Post Cyber Attack, what happens to your case in Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court?
December 13, 2019 the City of New Orleans realized that it’s computer system had been hacked in a cyber attack. Because of the attack all City computers were shut down including the computers that run Orleans Municipal and Traffic Courts. This Court runs all cases electronically which caused the court to shut down after the cyber attack. For the last month thousands of court cases have come and gone without new dates set or resolution. This blog post is specific to New Orleans and based on the current information available as of the time of the post.
Is Court still closed?
Yes and No. On January 14, 2020 the Court opened to give new court dates for cases set only. Information about cases or tickets from Clerk is not available. Lawyers and citizens are still not able to plea out cases, get cases dropped, get charges reduced, obtain reinstatement letters, or do other court business, Additionally payments can not be made in court on your case inside the courthouse.
If you have a ticket or case you need to go to get a new date. It is unclear if attachments are being issued for missing Court but you or an attorney should appear in Court.
Does my ticket or case go away because of
the cyber attack?
Maybe. It is too soon to know if data about tickets are cases has been lost. Do not assume your ticket or case was lost and never check up on it. It is unknown if the City will send subpoenas to all the missed cases. You or an attorney representing you need to go to the Court to get a new date and check to see if your case or ticket is still viable. It is possible that data on your case has been lost but that can only be learned by going to court and looking at the evidence.
Can I just pay my traffic ticket online to
avoid going to Court?
Yes but it may not be the best idea to do that. You can pay your ticket online here.
If you pay the ticket then you are pleaing to the full charge and that will go on your record. If you have a speeding ticket or accident then those moving violations could impact your insurance rates for years! This could impact a civil case if you have one related to a traffic accident (personal injury cases). Going to Court to resolved your ticket makes it is possible to get your ticket dropped or reduced to something that will have a lower fine and not impact your insurance.
I had court when it was closed, how do I get a new date?
You or your attorney needs to go to court to get a new date. The Court may send out new dates. It is unknown how long that will take. If the Court does send out notices of new dates then it will be to the address on your ticket or case. If you have moved then you will most likely NOT get a notice with a new date.
Does the cyber attack impact camera tickets?
Yes, camera tickets can be paid here. Camera tickets are not handled in Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court. Do not go to this court to contest or pay your camera ticket.
Can I pay parking tickets?
Yes, parking tickets can be paid here. I must admit I paid one I got a few days ago.
The cyber attack has caused long delays and it is unknown how long it will take to get the Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court fully running again. Call 504-233-8118 or click here to set up a free consultation on getting our firm to represent you.
