A ticket marked "YOU MUST APPEAR" or "COURT APPEARANCE REQUIRED" is issued for a violation for which the violator must appear in court on the date and time indicated. The Illinois Supreme Court requires individuals cited for violations which create a great potential for harm or carry mandatory minimum penalties to appear in court to answer the charges.

These cases are scheduled by the police officer issuing the ticket in accordance with Supreme Court Rule 504.

Traffic violations requiring a court appearance are distinguished in the following way: those for which the only punishment on conviction is a fine and those for which the punishment on conviction can be a jail sentence. Traffic violations that can result in a jail sentence are known as misdemeanors.

The court processes misdemeanor traffic offenses differently than traffic violations that are punishable by fine only.