“Can Opp From Another Zone Give A Ticket Out Of Their Area?”

Hi, I received a ticket for speeding 125km in a 80km zone today. I was on Hwy 2 in Quinte West just outside the town of Trenton. The ticket I received I believe was from a Napanee OPP officer because the top of the ticket says NAPANEE 2060. There is an OPP unit in Quinte West so I don't see why I would get a ticket and need to go to Napanee court for it. Napanee is in the County of Lennox and Addington and Trenton is in Prince Edward County. It's 2 complete different areas. It's about a 30min drive to Napanee as well.

Anyone have any info on this?

Any officer can issue a ticket anywhere in Ontario. That being said the court house (identified by ICON #) on the Provincial Offence Notice should be the one for the area where the offence took place.

At this point you can request the trial at your local courthouse, but your notice of trial sent to you will be for the court in Napanee. Make sure you request disclosure. Once you have your court date you should be able to exploit this by requesting the charge be withdrawn or transferred to the correct courthouse with the delay attributed to the Crown.

The Provincial Offences act actually allows for matters to be heard in adjoining jurisdictions to where the offence occurred as long as it's within "reasonable" proximity. It actually allows for officers to issue tickets for their local court when they observe offences in neighbouring areas.

Called the courthouse and they said they will never transfer it. OPP can issue tickets anywhere in Ontario and the officer that gave me mine must have been from Napanee and I have to go there. I said to her, "so if the officer was from Windsor and he was in in Trenton i'd have to drive to Windsor?" and she said yes. That seems pretty stupid to me.

jason555 wrote:Called the courthouse and they said they will never transfer it. OPP can issue tickets anywhere in Ontario and the officer that gave me mine must have been from Napanee and I have to go there. I said to her, "so if the officer was from Windsor and he was in in Trenton i'd have to drive to Windsor?" and she said yes. That seems pretty stupid to me.

The person at the Courthouse was incorrect. As I stated above, it has to be an adjoining jurisdiction. If an officer from Windsor issued a Windsor ticket in Trenton, it would be invalidated since the Windsor Court has no jurisdiction in Trenton.