filing ticket law in NC?

[hudsonk3]

i was picked from a crowd and pulled going 90 in a 70 in early March. i had just got my car fixed at home (VA) and was driving it back down to school (SC). i was pulled in VA going about 20 over back in january (which was reduced to improper driving b/c my car was being fixed) so when i was pulled this time, i figured that whatever was wrong w/ my car must've not fixed the speedometer problem as i had expected. i'm a full time student on scholarship at USC, and between school, young life, and two small jobs i can barely make enough money to pay my insurance and i'm pretty sure i cannot afford this ticket at it's fullest expense considering court costs alone are a ridiculous $110! so any advice on that is helpful, but my real question is pertaining to the officer filing the ticket: a week ago when i called the clerk there was no record of my ticket being filed, and this was weeks after i was pulled over. is there a law pertaining to how much time an officer has to turn in a ticket before it can just be dismissed? b/c i can't really talk to the clerk if she doesn't even have record of my being pulled over. okay, sorry this is turning into a short story! thanks, kayleigh