You did not mention your state however the prayer for judgment continued (PJC) seems to be unique to North Carolina and South Carolina however it is NC that uses this type of plea for traffic cases.

A basic definition of a "Prayer for Judgment" is a plea that can be entered in a courtroom and is neither an admission of guilt nor a plea of innocence. If the plea is accepted by the judge the charge against the accused is dismissed though the judge usually has conditions for the violation to not go on the person's record.

The conditions normally include that if within a certain time period the accused repeats the crime or a similar one he/will face both charges. However if the accused stays clean for the time period the record is expunged and the accused will face no trial or punishment for the alleged offense. In North Carolina the probationary time period is typically three years.

In NC for automobile insurance purposes, one can have up to one PJC per household every three years that will not cause insurance premium increases. For driver’s license purposes, a driver can have up to two PJCs within a five year period which will not result in driver’s license points nor have any effect on the driving record of the person receiving the PJC.

So a Prayer for Judgment is a form of deferred prosecution, thus it means that the court reserves the right to pass judgment later. The driver is charged the cost of court, no decision is rendered, and no points are assigned. The judge can come back and finalize the citation later. A household can use on PJC as long as no-one else has used a PJC in the last three years. If another violation occurs in the 3 years a PJC is on your record, both violations (and related points) may get placed on your driving record kept by the NC Division of Motor Vehicles.

Receiving a prayer for judgment continued is completely up to the discretion of the court but has its statewide limits for being used, not just countywide limits. So if you received one ticket for a traffic offense and received a PJC then you can try to use this plea again for a second ticket in a different county but the court will know that you already had one PJC accepted in a different jurisdiction from seeing your record.

You may be able to get the judge presiding over your traffic court case to accept another PJC. Getting a PJC will normally depend upon the court and the violation. Remember insurance companies will only "honor" a single PJC in a three-year period, pursuant to a North Carolina General Statute commonly referred to as the Safe Driver Incentive Plan. So if you are requesting a PJC within a 5 year period of your first prayer for judgment then your insurance rates could be affected even if no points are added to your NC driving record.