The "Nolo Plea", which is short for the Latin term of "Nolo Contendre" (No-low Con-tend-ray), which means "No Contest".  The Georgia Appellate Courts have defined this term "As somewhere between Guilty and Not Guilty". Many use the definition of "Not admitting guilt, but accepting the punishment anyways". The Nolo Plea is used because it is easier, as in the case of a ticket, to pay the fine and be done with this matter rather than fighting it (please click on and read "The Court Process").

The Nolo Plea is very useful in certain situations and should be used sparingly.  You may consider pleading Guilty and avoiding using the Nolo Plea if the result would be the same as using the Nolo Plea.  This would save the Nolo Plea for the future in case it may be needed. 

There are a few things you should know about the Nolo Plea, they are:

1. It is not a right to plead Nolo Contendre, it is the Judge's discretion to accept this plea from you.  This means the Judge may accept the plea or may not, it is entirely up to the Judge.  Many Judge's have various criteria before they will allow you to use the Nolo Plea.


2. The charge will be reported on your driving history, but no points will be added to your history.


3. For certain charges, such as Under 18/21 tickets, DUI and so forth, the Nolo Plea will have no effect.


4. You can only use this plea once every five years!  If you used it within the last five years, you cannot use it now.  If you do, the Department of Driver Services will treat your plea as a Guilty Pleas and add the points to your history.

The use of the Nolo Plea can be very tricky, it can benefit you and it could also harm you.  This is why you should hire eTicketAttorney for your ticket!