Got a Wyoming Ticket? Your Options Without Traffic School

The short answer: no statewide traffic school

Many states let a driver swap a class for a dismissal. Wyoming is not one of them. No statute provides for it, WYDOT does not approve traffic school courses, and a course certificate will not alter your license record. WYDOT has gone so far as to tell legislators that defensive driving has no effect on a Wyoming license.

Be skeptical, then, of any claim that Wyoming courts routinely trade tickets for classes. Each court and each prosecutor sets its own practice, and plenty of them expect you either to pay or to contest.

Right after the stop: appear, or forfeit bond?

Circuit court tickets are governed by the Uniform Bail and Forfeiture Schedule that the Wyoming Supreme Court issues. When the officer has marked the citation as one where bond may be forfeited instead of appearing, you have a choice: go to court on the date given, or post bond beforehand and let it be forfeited. Offenses the schedule does not list, reckless driving and DWUI among them, always require an appearance.

Do not mistake forfeiture for a way around your record. W.S. 31-5-1214 has the court send WYDOT an abstract whenever a case ends in conviction or forfeited bail, so for your driving record, paying and pleading guilty land in the same place.

Deferral under W.S. 7-13-301

Here is how deferral works. Both you and the state must agree. The judge then holds back from entering a conviction and places you on probation, for as long as 36 months, provided you have no felony record. Satisfy the terms and the court may discharge you and close the case by dismissal, though not before a year of probation has passed. That dismissal is not a conviction.

The statute covers misdemeanors in general, and it is rarely used for an everyday speeding ticket. You are likelier to see it in heavier traffic cases, careless or reckless driving for instance. It is unavailable for a second DWUI and to anyone with a prior felony. Judges often attach conditions: a driving course, fees, community service.

Teen court

Circuit and municipal courts in Wyoming are allowed to create teen courts for minor offenses. The young driver pleads guilty with a parent there, peers on a jury decide the sentence, and once the sentence has been carried out the case is dismissed with no conviction entered.

Availability varies by county. Ask the court named on your teen's ticket whether it has a teen court and whether traffic cases are eligible. Even a teen court dismissal is reported to WYDOT.

Before your court date: talk to the prosecutor

In practice, most Wyoming drivers who get a better outcome get it by calling the prosecutor ahead of court. Prosecutors can reduce a charge, for example to one that is not a moving violation, or suggest a smaller fine. Having completed a driving course, on your own or by order, can strengthen your hand in that conversation. It gives you leverage; it does not give you a right.

Whatever you agree to, a plea of guilty or no contest is a conviction. Before you accept, ask exactly how the new charge will appear on your record. If you are close to four moving violations in a 12 month span, that answer outweighs the dollar amount.

For example, a driver with three moving violations already this year who pays a fourth speeding ticket without a word faces a 90 day suspension. A phone call asking whether the charge could become a non moving violation is worth making.

CDL holders

For commercial drivers, these doors are closed. Under the federal rule at 49 CFR 384.226, no state may mask a conviction, defer judgment or send the case to diversion for anyone holding a CDL or a commercial learner's permit, no matter what they were driving. Only parking, weight and vehicle defect violations are exempt.

Assume any traffic conviction will reach your record. Before pleading to a serious violation, talk to a lawyer, because CDL disqualification for repeat serious traffic violations starts at 60 days.

When the judge orders a course

Courts can build a driving course into a sentence or into probation, most often after careless driving, a crash or an offense by a young driver. Before you spend money, find out whether the court keeps a list of providers and whether it will take an online class.

Get the completion certificate to the court before the deadline in your order. Unless a separate suspension or alcohol program asks for it, WYDOT has no need for a copy.

Paying, contesting, appealing

Citations are paid through CitePay USA, the Wyoming Judicial Branch's payment service, and the Highway Patrol sends drivers with trooper tickets there too. City courts may run their own system. Pay only through your court or the site it names. If a text message or email demands payment, call the court before doing anything.

Contesting means appearing on the listed date and pleading not guilty. Lose in circuit or municipal court and you have 30 days to file a notice of appeal to district court, under the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure. Ignore the ticket altogether and WYDOT will suspend you indefinitely, under the Nonresident Violator Compact rules, until the court confirms you have complied.