Why do I get this Court Hearing Notice? Please advise!

I got a speeding ticket on 11/29/07. The ticket states that I was driving 60 mph on the highway with speed limit of 55mph. I was changing from a 70mph highway to a 55mph highway, and did not pay attention to the speed limit. The police car was obviously hiding under the ramp just to catch unlucky drivers like me. The officer who gave me the ticket told me that I would not get any points, but I need to pay the penalty within 30 days. So I called the district court the same day to verify the penalty amount. It was $116 for just been 5 miles over. I did not want to bother, so I wrote a check for the court and mailed out the check on 12/4/07 before vacation.

I just came back home from the 1-month-vacation. When I went through the mails, I found this notice for an Informal Hearing. The notice states the date, time, Officer name, Offense type. The notice was sent on 12/4/07, just 5 days after offense date. Then I checked my bank records, the $116 was cleared on 12/12/07.

My questions are:
1. Why did the court send me the hearing notice only 5 days after the ticket was issued? I have got 2 tickets before (years ago) in other cities. I paid both fines and never received court notice before. I thought court hearing is necessary only if I complaint to wave the points or fine.
2. What is the purpose of the hearing? I already paid the fine, and the Officer told me that there will be no points.
3. Do I still need to appear to court on the specified time? Do I need to prepare for this hearing? How?

BTW, the ticket was issued by City of Detroit in Michigan. Any advice will be appreciated!

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• Just call the court, you will get all the answers. -如塵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 01/03/2008 postreply 07:53:53