Bridger

Posting Bond or Paying Fees

First, determine why you are sending money to the court. There are generally two reasons.

One is that you are sending money to the court BEFORE the judge has found you guilty and imposed a fine in court. In this case, you are most likely posting bond.

Another is that you are sending money to the court AFTER the judge has found you guilty and imposed a fine in court. In this case, you are most likely paying on a fine and or fees.

There are lots of other reasons (e.g. where the judge does not find you guilty), but these are the two most common ones.

Convenience vs. the Court

Second, just because you have sent the court money, that is not necessarily the end of the matter. The online methods of paying are for your convenience, and there may be small fees for using them. They may also provide dispute procedures. If you dispute an online transaction with the court, the court may issue you an order to show cause to appear in person and explain yourself. If you do not appear in person and explain yourself, you should be prepared to have an arrest warrant issued for you and to have your driver’s license suspended.

PayPal and Credit or Debit Cards (Online)

You can use PayPal to post bond for speeding tickets, careless driving tickts, expired registration tickets, and tickets for failing to yeild to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.  Those are the only situations where the court currently will accept money via PayPal.  All others must use CitePayUSA.  If you are paying with a credit or debit card and do not have a PayPal account, you still need to use the "Debit Or Credit Card" link from the PayPal options as the court uses PayPal for processing credit and debit card transactions.  PayPal may charge a fee.

CitePayUSA (Online)

You can generally use CitePayUSA for money due the Bridger City Court, although it willnot work for bonds on speeding tickets, careless driving tickets, expired registration tickets, or crosswalk violation tickets.  CitePay charges a fee. The court must enter the citation first in order for it to show up on CitePay.  This will usually happen the first Tuesday after you receive your ticket.  So please wait until then to try to pay it.  Our citation numbers are entered wihtout the O13A prefix, so when you enter your citation number, do not enter the O13A or CitePay will not find your case.

By Mail

Payments may be mailed to the Bridger City Court, PO Box 128, Bridger, MT 59014.

In Person

You may pay with cash, check, or money ordere in person during office hours on days which the court is open.  See the court calendar for details.

Time Pay Agreements for Paying Fines and Fees

If you have been sentenced to a fine, and you have entered into a Time Pay Agreement to pay it off, you can pay with CitePay for traffic violations (Title 61) and for most criminal violations (Title 45).  There are some criminal violations that cannot be paid on-line.

Posting Bond for Criminal Charges

You cannot post bond for criminal charges on-line.  You also cannot make payments on your Time Pay Agreement For Bond on-line.

Affidavit of Financial Situation

If you owe money to the court and are having trouble paying it, please contact the court to discuss arrangments before the court suspends your driver's license or issues a bench warrant for you.  You will probably be asked to swear to your financial situation.  You can download a PDF file of the Affidavit of Financial Situation to fill out and bring with you.  You may also sign it before a notary.

Collections

The court uses Collection Bureau Services to collect on unpaid fines and judgments.