How Missouri Driving Points Add Up and Wear Off

First, how points reach your record

No conviction (or forfeited collateral), no points, and only moving violations count. Once the court reports a conviction, the Department of Revenue looks up the value in the RSMo 302.302 schedule and adds it. Out of state tickets end up on your Missouri record as well, and so do tickets written on federal land like a military base.

The same act often costs fewer points when it is charged under a city or county ordinance rather than state law. And when one act violates both kinds of law, you are charged points under one of them only.

What common tickets are worth

If a moving violation has no listing of its own, it carries 2 points. Running a city stop sign with no crash involved is 1. For lesser violations that injured someone or damaged property, a court may tack on 2 extra. The August 2026 revision of Form 899 shows each violation code exactly as your record will.

Worked example: two state law speeding tickets in a year put you at 6 points, past the 4 point warning letter. One more 2 point ticket within 18 months would bring you to 8 and a suspension.

• Speeding: 3 points as a state charge, 2 as a city or county charge
• Careless and imprudent driving: 4 points as a state charge, 2 as a local one
• Passing a school bus that is picking up or dropping off children: 5
• No insurance, or failing to show proof of it: 4
• Driving unlicensed: 2 for the first conviction, 4 for the next, 6 after that
• DWI or excess BAC: 8 for a first conviction and 12 for any later one
• Leaving the scene of a crash: 12 as a state charge, 6 as a local one
• 12 points each: a felony involving a vehicle, or driving while suspended or revoked

If your total climbs: the thresholds

Four points inside a year triggers a warning letter. Eight or more inside 18 months triggers a suspension, which is 30 days on the first occasion, 60 on the second, and 90 on every one after that. Reach 12 within a year, 18 within two years, or 24 within three, and the license is revoked for a year.

A point revocation means testing again before you drive. A point suspension only means testing again if your license lapsed for over six months while it was suspended. Any suspension, revocation or denial can be appealed to the circuit court in your county of residence, but the 30 day window starts with the notice.

Over time: how points wear off

Time works in your favor. Go a year without new points and a third of your total disappears; go two years and half of it does; make it three and you are back to zero. Reinstatement after a point suspension or revocation resets you to four.

The points hitting zero and the ticket leaving your record are two separate events. Most convictions can be purged three years after the date of conviction, or, if the ticket led to a point suspension or revocation, five years after you were reinstated. The law keeps certain convictions on file for good, and nothing can be purged while it is propping up an active suspension. Request a purge by phone, email or letter, and include your full name plus your license number or Social Security number.

Before you plead: can a course help?

Not once the points are there. Missouri has no program that subtracts posted points in return for a class. The Driver Improvement Program in RSMo 302.302.5 is a before-the-fact tool: the judge orders it, you complete it within 60 days after the conviction, and the DOR simply never assesses points for that ticket. You get one use every 36 months, and CDL holders get none.

Since August 28, 2023, texting convictions carry no points, and Form 899 lists use of an electronic communication device at 0. That does not make phone tickets harmless: the fine still applies and insurers may still see the conviction.

If you are suspended: reinstating

To come back from a point suspension or revocation that did not involve alcohol, ask your insurance company to file an SR-22, then pay the DOR's central office a $20 fee. Keep the SR-22 in force for two years, counted from the date the action took effect. If alcohol was involved, expect SATOP as well, and possibly an ignition interlock.

You can pay at mydmv.mo.gov, mail it to the Department of Revenue marked for Reinstatement, or walk it in at Jefferson City. Local license offices will not accept it. If your job requires driving while you are suspended, ask about a Limited Driving Privilege; it does not extend to commercial vehicles.