Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
New York County, New York, has about 1.7 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A traffic ticket written in New York County is a court case in the city, town and village courts, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record and common questions.
Related guides: New York County public records, New York County arrest records, New York County warrants, New York County inmate search, New York County criminal records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in New York County Goes
A traffic ticket written in New York County is answered in the city, town and village courts, which take misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims. The ticket itself is a court case, and the court's index is the record of it.
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
Who Writes the Tickets in New York County
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in New York County: the Optometry State University of New York Police (campus police).
The New York City Police Department polices all five boroughs of New York City, New York County among them, and reports its arrests to the FBI as one agency, so they are not broken out for New York County here.
The Driving Record and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles
The driving record is a separate document from the court file. It is kept by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, which adds each conviction the court reports and handles suspensions; the court does not issue driving records.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DWI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before the DMV (see New York County DUI).
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from New York County?
With the city, town and village courts.
Who keeps my driving record in New York?
The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in New York County?
The city, town and village courts, which take misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims.
Is this the official New York County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.