Casa Grande, Arizona is located approximately halfway between Tucson and Phoenix in Pinal County. Casa Grande was founded in 1879 as the result of the Southern Pacific Railroad during Arizona’s mining boom. Because of fires destroying the early settlement and the slowdown of mining, it took several decades for the town to see any growth. It wasn’t until 1915 when the agriculture industry was introduced that the town began to flourish. During the World War II Era, there was a Japanese-American relocation camp that was set outside of Casa Grande, called the Gila River War Relocation Center. It was known to be one of the least oppressive camps and it was said that internees were allowed access to the amenities of Phoenix, as well as to participate in recreational activities.

Thompson Rodney Peart was one of the founding fathers of Casa Grande, and today the city possesses a few notable fixtures that were named after him, including Peart Park. With its affordable housing, the addition of industrial manufacturing creating job growth, and being equidistant to two major cities in Arizona, Casa Grande has grown to a population of about 53,657 and is the largest city in Pinal County.

Citations for criminal speeding or excessive speeding are the most common violations we see out of the Casa Grande Justice Court. Most violations occur on the I-10, as this stretch of roadway is usually light in terms of traffic and is straight and wide-open. In Arizona, any speed over 85 miles per hour can be charged as an excessive speeding violation, and it is very easy to travel at these speeds on this road.

Reckless driving is another very common violation charged out of the Seligman Justice Court. Whether this charge is cited on a person’s ticket depends a lot upon the officer who issues the citation. Some officers will only charge this violation in extreme circumstances and other officers will cite it as a matter of common practice. Generally, whether an officer in this jurisdiction issues a reckless driving charge will depend upon the speed, the mile post, whether there were other people in the vehicle, and any other violations observed during the driving.

Officers patrolling Seligman also tend to issue trucking violations to commercial drivers regularly. We normally see logbook violations as a result of routine traffic stops and inspections, but also see a large number of seat belt violations. In Arizona, it is a class 1 misdemeanor for a commercial driver to not be wearing their seatbelt. The officers in Seligman will sit on bridges and monitor traffic that passes below them on the I-40. If they see a commercial driver not wearing or improperly wearing a seat belt, they will radio another unit to stop the vehicle and issue a citation.

The Seligman Justice Court Precinct of Yavapai County includes all of Seligman and Ash Fork and covers a significant portion of the Interstate 40 in Northern Arizona. People travel through the I40 to reach Flagstaff, to travel to Las Vegas, and most commonly, to visit the Grand Canyon.

This portion of Arizona is patrolled by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and there is a strong emphasis on enforcement of traffic violations in this area. On the map below, the major danger zones for enhanced traffic enforcement is detailed in red. If you received a ticket outside of this geographic region but were still cited into the Seligman Justice Court, there may be a problem with your jurisdiction. Although this is relatively uncommon, it can happen, and it means that your ticket was filed in the wrong jurisdiction.

Judge John Ellsworth was elected Justice of the Peace of the Casa Grande Justice Court in 2014 and has been on the bench ever since. In our subjective opinion, Judge Ellsworth is a very reasonable Judge and uses his discretion in situations that warrant action from the bench.

Casa Grande Justice Court sees a very high number of traffic violations, and Judge Ellsworth takes these violations seriously. This jurisdiction at times sees devastating accidents, resulting in injuries and deaths. It seems to us that Judge Ellsworth is using his position as a Judge to encourage and promote safe driving while not being overly punitive in his rulings.

Prior to serving on the bench, Judge Ellsworth had retired from the Pinal County Sheriff’s office as a lieutenant. His earlier careers included enlisting in the United States Air Force as a military police offer, joining the Casa Grande Police Department and retiring 20 years later as a Sergeant, and serving three years for the Arizona Department of Corrections as a criminal investigator.

Officer Doug Redig is an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer who writes a very large number of traffic tickets out of this jurisdiction. If speeds approach 100 miles per hour or higher, he will generally cite an individual with both criminal / excessive speeding and reckless driving. This results in clients being charged with both a class 2 misdemeanor and a class 3 misdemeanor facing a total of 11 points. According to many of our clients, interactions with Officer Redig can be very stern and tense and cause a lot of anxiety.

In this citation, Officer Redig used a radar device to estimate this individual’s speed, and issued a citation for both charges, reckless driving and criminal speeding.

Officer Redig also uses a laser speed measurement device, having the proper certifications to do so. Again, in this citation he cited this individual for both reckless driving and criminal speeding.

Officer Krum is another Department of Public Safety Officer who writes tickets and does traffic patrol out of the Seligman Justice Court area. His style of writing tickets is less thorough than Officer Redig’s, who tends to be very precise. In the following citation, he only wrote this individual for criminal speeding and not reckless driving.

Hopefully you do not have to travel to Seligman for court. Hiring an attorney to represent you is generally the most cost effective way to avoid physically having to travel to this jurisdiction. The Court is located in the heart of Seligman, which is several hours away from any major cities.

Our office represents a very large number of people charged with offenses in Casa Grande. On a great majority of our cases, we are able to prevent our clients from having any criminal record and resolve their case without them ever having to return to Arizona. We provide representation on a flat fee basis, offer affordable payment plans and deliver a proper defense with a team dedicated to solving traffic related cases.

Contact us today for a free, no obligation case evaluation. Send us your citation and your information below and we will review your matter as soon as possible.