Mississippi Traffic Violator School and Defensive Driving Options

First, the short answer: yes, a course can close the case

For an eligible first time offender, the answer is yes. Section 63-9-11 works like this: after a guilty or no contest plea on a qualifying ticket, you may ask to take a court approved violator class of four hours or more, paying the tuition yourself. Complete it inside 90 days, pay the fine, the costs and the extra $10, and the judge vacates the conviction, drops the prosecution and closes your case.

What remains is a nonpublic record at MDPS. Under Section 63-9-17 (rewritten in 2002, then made permanent in 2004 by Senate Bill 2368), MDPS holds that record for three years. Only courts may use it, and only to check first offender status, and it is not treated as a criminal record when private parties or agencies ask.

Local courts explain it the same way. Louisville's municipal court, to take one, tells adults that once they finish the class and hand the certificate to the clerk, the ticket is dismissed.

Before you ask: do you qualify?

The test is a clean recent history. You must hold a valid Mississippi permit or license, and MDPS must have no record of you completing a court traffic school during the last three years.

If you hold a commercial driver's license, the school is closed to you, whether the ticket came in a truck or in your own car. Speak with the court or a lawyer about other ways to handle the charge.

For teen drivers, some courts run a separate juvenile driving school, offered only when the judge chooses. If your son or daughter got the ticket, raise it with the clerk.

• You hold a valid Mississippi license or permit
• Your record shows no traffic school finished within three years
• You do not hold a commercial driver's license
• You ask on or before the deadline the court sets

Before you ask: is it your right or the judge's choice?

For adults, it is close to a right. The 2004 version of the law says an eligible person facing a misdemeanor charge under Title 63, Chapter 3, 5 or 7 shall be eligible, and when that person asks in time, the court has to hold off accepting the plea and postpone sentencing. Courts must also explain the option to anyone who asks or shows up in person.

What the judge does control is the list of acceptable courses. To be approved, a course needs four or more hours of teaching, a written curriculum in an instructor's manual, workbooks for students, scientific evidence that the curriculum is effective, and minimum standards for its instructors. Teens are treated differently: under Section 63-1-55 the juvenile program exists only if the judge decides to offer it.

While you wait: picking an approved course

The statute says court approved, so only the court's list counts. A provider that shows up first in a search is not automatically on it. Get the judge's approved schools from the clerk, and ask directly if an online class is acceptable.

Some courts post their approved schools on a city website. If yours does not, ask at the window or by phone, and once you turn in the original certificate, keep a copy for yourself.

While you wait: watch the court's clock

Courts set their own timing. In Louisville, for instance, you get 90 days to complete the class if you pay by your ticket date, and 45 days measured from the trial date if you go to trial. Other courts may run differently, so get your dates from the clerk in writing.

If you miss the completion deadline, the deferred conviction normally stands. If you skipped court, or surrendered your license instead of posting bond, the judge must send MDPS a corrected abstract before your license can be reinstated.

Worked example: you receive a speeding ticket with an appearance date four weeks out. You call the clerk in week one, confirm eligibility, pay and request the course by week three, and finish a four hour class the following month, well inside the 90 days.

If you went to trial and lost

Pleading not guilty does not forfeit the course. Section 63-9-11(3) covers this case: convicted after pleading not guilty, but otherwise eligible, you can ask the court to suspend your sentence, and it must give you 45 days to complete a four hour approved course, which you pay for.

Complete it in time and the judge, without being asked, vacates the conviction, drops the case and expunges the record. Justice courts run this through a sworn affidavit; Lafayette County's version has you swear you hold no commercial license and have had no conviction within three years.

If the charge is more serious

The school exists for everyday moving violations committed by first offenders. A DUI is outside it, since DUI has separate penalties, suspensions and alcohol program rules, and so is any offense that triggers mandatory revocation.

Under 21 with a blood alcohol level of .02 percent or higher, a driver faces Zero Tolerance: $250 and 120 days without a license for a first offense, one year for a second and two years for a third. No defensive driving class reverses those.

Mississippi's Driver's Manual sets out no point system. Instead, if MDPS records show habitually reckless or negligent driving, or repeated convictions for serious violations, the Commissioner of Public Safety may suspend without first holding a hearing. Certain convictions mean a one year revocation no matter what: a third reckless driving conviction inside 12 months, leaving a crash without stopping to help, and manslaughter or negligent homicide arising from a crash.

Getting reinstated costs $100 after most suspensions and $175 after a DUI or implied consent suspension, payable to the Department of Public Safety by cashier's check.

If you are 55 or older: the insurance course

Mature drivers have a separate reason to take a class. Under Miss. Code Section 63-15-46, an insured driver aged 55 or over who completes an approved accident prevention class must get a lower premium, and MDPS directs drivers to AARP Smart Driver. Give the certificate to your insurance company; the discount runs three years.

The discount holds as long as you have no at fault crash and no moving violation conviction or guilty or no contest plea. Ask your insurer before you enroll whether it adds conditions of its own. Drivers under 55 have no required discount, though some insurers offer one on their own terms.

Traffic school helps every age indirectly: a dismissed ticket does not appear on your public driving record, which is the record insurers look at when you renew.