North County to Get Mobile Traffic Office

Minor traffic offenses will be processed more quickly in the North County under a plan approved Tuesday by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

The board agreed to spend $26,800 to put a mobile van, complete with computer equipment and staff, at various sites in the North County Judicial District to process minor traffic citations.

The mobile satellite traffic office will operate under an agreement among the county, the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Camp Pendleton, which is one of the van’s initial locations.

Supervisors chose to use the van to ease the pressure caused by population increase on the North County Municipal Court and to avoid leasing more space for the court’s San Marcos branch, which opened in June, 1989.

Starting in January, the mobile van will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., although those hours could be changed according to customer demand.

The San Marcos branch processes more than 600 people a day, with often more than 175 waiting in a line that spills into the parking lot. The backup is creating congestion in the court and along California 78, officials said.

Clerks in the mobile office will accept bail or fine payments and proof of correction or insurance, assign or accept proof of traffic school assignments, and accept not-guilty pleas for later appearances at the San Marcos branch.

When the program begins, the van will move between Camp Pendleton, the DMV in Oceanside and the Sheriff’s substation in Encinitas. The days the van will be in each location have yet to be announced. The sites were selected because of the many traffic citations issued to Oceanside and Encinitas residents. The mobile van will also be stationed in Fallbrook.

Authorities will review the program after three months to determine the best sites and hours and established a regular schedule. Officials also will consider putting the van at other locations and whether a permanent satellite office should be established, said Sharon Lear, assistant court administrator.