Defective Notice of Infraction — Missing Mandatory Elements
RCW 46.63.060 requires every notice of traffic infraction to contain specific elements: a statement that it represents a determination an infraction was committed; the date, time, place and nature of the infraction; the alleged offender's name, address and DOB (if known); the vehicle's plate number; the officer's identifying badge or number; a statement of options for response; and a notice of consequences for failure to respond. A notice missing or materially garbled in any of these (illegible plate, wrong location, missing officer ID, no DOB block, no statement of options) is defective on its face and the infraction must be dismissed. Parking notices placed on vehicles under RCW 46.63.030(3) must still meet identifying requirements; many parking enforcement officer (PEO) chalk tickets in Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane are written illegibly or omit the precise block face / nearest cross-street.
Legal basis
RCW 46.63.060; RCW 46.63.030(3); IRLJ 2.1, 2.4 (Infraction Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)
Sample appeal wording
TO: [COURT NAME] (e.g., Seattle Municipal Court — Infraction Division) RE: Notice of Infraction No. [TICKET NUMBER] Date of Alleged Infraction: [DATE] Vehicle: [PLATE / VIN] I request DISMISSAL of the above notice of infraction under RCW 46.63.060 and IRLJ 2.1. GROUNDS: 1. The notice fails to contain mandatory elements required by RCW 46.63.060, specifically: [LIST EACH MISSING/ILLEGIBLE ELEMENT — e.g., 'the issuing officer's badge/identification number is illegible', 'the location field reads only "Capitol Hill" with no street, block face, or cross-street', 'the nature-of-infraction box is blank/checked but not described']. 2. Under RCW 46.63.060 and IRLJ 2.1(b), a notice that fails to provide the cited person sufficient information to identify the alleged conduct deprives the court of jurisdiction to enter a finding of committed. 3. A photograph of the original notice is attached as Exhibit A. For these reasons I respectfully request the court enter a finding of NOT COMMITTED and dismiss the infraction. Respectfully, [NAME] [ADDRESS] [PHONE/EMAIL] [DATE]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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- RCW 46.63.060 — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.63.060
- RCW 46.63.030 — https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.63.030
- IRLJ 2.1 — Washington Courts Infraction Rules