How to manage violation types and penalties

Violations in eCourtDate are a standard list of violation definitions your agency maintains, each with a severity, a category, a statute reference, and its own penalties.

### Overview

- **What it is:** The **Violations** page under **Automations** stores violation definitions. Each record holds a **Name**, **Severity**, **Category**, **Description**, **Statute Citation**, **Statute URI**, and a list of penalties.
- **Why it matters:** A shared list keeps violation wording, statute references, and penalty amounts consistent across your agency, so staff work from one agreed definition rather than their own notes.
- **Who uses it:** Staff who can open the **Admin** menu in the top navigation bar.
- **Expected outcomes:** A searchable list of violation types, each showing its severity, category, and penalty titles at a glance.

A violation record is a definition, not an incident record. It does not link to a client, a case, or an event. Violations recorded against a specific citation are entered on the citation itself, in the **Violations** card of the citation.

### Prerequisites

- An eCourtDate account that can open the **Admin** menu in the top navigation bar
- The statute citation and the statute link you want staff to reference
- The fine amounts or jail time your agency applies to each violation

### How-To Steps

#### Step 1: Open the Violations page

1. Click **Admin** in the top navigation bar.
2. Select **Automations**.
3. Click the **Violations** tab.

#### Step 2: Create a violation

1. Enter a **Name** in the **Create Violation** card.
2. Click **Create**. eCourtDate opens the new violation so you can finish it.

#### Step 3: Describe the violation

1. Enter a **Severity**. This is a free text field, so use the same wording every time.
2. Enter a **Category**. This is also free text and appears as a badge in the list.
3. Enter a **Description** of the violation.
4. Enter a **Statute Citation** such as the code section your agency cites.
5. Enter a **Statute URI** as a full web address so an **Open Statute** button appears at the top of the record.
6. Click **Save**.

#### Step 4: Add a penalty

1. Click **Add Penalty** in the **Penalties** card.
2. Enter a **Penalty Title**, which is required and is what the list displays.
3. Select a **Penalty Type** of **Fine**, **Jail Time**, or **Other**.
4. Enter an **Amount ($)** for a fine, plus optional **Min Amount ($)** and **Max Amount ($)** values for a range.
5. Enter a **Duration** and select a **Unit** of **Days**, **Weeks**, **Months**, or **Years** for jail time, plus optional **Min Duration** and **Max Duration** values.
6. Enter a **Description** with any extra detail, which is where the details of an **Other** penalty belong.
7. Check **This is a mandatory penalty** when the penalty always applies.
8. Click **Add Penalty** to add it to the list.
9. Click **Save** on the violation to store the penalty.

#### Step 5: Edit or remove a penalty

1. Click the edit (pencil) icon on the penalty you want to change.
2. Update the fields and click **Save** inside the penalty to close the edit form, or click **Cancel** to discard your edits.
3. Click the trash icon on a penalty and confirm the prompt to remove it.
4. Click **Save** on the violation to store the change.

#### Step 6: Find an existing violation

1. Enter a term in **General Search** in the **Search Violations** card.
2. Check **Archived** or **Trashed** to look at records that are no longer active.
3. Click **Search**.
4. Click any column heading, such as **Severity** or **Updated**, to sort the list.
5. Click **Load more** to pull in the next set of records.

#### Step 7: Download the list

1. Click **PDF** above the list to download the violations as a PDF.
2. Click **CSV** to download the same list as a spreadsheet file.

#### Step 8: Archive, trash, or restore a violation

1. Open the violation.
2. Click **Tools**.
3. Click **Archive** or **Trash**.
4. Click **Tools** > **Restore** on an archived or trashed record to bring it back.
5. Select the checkboxes next to several rows in the list, then click **Archive** or **Trash** and click **Confirm** to handle them together. **Restore** replaces those two buttons while the **Archived** or **Trashed** filter is on.

### What to Expect

Creating a violation opens the record straight away so you can add the rest of the detail. Saving shows a "Violation updated" message. The list shows **Name**, **Severity**, **Category**, **Description**, **Penalties**, **Creator**, **Created**, and **Updated**, with each penalty title as a badge and "No penalties" on records that have none. Ten records load at a time until you click **Load more**. The **Audit Logs** card on each violation records **Created By**, **Updated By**, **Created**, **Updated**, **Archived**, **Trashed**, and **Region**.

### Best Practices

- Give every penalty a **Penalty Title** that reads well on its own, because the title is what appears as a badge in the **Penalties** column.
- Keep **Severity** and **Category** wording identical across records. Both are free text fields, so "High" and "high" become two different values when you sort or search.
- Fill in **Statute URI** with a full link so staff can open the statute directly from the record.
- Click **Save** on the violation after every penalty you add, edit, or remove. Penalty changes are held in the form until the record is saved.
- Archive a violation your agency has stopped using rather than trashing it, so it stays available under the **Archived** filter.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I link a violation to a client, case, or event?**

A: No. A violation record holds only **Name**, **Severity**, **Category**, **Description**, **Statute Citation**, **Statute URI**, and its penalties. To record a violation against a specific citation, open the citation and use **Add Violation** in its **Violations** card.

**Q: Which penalty types can I add?**

A: **Fine**, **Jail Time**, and **Other**. A fine needs an **Amount ($)** greater than zero, jail time needs a **Duration** greater than zero and a **Unit**, and **Other** relies on the **Penalty Title** and **Description**.

**Q: Are Severity and Category chosen from a list?**

A: No. Both are free text fields on the violation, so your agency decides the wording and applies it consistently.

**Q: Can I add more than one penalty to a violation?**

A: Yes. Click **Add Penalty** as many times as you need. Each penalty keeps its own type, amounts or duration, description, and mandatory setting.

**Q: How do I keep a record of who changed a violation?**

A: Open the violation and read the **Audit Logs** card, which shows **Created By**, **Updated By**, **Created**, and **Updated**.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** A penalty you added is missing when you reopen the violation.

**Symptoms:** The "Penalty added successfully" message appeared, but the penalty is gone after a page refresh.

**Solution:** Penalties are stored with the violation record. Click **Save** on the violation after adding, editing, or removing a penalty.

**Issue:** The **Add Penalty** button at the bottom of the new penalty form stays disabled.

**Symptoms:** You filled in the form, but the button remains greyed out.

**Solution:** The button appears once you select a **Penalty Type**, and it stays disabled until you enter a **Penalty Title**. A fine also needs an **Amount ($)** greater than zero, and jail time needs a **Duration** greater than zero plus a **Unit**.

**Issue:** No **Open Statute** button appears on the violation.

**Symptoms:** The statute link you expected at the top of the record is missing.

**Solution:** The button appears only when **Statute URI** holds a value. Enter the full web address and click **Save**.

**Issue:** A violation you created is missing from the list.

**Symptoms:** The record does not appear even after searching for its name.

**Solution:** Archived and trashed records are hidden by default. Check **Archived** or **Trashed** in the **Search Violations** card and click **Search**.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate, open the **Help** menu (the **?** button in the bottom right corner), and click **New support ticket**.

### Related Articles

- [How to manage automations](/how-to-manage-automations)
- [How to issue and manage citations](/how-to-issue-and-manage-citations)
- [How to define custom statuses](/how-to-define-custom-statuses)
- [How to manage supervisions](/how-to-manage-supervisions)