In order to avoid possible violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, the ethical rules governing attorneys, assistant district attorneys refrain from having contact with individuals that are not represented by an attorney.

• You may contact an attorney to represent you and the attorney may contact this office on your behalf.  Please do not contact this office if you are representing yourself.  Please be advised that your attorney must be admitted to practice law in New York State.  Out of state attorneys may not practice unless admitted to the New York bar or are admitted to practice in New York through a special judicial order.
• You may plead not guilty and mail in your ticket  to the court.  Upon receipt, the court will contact you by mail and schedule you for an in-person conference.   Please contact the court directly if you have scheduling questions.
• You may plead guilty and mail in your ticket for the court to assign points and a fine and surcharge.

Plea By Mail

Please complete each and every one of the following steps or your request may be returned to you as incomplete. Please allow a 3 week waiting period for a response. If you have a court appearance within that period, please contact the court directly for an adjournment.

Send a letter to the  Assigned Assistant District Attorney and include the following information:

• Provide copies of all traffic tickets and related material.
• Provide a copy of your client’s driving record or DMV Driver’s Abstract from the Department of Motor Vehicles or other official source.
• Describe in writing whether or not an accident or crash was involved. If so, please provide a copy of the accident report and further indicate whether or not there were personal injuries to any person, including the defendant or any one in the defendant’s vehicle, another vehicle, a pedestrian or any third person and/or whether or not there were any damages to property, either personal or real regardless of ownership.
• Describe the facts surrounding the case and or any special circumstances. Failure to advise the office of a material fact that is later discovered by law enforcement or the district attorney’s office, despite the fact that it may have been in the police, court or district attorney’s office file, voids the plea agreement and reinstates the charges to the local justice court calendar for prosecution.  By opting to submit your material through the Plea By Mail protocol, you and your client, waive any objection to an application pursuant to section 440.00 of the Criminal Procedure Law brought by the People.  Further, you and your client agree to voluntarily reappear in local criminal court and waive any CPL 30.30 objections as well as personal service on your client.
• A self-addressed stamped envelope.  In order to save taxpayer’s dollars with our postage, your failure to include this may result in significant delays.  A staff person in the office will reject your request and attempt to reach you to obtain this.  We process more than 80,000 Vehicle and Traffic matters in a calendar year, please help us expedite the process by including an envelope with postage paid.  Thank you.
• Mail your completed application package to this office.  The mailing address is Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office, Attention to the Assistant District Attorney identified by clicking on the link to the  Local Court Assignments by City or Town page,  25 West High Street, Ballston Spa, New York  12020.
• Contact the Court. Advise the court that you are attempting to resolve the matter by mail through a plea agreement and request an adjournment in order to give you sufficient time to submit your request, have the Assistant District Attorney review it and respond, have your client sign the form and submit to the court for consideration.

Upon receipt and acceptance of the Trial Waver and Plea Agreement, you should:

• Sign it and have the defendant sign it, print your name and contact information in the space provided.
• Attach the ticket(s) to the Memorandum of Plea Bargain form.
• Mail it directly to the court.
• The court will then notify you directly of the sentence and you must follow the court instructions.

If you do not accept this proposal by signing the form and submitting it to the court, or if you fail to respond by entering the plea within 30 days from the date on the plea form the form is voided in that the offer has expired and/or is withdrawn.  You must then either contact the assistant district attorney to re-negotiate the matter or set the matter down for trial.