TMCLIR 3.1
                    HANDLING OF REQUESTS
                   FOR CONTESTED HEARINGS
                  AFTER FAILURE TO RESPOND


A. If a defendant who has failed to appear or respond to a
notice of infraction, on not more than one occasion, as
required by RCW 46.63.070 and Rule 2.4 of the Infraction
Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction (IRLJ), requests
that the court set his/her case for a contested hearing, and
upon payment of a $50.00 processing fee, the Clerk of the
Court shall be authorized to set a date for a contested
hearing, and retrieve/recall FTA's, pleadings and/or
correspondence from the Department of Licensing reflecting
the failure to respond or appear, if any was sent, on the
following conditions:

(1) The defendant, within one week of the date by which a
request for a contested hearing should have been received by
the court, delivers to the court an envelope containing
his/her request for a contested hearing, with a postmark
clearly indicating that the envelope was addressed and
mailed to the Municipal Court within the time frame for
requesting contested hearings pursuant to statute and court
rule, and with the envelope indicating that it was returned
to the defendant, for whatever reason; or,

(2) The court, within one week of the date by which a
request for a contested hearing should have been received by
the court, receives in the mail an envelope containing the
defendant's request for a contested hearing, with the
envelope showing a postmark clearly indicating that the
envelope was mailed to the court within the time frame for
requesting contested hearings pursuant to statute and court
rule.

B. In all other cases, the defendant shall not be entitled
to a contested hearing, and the disposition of his/her
infraction shall be dealt with as provided for in the
statute and/or court rule for failures to respond or appear,
or as otherwise determined by the court.

C. If a defendant fails to respond to a notice of infraction
within the time frames set forth in 3.0 and 3.1 above, in
addition to any amount imposed by the court as a fine, the
court may impose a $50.00 infraction processing fee in
addition to the scheduled bail amount or fine set by the
court at the time the infraction is adjudicated.