Lewis County District Court

		
		
                                                    LLIRLJ 3.5
                               Decisions and Deferred Findings on Written Statements


    (a)  Decisions on written statements authorized.  Deferred findings, mitigation hearings, and contested
hearings based on written statements, given under penalty of perjury as provided for in IRLJ 2.4(b) and IRLJ 2.6(c),
are authorized.  Forms for providing such written statements shall be available from the Lewis County District Court
or its website and shall be submitted within the timeline provided by the Court.  Thereupon, the Court will make
its decision according to the procedures of IRLJ 3.5, considering the materials submitted both by the defendant
and the State.  Except as provided in subsection (c) of this rule, the Court need not consider any written statement
submitted later than seven (7) calendar days before the scheduled hearing.

    (b)  Deferred findings.  The Court will consider written requests to defer infractions. A defendant who wants
to defer a traffic infraction by mail must complete either the Petition for Mitigation Hearing on Infraction(s) via
Written Statement form or the Petition for Contested Hearing on Infraction(s) via Written Statement form.  Each of
the two forms contains a section in which the defendant may request a deferred finding.  A defendant requesting a
deferred finding shall also complete the remainder of the chosen form, either contesting or mitigating the
infraction.  In the event the defendant is ineligible to defer the infraction(s) or the Court finds that a deferral
is not an appropriate remedy for the infraction, the Court will proceed with either a mitigation hearing on written
statements or a contested hearing on written statements in accordance with the defendant's choice.

    (c)  Agreed dispositions.  The Court will consider written statements requesting agreed dispositions of
infractions filed on or before the date of the hearing.  When requested to do so as part of such a disposition, the
Court may set a different penalty for an unscheduled infraction than the default, as permitted by IRLJ 6.2(b).

    (d)  There shall be no appeal from a decision on written statements.


[Adopted Emergency Rule effective Date 6/29/15; Permanent Rule effective 9/1/15]