I hadn't had a ticket in almost exactly 4 years. We save letters on our family computer that we've had to write for official things and the last time I wrote a letter to any court was back in 2005, almost to the day
It's kind of funny, but apparently counties don't talk to each other when it comes to tickets. So if you're on probation in County A and get a ticket in County B, the second ticket won't hurt your probation in County A, and you can probably get probation in County B while you're at it.
At least, that's my understanding of the system. I don't know if it would work if, say, you get a ticket in San Antonio, and then get another ticket in Bexar County but outside the San Antonio city limits. I've never tested that theory