The CA Department of Parks and Recreation issued me a citation. It was a mistake and the park ranger who wrote the citation agreed. He said, just write them a letter explaining and it will be dismissed. So I did that. Here's where it goes off the rails. The Citation Processing Center web site says that it received my letter contesting the citation more than two months ago. When I called them and asked for an acknowledgement that I'm contesting the ticket, they professed not to know the status of my "appeal". Then they sent me a bogus letter, claiming "No Response" to my citation. Threatening to inform the DMV and withhold renewal of my vehicle registration. A second call to the Citation Processing Center (spoke to Alvira sp?) got her to admit that the second letter was in error (the least she could do given that their own web site said they received my letter contesting the ticket). But still - no idea whether my appeal was granted nor any idea when it would be acted on - nor any written confirmation that I had contested the ticket.
The Citation Processing Center is a rogue operation. They operate on the authority of no county court and are accountable to no one. As far as I can tell, they just send out threatening letters and if you are dumb enough to "just pay up" they pocket the money. If you challenge them, they say "sorry, our mistake" and "we don't know the status of your appeal".
Gregg B