Nebraska's STOP Class and Other Ticket Options

First: what Nebraska means by traffic school

Not what other states mean. Nebraska courts have no general traffic school that hides a conviction, and the DMV's improvement course comes into play only after you have been convicted, by taking two points off.

STOP, around since 1992, is different: it is diversion before court. The county attorney or city prosecutor agrees to drop the citation if you complete the class. Because it is local, every participating county or city sets its own fee, deadline and schedule.

Who is shut out everywhere

Citing Neb. Rev. Stat. 60-682, the Safety Center lists exclusions that apply in every county. A CDL disqualifies you, even if you were in your own car when stopped, and so does any STOP course taken in the past three years.

The charge matters too. STOP is for small violations, so none of these qualify:

• Speeding by 20 mph or more
• Leaving an accident scene, or any crash where someone was hurt
• Drunk or drugged driving, refusing a chemical test, or reckless driving of either kind
• Racing, or driving to get away from police
• Driving while suspended or revoked, or uninsured
• Anything charged as a misdemeanor or felony

Within days: county rules and deadlines

Wayne County publishes the kinds of tickets it will take: speeding up to 19 over, ignoring signs and signals, failing to yield, wrong way driving or bad passing, improper turns, backing or lane changes, tailgating, going too fast for conditions, showing off with acceleration, careless or negligent driving, and belt violations. Registration closes ten working days after you receive the citation, and the county attorney may turn anyone down.

Buffalo County gives five business days from the offense to register and 21 days to finish, with classes held at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Wanting to contest the ticket rules you out there, and it is up to you, not the class provider, to make sure you qualify. Example: ticketed on a Monday in Buffalo County, you would need to be registered by the following Monday.

Weighing it: fees and the online version

STOP takes the place of the fine but costs real money. Hall County's online class adds up to $199, split into $100 for the class, $50 for the county and $49 in court costs. Adams County's version: $102 to the Safety Center, plus $95 by money order for the county court. Hall County's prosecutors themselves note that this can be more than the ticket, so set the price against what points would do to your insurance.

Several counties have an online option. In Hall County the link arrives the business day after you register, and you have 21 days, or until the court date if sooner, to finish. It will not run on phones or tablets, you get a single attempt at 80 percent, and failing means paying the citation with no refund.

Before the court date: proof of completion

Finish before the court date. Hall County drivers email the completion form to [email protected], and the ticket stays open until the Safety Center has it. Keep copies of the form and of your payment receipt.

Check your driving status on the DMV portal a few weeks later. If a conviction or points appear for a ticket you handled through STOP, call the county attorney's office with your paperwork.

If STOP is not open to you

You still have options: go to county court with a not guilty plea, pay by waiver and take the conviction with its points, or see whether the prosecutor will agree to something else. The Nebraska Supreme Court sets the waiver fines, and most waiverable tickets can be paid online.

After a conviction, turn to the point credit. A driver under 12 points can take a certified improvement course of four hours or more, once every five years, for up to two points off. CDL and CLP holders can use neither STOP nor the credit.

If you drive commercially

Commercial license holders cannot use STOP even when the ticket came in a family car, because federal rules forbid diversion programs that keep commercial drivers' violations off their records. Every ticket therefore weighs more for you.

Reckless driving, or speeding by 15 or more, is a serious offense for CDL purposes. It counts if it happened in a commercial vehicle, or in your own car when the conviction ends in revocation or impoundment, and a second one within three years disqualifies you for 60 days. Talk to a lawyer before paying or pleading.