My speeding ticket has not been processed for around 4 months, is there a point when it's been sitting around too long?

Let's agree on some terminology first.

You have already been "charged." As soon as the officer wrote the ticket and turned it in (assuming the officer turned it in on time after the stop), the ticket is present and in the system. Technically, tickets are civil and not criminal, so you aren't really "charged" but that word works.

The short answer to your question is "yes" but with some limitations. First, Im not sure if (or when) you sent in your request for a hearing. IRLJ 2.6(b)(1) (one of the court rules governing infractions) says that the court is supposed to schedule a mitigation hearing no more than 120 days from the date of the infraction. The court is also supposed to send you notice of the hearing no more than 21 days after you asked for the hearing.

If you got the ticket in March, and you timely sent in your request to mitigate, you should be in good shape. But I am nervous about your case. Although the courts sometimes forget to send stuff out, sometimes they try to blame that on you. Does the front of the ticket have your current address? Have you been paying attention to the mail? Have you checked with the court to see what the disposition of the ticket was? I have seen a number of people who thought their ticket "fell through the cracks" discover later that the court had found the ticket "committed," reported the ticket to the person's insurance company and sent the poor person to collections.

Since 120 days have passed, you won't be tattling on yourself if you call the court to check on the ticket. I would do that. If at all possible, I would also contest the ticket (although it is probably too late for that). A good attorney can almost always find some factual or legal defect with a ticket that justifies dismissal or a reduction to a "non-moving" violation.

There are any number of attorneys in and around Seattle (including me) that offer free consultations to folks who receive tickets. I or any one of them would be happy to look into this matter for you, give you some thoughts and get the thing dismissed if the court messed up, like it appears they did.

Good luck. Keep me posted.