North Hampton Magistrate Court — Local services in North Hampton

This is literally the worst court I’ve ever had to deal with. I literally just moved here and was just driving around the area just to familiarise myself, I have never been on this part of the road before. I didn’t realise the road jumped from a 55 to a 35 until right when I passed the cop and saw the speed limit sign just beyond him. I knew he was gonna pull me over and speeding is my fault, but the cop had no reason to be rude to me and even imply that my license was fake? I am from PA where we have jr licenses for underage drivers and he asked me “what the hell is a junior license” and when I told him it was for people under 21 in PA, he asked me how old I was like he wasn’t looking straight at my license with my birthday. This was Saturday afternoon , fast forward to today (Monday evening) where I attempt to pay my ticket (like I said, my fault for speeding even though I didn’t realise) and its not even available on the court website, which looks like its from 2005. What kind of buffoonery is this where I cant even pay my ticket?? And the court date is April 3rd, so its not like I even have a ton of time to pay before they revoke your license and put out a warrant for your arrest (as it states they will do on the back of the ticket). Do not make the mistake of travelling through this awful town, save yourself the headache of dealing with the cop and the slow court website.

UPDATE : 04/02 the DAY before my ticket is due. The website was updated last evening. My ticket is STILL not available to pay!!!!!!!!! Seriously the most frustrating and asinine experience I have ever had in my entire life. How can I be expected to pay the ticket if YOU DON’T...

As I was approaching the Pike Township Fire Station, lights came on and Officer, James B., claimed I was going 47mph in a 35mph speed zone (at this point it had been 55 mph for almost a mile, so I was actually going 8mph under the speed limit).

I explained to James that I had never been to this village and that I never speed (I drive over 25,000 miles a year for my job) and he ran my plates and was quite impressed that I had never had a speeding ticket in my life. In fact, my one and only traffic citation was from 1998, in juvenile court. However, despite this, he was sorry he could not give me a warning because “my chief ordered me to give speeding tickets today.”

Furthermore, I could accept paying a $120 fine for the bogus citation but then they added $130 “court costs” even when I decided to waive my right to court (it is not worth my time or money to drive all the way back to do so). This is an unethical money grab as well. $250, not for being reckless or endangering, but for supposedly going 12mph over! Every single law enforcement officer I know, and the four different court traffic departments in Ohio that I called inquiring about this all said the same thing…if you do not go to court, you don’t pay “COURT COSTS”! You should just be able to pay your traffic fine. Not in the Village of North Hampton though! Reading the reviews of this police department and magistrate court confirmed my suspicions.

If preying on unsuspecting out-of-towners is what Chief Campbell orders his officers to do so they can keep the lights on, then he and I must have taken far different moral oaths to...

I've lived close to this notorious speeding trap for my whole life, and while no one in my household has been ticketed, I've grown up seeing the effects on the community. No one who doesn't already live here wants to be here, whenever we have to pass through we're tense and anxious despite doing our best to follow the speed limit because we KNOW there's a cop hiding out of view somewhere waiting for one little slip-up. This town cannot even keep a dollar store running because of how much of a stranglehold its speedtrap has on it. I've seen businesses die here because they cannot bring in customers because no one wants to go here. There is absolutely nothing that makes it worth the risk to anyone, and the positioning of the speed limit signs are notorious for causing confusion in non-local drivers who have the misfortune of needing to pass through here.

I've watched this speed trap strangle this little town to death for my whole life. The only thing I ever hear about North Hampton is people saying "Don't go there, it's a trap." "Avoid it at all costs."

All it's doing is bleeding the...