permit was valid on the date the ticket was issued,
• a photocopy of the permit holder's driver’s license (or some other photo identification if unlicensed), and a
• a self-addressed stamped envelope.

The form is an affidavit and must be sworn to and signed in the presence of a notary or a court clerk. The submitted form is treated as a motion to dismiss the ticket. The court will notify you by mail if the motion was granted and the ticket was dismissed, or if the motion was denied and you must appear on a future date.

You may pay fines, surcharges, and fees:

• by timely mailing your parking ticket with your plea of guilty and either a check or money order payable to the Clerk of the District Court. If your check is not honored by the bank, there will be an additional $20 fee and the immediate entry of a default judgment.
• in person at the courthouse on or before the "to pay" date at window 5, 6, or 7 in room D220 (on the second floor) by cash, check, money order or credit card (Visa or MasterCard - with photo identification).

Generally, yes. Depending on the sentencing judge, you might need to appear in the courtroom to ask for more time to pay.

Generally, if you do not pay the fine, the Court (in the name of the People of the State of New York) enters a judgment against you in the County Clerk's office.

The court may also suspend your drivers license and your vehicle registration.

You might need a Certificate of Disposition or a Certified Transcript. You can buy one from the court by coming to the courthouse - bring photo identification, $5, and as much information about the case you can get (case or docket number, date of disposition, offenses charged, date of arrest, copies of charges, etc).

You may also request a Certificate of Disposition or a Certified Transcript by mail - follow the instructions on form DC-411.

If the case was sealed, you may need additional paperwork, for example,

• if your case was terminated in your favor and sealed (like after an acquittal or dismissal), and you want a Certified Transcript of Certificate of Disposition mailed to you, you need to submit form DC-412 with DC-411
• if the case was sealed after an acquittal or dismissed and sealed, and you want to authorize someone to be your agent to access the sealed records, you need to submit form DC-413 with DC-411.

You or your attorney must file 2 copies of a Notice of Appeal with the Appeals Clerk, Suffolk County District Court, 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip NY 11722, and you must serve one copy of the Notice of Appeal on the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Appeals Bureau, Cromarty Criminal Court Complex, 200 Center Drive, Riverhead, NY 11901, within 30 days from the date of sentence.

If you appeared before the court pro se (without an attorney, self-represented, or on your own behalf), and you timely indicate in writing to the Clerk of the Court a desire to appeal (see the bottom of the form DC-16), the Clerk will prepare and serve and file an appropriate notice on your behalf.

You have the right, upon proof of your financial inability to retain counsel and to pay the costs and expenses of the appeal, to apply to the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court, for the assignment of counsel, for leave to prosecute the appeal as a poor person, and to dispense with printing costs.

Written instructions for perfecting a criminal appeal are available from the Appellate Term Clerks Office. You must perfect your appeal within 120 days from the date of sentence.