Do not just pay that LaPlace ticket. Paying a citation is a guilty plea. It closes the case, but it puts a conviction on your record for three years, raises your insurance, and can stack toward a suspended license. In most cases we can keep the ticket off your record entirely, and you may never have to appear in court.
If you were stopped on I-10, at the I-55 split, on Airline Highway, or on Belle Terre Boulevard, you are in good company. LaPlace sits at one of the busiest enforcement points in the region, where Interstate 10 and Interstate 55 meet and traffic funnels through St. John the Baptist Parish. Between the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana State Police Troop B, a lot of tickets get written here every week.
Here is what most drivers do not realize. LaPlace is unincorporated. There is no LaPlace city court and no mayor’s court. Your citation is prosecuted by the St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney and heard at the 40th Judicial District Court in Edgard, across the river from where most of the parish actually lives. That geography alone trips up drivers who try to handle a ticket on their own.
The Law Office of Heather C. Ford handles traffic citations throughout St. John Parish, from LaPlace and Reserve to Garyville and Edgard, and in most cases we can take the whole thing off your plate.
In St. Charles Parish, a ticket written in Luling goes to the courthouse in Hahnville, a few minutes away. In LaPlace, the courthouse is in Edgard on the west bank of the Mississippi River. To get there from the LaPlace side you either take the Reserve to Edgard ferry or drive up to the Gramercy bridge, which turns a court appearance into a half day off work. Miss that date and the court can issue a bench warrant and suspend your license.
That distance is exactly why hiring a lawyer makes sense here. When we represent you, we handle the Edgard appearances so you do not have to cross the river at all.
Where your case goes: St. John the Baptist Parish Courthouse, 2393 Highway 18, Edgard, LA 70049. 40th Judicial District Court, prosecuted by the St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney. Check the date on your citation, because a missed date can trigger a warrant.
Knowing where tickets get written here explains why there are so many of them. A few stretches account for most of the citations in St. John Parish.
The number printed on your ticket is the smallest part of the bill. Louisiana does not run a traditional points system, but a conviction still sits on your record for three years, and insurers use that record to set your rate. The table below shows how a modest fine turns into a much larger number.
| What you see | What it actually costs |
|---|---|
| The fine on the ticket | A one-time cost, often $150 to $300 for a common moving violation. |
| The insurance surcharge | A single moving-violation conviction can raise your premium by hundreds of dollars a year for three years, often several times the fine itself. |
| The conviction on your record | Reported for three years and visible to insurers and, for some jobs, employers. It also stacks toward a suspended license. |
| A missed court date | A bench warrant plus a license suspension and reinstatement fees, turning a simple ticket into an arrest risk. |
See more on how a ticket affects your insurance. The takeaway is simple. Keeping the conviction off your record usually saves you far more than our fee.
Whatever the officer wrote you up for, there is likely a page in this section with the detail you need.
Knowing the steps takes the mystery out of it. A St. John Parish traffic case generally runs like this.
Most citations have more give in them than drivers assume. Depending on the charge and the evidence, we work to get the violation dismissed, negotiate it down to a non-moving violation that carries no insurance hit, or use Louisiana articles 894 and 892 to keep a plea from becoming a conviction. Where the stop or the equipment is questionable, we challenge it. For the large majority of LaPlace cases, you never set foot in Edgard.
Speeding and moving violations live in Title 32 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. Unlike many states, Louisiana does not assign license points, so people assume tickets are harmless. They are not. The conviction is reported for three years, your insurer sees it, and enough of them can cost you your license under the state’s suspension rules. That gap between how minor a ticket feels and what it actually costs is the whole reason to fight it.
LaPlace sits on Interstate 10, the main route between Florida, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Texas, so a large share of the tickets written here go to people who do not live in St. John Parish and never planned to come back. If that is you, the last thing you want is to lose a day driving to Edgard for a minor citation. We can enter as your attorney and appear at the 40th JDC on your behalf, so in most cases you never have to return to Louisiana at all. Send us the ticket and we handle it from here.
Do not let a St. John Parish ticket sit until it becomes a warrant or a rate hike. Call or text the Law Office of Heather C. Ford for a free consultation, or see the St. John Parish traffic court page and the full list of Louisiana courts we serve.
Between myself and my family, we keep Heather busy! She is very professional and knowledgeable. I have spent a lot of money and ruined my driving record paying off speeding tickets but when I found Heather, I found that she is the best
My experience with the Law Office of Heather C. Ford was outstanding. I would recommend this team to anyone that has received a traffic ticket in the metro New Orleans area....
I found Heather online after searching for a traffic lawyer. Since I am not from the area, I was not 100% sure but went with my gut after reading the positive comments. And I was right! I am really pleased with Heather Ford's...
I was thrilled when Heather was able to get my ticket reduced to a non-moving violation and the judge waived fees. I never thought that was possible. I was certain I'd have to pay something. She's great...
Ms. Ford is all that I could ask for in an advocate.
My experience has been as pleasurable as can be expected when you need a lawyer.
LaPlace is unincorporated, so your ticket is heard at the 40th Judicial District Court in Edgard and prosecuted by the St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney. The courthouse is on the west bank, reached by the Reserve to Edgard ferry or the Gramercy bridge. When you hire us, we handle those Edgard appearances for you.
Paying is the same as pleading guilty. It closes the ticket fast but puts a conviction on your record for three years and usually raises your insurance by more than the fine. Before you pay, it is worth a free call to see whether we can get it reduced or dismissed.
For most traffic cases, no. We enter as your attorney and appear on your behalf, which matters even more here because the courthouse is across the river from LaPlace.
Contact us right away. A missed appearance in St. John Parish can lead to a bench warrant and a license suspension. The sooner we get involved, the better the chance of clearing it up before it escalates.
Yes. Many LaPlace tickets are written by Louisiana State Police Troop B on I-10 and I-55. We handle State Police citations the same way we handle sheriff citations.
For a routine ticket, our fee is typically a fraction of what a conviction costs once the insurance surcharge is counted. We quote a flat fee up front during your free consultation.
