How to issue and manage citations

Citations let your agency record an electronic citation, attach it to a client and a case, and keep the officer, subject, vehicle, and violation details in one record. Citations live on the **Payments** tab bar, next to **Payments**.

### Overview

The **Citations** page pairs a short create form with a searchable list of every citation your agency holds. Creating a citation takes two fields, and the full citation page is where you record the scene, the subject, the vehicle, and each violation with its fine.

- **What it does:** Creates citation records, attaches them to clients and cases, and stores officer, subject, vehicle, violation, and location details.
- **Why it matters:** Keeps citation detail, fines, and client messaging in one record instead of separate systems.
- **Who uses it:** Court staff, agency administrators, and officers who record citations in eCourtDate.
- **Expected outcomes:** A citation record with a reference, a status, violations totalled into **Total Fines**, and an optional portal link for the client.

Your agency can rename several of these field labels, so the labels you see may differ from the defaults used in this article.

### Prerequisites

Before you create a citation, make sure you have:

- Access to **Payments** in the main navigation (an administrator can hide navigation items for individual accounts)
- Citation statuses created under **Settings** > **Statuses** with the **Type** set to citation
- A portal, if you want a citation link, a QR code, or the ability to send a message from the citation page
- A client record, if you want to attach the citation to a client

### How-To Steps

#### Step 1: Open the Citations page

1. Click **Payments** in the main navigation.
2. Select the **Citations** tab.
3. Review the list, which sorts by **Citation Reference**, **Status**, **Client**, **Type**, **Description**, **Issued At**, **Case Number**, **Creator**, **Created**, and **Updated**.

#### Step 2: Create a citation

1. Enter an identifier in **Reference**, or click the refresh button beside the field to generate one in the CIT-YYYY-MM-DD-XXXX format.
2. Select an **Issued at** date, which defaults to today in your agency timezone.
3. Click **Create**.

The citation opens on its own page. To attach the citation to a client as you create it, type at least two characters in the **Search clients...** box above the create form and click the client in the results first.

#### Step 3: Complete the citation record

1. Update the fields in the first card on the citation page.
2. Click **Capture Geolocation** under **Citation Location** to record coordinates from your device, or enter an address in **Address** and click the search button beside it.
3. Click **Add Field** in the **Additional Data** card to store a value the form does not cover, then enter a field name when prompted.
4. Click **Save**.

| Field | What it holds |
|-------|---------------|
| **Reference** | Required. Your primary system's ID for this citation. |
| **Flow** | The message flow for the citation. The list holds flows created with the citation type. |
| **Location** | An agency location from **Settings** > **Locations**. |
| **Portal** | The portal that publishes the citation link and QR code. |
| **Issued at** | The date and time the citation was issued. |
| **Status** | A citation status from **Settings** > **Statuses**. |
| **Type** | A citation type from **Citation Types** in your agency settings. |
| **Case number** | The case the citation belongs to. A match fills the **Case Details** card. |
| **Agency Name** | The agency that issued the citation. |
| **Officer Name** | The officer who issued the citation. |
| **Officer ID / Badge #** | The officer's ID or badge number. |
| **Overtime** | Marks that the officer was in overtime. |
| **Officer Notes** | Notes or observations from the officer. |
| **Other** | Free text for anything the other fields do not cover. |

#### Step 4: Record the subject and the vehicle

1. Enter the **First Name**, **Last Name**, and **Date of Birth** in the **Subject ID Information** card.
2. Select an **ID Type**, then enter the **ID Number**, **ID State**, and **ID Expiration**.
3. Enter the **Address**, **City**, **State**, and **Zip** for the subject.
4. Select a **Vehicle Type** in the **Vehicle Information** card (**Bicycle**, **Motorcycle**, **Car**, **Truck**, **Bus**, **RV**, **Boat**, **ATV**, or **Other**).
5. Complete the **Vehicle Details** fields that appear for the type you selected.
6. Click **Save**.

#### Step 5: Add violations and fines

1. Click **Add Violation** in the **Violations** card.
2. Enter the **Description** and the **Statute**.
3. Select a **Status** from your agency's violation statuses.
4. Enter the **Presumptive Fine**.
5. Enter the **Adjudicated Fine** if the court changed the amount.
6. Select **Warning Only** for a violation that carries no fine.
7. Enter the **Adjudication**.
8. Click **Save**.

**Total Fines** at the bottom of the card adds the **Adjudicated Fine** when you set one, falls back to the **Presumptive Fine**, and skips any violation marked **Warning Only**.

#### Step 6: Attach a client and send a message

1. Enter a name or reference in the search box in the right column and click **Search Clients**.
2. Click **Attach** beside the correct client, which saves the citation right away.
3. Enter a **Subject** and **Content** in the **Send a Message** card, then click **Send**.
4. Click **Detach** to remove the client from the citation.

The **Send a Message** card appears only once a client is attached, and sending requires a **Portal** on the citation. eCourtDate appends the citation reference and the citation link to the message content.

#### Step 7: Search and filter citations

1. Enter a reference in the search box in the **Search Citations** card.
2. Narrow the list with **Citation Type**, **Status**, **Case Number**, **Portal**, **Issued From**, **Issued To**, **Overtime Only**, **Officer Name**, **Officer ID / Badge #**, **Agency Name**, or **Creator**.
3. Select **Archived** or **Trashed** to look at records you have removed from the active list.
4. Click **Search**.
5. Click the edit button beside a citation to open it.

#### Step 8: Export, duplicate, or remove citations

1. Click **CSV** above the list to download the citations that match your current filters, or **PDF** to print them.
2. Select one or more checkboxes in the list, click **Archive** or **Trash**, then click **Confirm**. **Restore** replaces those buttons while the **Archived** or **Trashed** filter is on.
3. Click **Tools** on a citation page to **Archive**, **Trash**, or **Restore** that one record.
4. Click **Tools** > **Duplicate** to copy the citation into a new record without its client.
5. Click **Tools** > **Sync Messages** to resend the citation to messaging.

### What to Expect

Creating a citation opens the new record immediately. eCourtDate applies your **Default Citation Status** and **Default Citation Type** settings to it, and falls back to your first configured citation status, or to issued when your agency has no citation statuses at all.

Saving a citation also syncs its messages, so a save and **Sync Messages** have the same effect on messaging. Saving with a **Portal** selected adds a **Go to Portal** button and a QR code to the top of the citation page. Saving a **Case number** that matches an existing case fills the read only **Case Details** card and adds a **View Case** button the next time the citation page loads. The **Attachments** card lists files held against the citation and reads "No attachments found." when there are none. The **Audit Logs** card at the bottom of the page records **Created By**, **Updated By**, **Created**, **Updated**, **Trashed**, **Archived**, and **Region**.

A CSV export confirms how many records it wrote and tells you to narrow the filters when the export was truncated.

### Best Practices

- Create your citation statuses under **Settings** > **Statuses** before you issue citations, so the **Status** dropdown is never empty.
- Set **Default Citation Status**, **Default Citation Type**, and **Citation Types** in the **Citations** section of **Settings** so every new citation starts consistent.
- Enter your source system's citation number in **Reference** when you have one, and use the generate button only for citations that start in eCourtDate.
- Capture the geolocation while you are still at the scene, since the button reads the coordinates of the device you are using.
- Mark warnings with **Warning Only** rather than leaving a zero fine, so **Total Fines** stays accurate.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Where do citation statuses come from?**

A: From **Settings** > **Statuses**, filtered to the type citation. If your agency has no citation statuses and no **Default Citation Status**, a new citation saves with the status issued.

**Q: Can I change the reference after creating the citation?**

A: Yes. **Reference** is an editable text field on both the create form and the citation page. It stays required, so you cannot clear it.

**Q: How is Total Fines calculated?**

A: It adds the **Adjudicated Fine** for each violation, uses the **Presumptive Fine** where no adjudicated amount is set, and skips violations marked **Warning Only**.

**Q: Can I delete a citation?**

A: There is no delete action. Use **Tools** > **Trash** or **Tools** > **Archive** on the citation page, or the **Trash** and **Archive** buttons after selecting records in the list. **Restore** brings a record back.

**Q: Where do the citation types in the dropdown come from?**

A: From the comma separated **Citation Types** setting in the **Citations** section of **Settings**. When that setting is empty, eCourtDate offers a built in list that starts with Traffic Violation and Parking Violation.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The **Status** dropdown on a citation is empty.

**Symptoms:** The dropdown shows only a blank option, and new citations save with the status issued.

**Solution:**

1. Go to **Settings** > **Statuses**.
2. Enter a **Name** and set **Type** to citation.
3. Click **Create**, then reload the citation page.

**Issue:** **Capture Geolocation** does not record coordinates.

**Symptoms:** A red alert appears under the button starting with "Failed to capture location."

**Solution:**

1. Allow location access for eCourtDate in your browser, then click **Capture Geolocation** again.
2. Enter the address in **Address** and click the search button beside it instead.
3. Click **Save** and confirm that **Latitude** and **Longitude** are filled in.

**Issue:** A new citation is not attached to a client.

**Symptoms:** The citation page shows "No client found." in the client card.

**Solution:**

1. Enter a search term in the right column and click **Search Clients**.
2. Click **Attach** beside the correct client.
3. To attach clients as you create citations, select the client in the **Search clients...** box on the **Citations** page before you click **Create**.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How to manage payments](/how-to-manage-payments)
- [How to manage statuses](/how-to-manage-statuses)
- [How to manage violations](/how-to-manage-violations)
- [How to Manage Cases](/how-to-manage-cases)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)