Avoiding citations at the gathering

How to get a citation  

Every year the United States Forest Service Law Enforcement (USFS) Incident Management Team (the cops) attempts to write as many tickets to family coming home as they possibly can to justify their presence. 

They give out tickets for broken tail lights, failure to use a turn signal in a deserted parking lot at 2 AM, lack of seat belts, controlled substances (even just a trace amount), beads hanging from your rear view mirrors, prescription medications if the label doesn't clearly have your name on it and you can't prove who you are, dogs off leash, dirty windows, a vehicle missing a front license plate even if you live in a state that does not issue a front license plate and a lot more violations of the letter of the law. In 2025, they wrote tickets for being at an "illegal event." Never admit you are going to the Rainbow Gathering.

 However, these tickets are not the type of citation you would probably receive for any of these issues in your hometown. 

 

If you receive a citation on the way into the gathering or at the gathering, please stop by INFO at the Gathering as we are trying to organize support for ticket holders. Details to be discussed on the land.

What happens next? 

We don't know what will happen in 2026 yet. But in the last few years there have been a few patterns of how the legal system addresses gathering related citations, no matter if it is for a broken tail light or an ounce of weed.

 

1) Kangaroo court

These are Federal mandatory court appearance tickets. There will be special court dates set up just for us during the gathering or shortly thereafter. These are usually held near the gathering, or at a local courthouse, fire station or visitors center and go before a magistrate. Or sometimes we got to a courthouse 100 miles away. In the past, charges have been reduced, fines were often minimal and the court has allowed people to make payment plans that could grant you 90 days to pay $200.

Court dates will be written on the citation. This is the best case to have your fines significantly reduced. If you miss your court date, the USFS LEOs will come into the gathering looking for you. If they find you they will arrest you and put you in jail until the next court date. If this happens on a Friday afternoon, you will be in jail until Monday 

2) Pay Online

In California 2024, there was on online payment system that you could use to pay your ticket online or go to court on the date assigned to you months after the gathering. It took a few months before peoples' tickets appeared in the system, but once there you had the option to pay Collateral forfeiture. This is a legal process that allows individuals charged with certain petty offenses to pay a specified amount of money to the government instead of appearing in court, effectively resolving the case without a conviction being recorded. 

CVB website and additional information.

In this model, as long as you pay your ticket before the scheduled court date, you do not need to appear at your arraignment to avoid a Federal Warrant as long as you pay the ticket a few days in advance. Don't wait until the last minute as courts move slowly and you don't want to pay the ticket the day before, the court may not be aware, and then you will get a Federal Warrant.

3) Mandatory court appearance months after the gathering 

These are Federal mandatory court appearance tickets that require you to appear in a Federal Courthouse (typically in the State's Capital) a few months after the gathering is over. This happened in Missouri 2025. People were not allowed to pay their tickets online. Everyone had to travel to Springfield Missouri in October and plead no contest or not guilty. The information I received from those who went through the process was that the court was not prepared for this nor did they know anything about it until 1-2 weeks ahead of time. 

 

 

All Citations

If you do not pay your citation using whichever method 2026 brings, a Federal Warrant will be issued for your arrest. The next time a law enforcement officer for any reason stops you, your ID will be run through the database and you will go directly to jail.
 

Of course, everyone is free to manage this situation as they wish but I strongly recommend you go to your court date. I have seen people charged with crimes that could potentially result in a six years' prison time walk out with a $500 fine and three years’ probation. Keep in mind that every year the dynamic is different and these results may not always be available. Sometimes there are lawyers and other experienced family at the gathering (I am not a legal expert) who attend the court dates and will assist as best they can although I recommend you catch up with them before your court date to gain a better understanding of your specific charges and strategies to get the charges dropped or reduced. If you do not know these people personally, go to INFO and let them know you received one of the magic tickets and you need legal assistance.

 

FYI:  Federal law trumps state law on weed. This means that WEED IS NOT LEGAL IN NEW YORK OR PENNSYLVANIA NATIONAL FORESTS.  This applies to any reason for having weed, medical or not as the Federal Government has draconian marijuana laws. The LEOs will try to trick you to admitting that you have weed. Don't fall for it.  

 

Start today by making sure your car and driver are 100% legal, you do not smoke anything in your car that is not legal under federal law (even if the state has legalized weed) as at the gathering, federal laws apply. Don't let yourself get tricked. If they smell it, they can pull you over. When you drive within 25 miles of the gathering, drive like you are taking a driving test. Signal ahead of time, drive below the speed limit, make sure all riders have seat belts and all children are in an age-appropriate car seat. 

 

Some people will say I'm making this up or being paranoid. If you don't believe me, talk to other long-time gatherers and confirm what I am saying. 

Before you enter the national forest, pull into a legal parking space and test that all your lights are still working correctly. Play the game and you can glide into the gathering trouble free and spend your time chopping firewood and hauling water instead of going to court.  The choice is yours.