Verified as of 2026-10-23 against DMV
Nevada · Traffic School
Using Traffic School in Nevada: Court by Court
This page is for a Nevada driver who just got a ticket and is wondering whether traffic school can save the record. No statewide rule gives you a course in exchange for wiping a ticket. What happens instead is local: a given court may accept a class or an extra fee and reduce the charge to one carrying zero points, as the justice courts in Las Vegas and Reno do for qualifying first offenses. Apart from any court, the DMV gives a 3 point credit for a voluntary class taken after a conviction, usable once a year. Both routes use the same DMV licensed schools.
- Statewide dismissal right
- None; each court decides
- Time to respond (civil infraction)
- 90 days in Las Vegas courts
- Las Vegas Justice Court
- Only your first citation in 36 months
- Reno Justice Court
- 4 points or fewer, no crash
- Class length
- 5 or 8 hours
- Online
- Yes, at licensed schools
- DMV credit
- 3 points, once a year
Step by step
Find your court
The court printed on the ticket is the one that decides. City streets usually mean a municipal court; county roads, a justice court.
Hold your payment
At Reno Justice Court, if payment goes through before your Traffic School Motion is approved, points are sent to the DMV.
Meet the deadline
Las Vegas courts allow 90 calendar days for a civil infraction. Miss it and you risk collections, a suspended license and reported points.
Ask for the option
Fill in the court's paperwork, or let the clerk know you are asking for the class or the reduction, and pay the penalty plus any extra fee.
Complete a licensed class
Pick from the DMV's Traffic Safety Schools list. Courts usually want the 5 hour version.
Send proof and check
Deliver the completion certificate before the court's deadline. Afterward, pull your driver history and confirm what went to the DMV.
First: one class, two different jobs
Nevada traffic safety schools are used in two ways, and you need to know which applies. A court may require or permit the class while your citation is still open, so that it may never reach the DMV as a moving violation. The DMV, on its own track, gives a 3 point credit when you take the class voluntarily after a conviction is already on your record.
The DMV is clear that a class done as part of a plea bargain gets no point credit. So if a court uses traffic school to reduce your charge, do not also expect 3 points off for that same class.
Before you respond: how tickets work now
AB 116 turned many minor violations into civil infractions on January 1, 2023, instead of misdemeanors. Penalties usually stop at $500 per violation unless a particular statute allows more, and no criminal record results.
Plan to act inside 90 calendar days. Depending on the court you can pay in full, pay in installments, do community service, or contest. Ignore it and three things follow: a collections referral, a possible license suspension, and points sent to the DMV anyway.
If your ticket is from unincorporated Clark County
Those tickets go to Las Vegas Justice Court, which offers a demerit point reduction. When you have had no other citation in 36 months, the court can change a moving violation to illegal parking, which carries zero points, after you finish an approved five hour class or pay an extra Demerit Point Reduction Fee with the civil penalty.
Choosing to contest takes that deal away. A contested case means appearing in person and posting bond for the full penalty plus assessments and fees, and nothing is negotiated at that hearing. Worked example: a driver with a clean three years who gets a speeding ticket there can trade a five hour online class for a zero point outcome.
If your ticket is from Reno
Reno Justice Court, in Washoe County, allows traffic school to keep points unreported for a single moving violation of 4 points or fewer, provided nobody crashed and your past 12 months are free of both moving convictions and traffic school.
The Traffic School Motion can be delivered at the counter, mailed or emailed, along with the amount on the citation, by your arraignment date at the latest; you may also ask a judge directly. The order matters: payment processed first means no traffic school.
If your ticket is from another court
Every municipal and justice court writes its own rules. North Las Vegas Justice Court's response form, for one, lets a driver answering no contest tick traffic school and shows a $60 fee in lieu of attending, with the court noting any amended charge and the certificate due date.
Elsewhere, start with the reverse side of the ticket and the court's site, or phone the clerk well before your deadline. Ask three things: is traffic school offered, does it change the points reported, and when is the certificate due.
Choosing the school
Use the DMV's Traffic Safety Schools list, which had 35 licensed schools when we checked and can be filtered by online, classroom or correspondence. Any licensed Nevada school is fine, wherever you live.
Length depends on your record: five hours with two or fewer violations, eight with three or more. Schools set prices, not the DMV. It is not a substitute for teen driver ed, and it is not DUI school.
Special cases: out of state and commercial drivers
Visitors ticketed in Nevada should contact the Nevada court on the citation. The DMV says some courts take traffic school from other states, but there is no guarantee. After a conviction, your home state decides how it affects your license.
Commercial drivers need caution here: federal law forbids masking a CDL holder's conviction, so any deal that hides a violation is suspect. The DMV also warns of extra penalties and points for CDL holders, so talk to the court or a lawyer before you plead.
Nevada defensive driving: common questions
Will traffic school get my Nevada ticket dismissed?
There is no statewide right to that. Particular courts, Las Vegas Justice and Reno Justice among them, allow qualifying drivers to trade a class for a lighter charge or unreported points. Your court is the one to ask.
How long is the class?
Five hours if you have two or fewer violations, eight if you have three or more. Courts usually ask for five.
Can I take it online?
Yes. Many licensed schools teach online, and any licensed Nevada school works regardless of where you live.
What is my deadline on a Las Vegas citation?
For a civil infraction, 90 calendar days after the ticket was written, whether it sits in the city's Municipal Court or in Las Vegas Justice Court.
Does a court ordered class take points off?
No DMV credit comes from a plea deal class. The benefit, if any, is the lighter charge the court gave you.
Can I use a traffic school from my home state?
That is the Nevada court's call. Some accept outside schools; the DMV says you cannot count on it.
I already paid my Reno ticket. Is it too late?
Probably. Reno Justice Court will not allow traffic school once a payment has been processed ahead of an approved motion.
Traffic School in another state
Was this guide helpful?
Sources
- Nevada DMV: Traffic Safety Schools
- Nevada DMV: Demerit Point System
- Las Vegas Justice Court: 2023 Changes to Traffic Violations
- Reno Justice Court (Washoe County): Traffic School
- City of Las Vegas Municipal Court: AB 116 Explained
- Clark County, North Las Vegas Justice Court: Written Entry of Response Form (2026)
Rules change. If a source above says something different from this page, the source is right. Last checked 2026-10-23.