Pay a Ticket or Citation

You may be eligible for dismissal of expired driver license or expired registration if you remedy the following within 10 or 20 business days (as indicated below) of receiving your citation:

You have valid insurance and received a citation for that offense. You must present proof of valid insurance to the court. (No Fee)

You have a driver license and received a citation for that offense. Within 10 business days you must present proof of your valid driver license to the court, and pay a $10 dismissal fee.

Your registration sticker for your license plate is expired and received a citation for that offense. Within 20 business days you have renewed your vehicle registration sticker and your receipt reflects that you paid the Tax Office their penalty fee for driving the vehicle while the sticker was expired, present proof of the receipt to the court, and pay a $20 dismissal fee.

You are driving with an expired driver license and received a citation for that offense. Within 20 business days you have renewed your driver license, present proof of your valid driver license to the court, and pay a $20 dismissal fee.

On traffic cases if you are not eligible for a Driving Safety Course and have not been placed on deferred disposition ("deferred") in the past twelve months for a traffic offense, you may request to be placed on deferred. If you are placed on deferred, the judge will give you a series of conditions that you are to comply with by specific deadlines. The term of the deferred cannot exceed beyond the term of 180 days. You must, by law, pay at least the state fees at the time you are placed on deferred. The normal cost of a deferred is fine plus $50 and state fees. (If you have a commercial driver license, you are not eligible for this option.)

The terms of your probation include but are not limited to: immediate payment, cannot receive any traffic citation, keep your address updated with the court during the deferred period, and must file a statement of compliance with the court during the last two weeks of your probationary period.

Non-compliance with any of the terms will result in a conviction and immediate collection of the full range of fine and state fees.

You may attend a driving safety course once every 12 months for dismissal of a moving violation. The defendant must not have attended a driving safety course for dismissal of a citation in the twelve months preceding the date of the current citation.

When requesting a driving safety class, the state fees of $144 ($169 for violations that occurred in a school zone) which includes a $10 administrative fee, must be paid before your case can be officially set up for the driving safety course option for dismissal. (Due to legislation updates, state fees are subject to change.)

You MUST first present to the court proof of current insurance and your valid non-commercial Texas driver license before we can process the paperwork for the defensive driving option. The insurance requirement cannot be waived if you do not own a car. THE POLICY MUST BE IN EFFECT AT THE TIME THE REQUEST FOR DEFENSIVE DRIVING IS MADE. A copy of the proof of insurance and the valid Texas driver license is placed in your case file.

You must complete a plea form and are required to enter a plea of no contest or guilty to be eligible to sign up for the defensive driving option. All defendants 16 years of age or younger are required to plea in open court with a parent or guardian present.

You will then be given 90 days to complete the driving safety course, and submit the original signed certificate of completion, along with the original certified copy (type 3A) of your driving record from the Texas Department of Public Safety to the court. Driving records obtained from sources other than the Texas Department of Public Safety are not acceptable for dismissal of the citation. You may request your driving record online at TEXAS.GOV, request form type 3A.

If you have requested permission to attend a defensive driving school and then decide you no longer want to take this class, you may pay the court the balance owed on the citation in full to dispose of this ticket. However, you must pay it in full prior to the required date to turn in the certificate and driving record or a warrant may be issued for your arrest.

Defendants may not attend driving school for: speed violations of 25 mph or greater over the speed limit, speeding in a construction zone, any violation received when driving a commercial vehicle, anyone that has received a moving violation and has a commercial driver license, failure to stop and give information, passing a stopped school bus (loading or unloading), reckless driving, eluding a police officer and/or any violation causing deadly injury. If you have a commercial driver license you are not eligible for this option.

When the original, signed court copy of your defensive driving certificate and certified driving record are received by our court, your case will be dismissed by completion of defensive driving. It is your responsibility to ensure that your documents reach the court by the required deadline; original documents can be mailed, delivered in person, or put in the drop box, in front of the court building.

If you have received a citation for Minor in Possession of Alcohol, Misrepresentation of Age by a Minor, Attempt to Purchase by a Minor, etc., and have not been placed on deferred disposition (“deferred”) in the past 12 months on one of the above referenced offenses, you may request to be placed on deferred. If you are placed on deferred, the judge will give you a series of conditions that you are to comply with by specific deadlines. The term of deferred cannot exceed beyond the term of 180 days. You must pay at least the state fees at the time you are placed on deferred. The normal cost of a deferred is the fine plus $50 and state fees.

The terms of your probation include but are not limited to: immediate payment, cannot receive any non-traffic citations and keep your address updated during period, attend an alcohol awareness class, completed a specified number of community service hours, attend a Victim Impact Panel class and must file a statement of compliance with the court during the last two weeks of your probationary period.

Non-compliance with any of the terms will result in a conviction and immediate collection of the full range of fine and state fees ($584 subject to increase).

Community Service and an Alcohol Awareness Class are required to be attended according to the Alcoholic Beverage Code. If both are not completed, DPS will suspend your license for 180 days and require a $100 reinstatement fee to be paid to DPS before the suspension is lifted after the 180 days are completed.

First Offense Conviction (means non-deferred option) – Driver license suspended for 30 days

Second Offense Conviction (means non-deferred option) – Driver license suspended for 60 days

If you successfully complete deferred disposition, you will not lose your driver license. If your probation is revoked during your deferred term, you will lose your license. If you do not complete your alcohol awareness course and/or community service hours, you will lose your driver license for up to 180 days. If your driver license is ever suspended, DPS will require you pay them a $100 reinstatement fee.

For enhancement purposes: if you successfully complete deferred disposition or are convicted, your next alcohol-related offense will be enhanced.