Mississippi Traffic School for Ticket Dismissal: Eligibility and Court Steps

Mississippi traffic school for ticket dismissal is available to eligible drivers through the court handling their citation. Under Section 63-9-11(3), the adult program has two paths: a timely plea and course request with 90 days to finish, or a request after a not-guilty plea and conviction with 45 days to finish.1

The course alone does not dismiss the ticket. You must qualify, use the court process, pay the required amounts, and complete a course the court approves. The separate minor provision in Section 63-1-55 can involve a license suspension in lieu of conviction; it should not be treated as the same adult dismissal program.12

General information only: This guide explains Mississippi law and published court procedures. It is not legal advice for your case. Ask the court named on your citation about your eligibility, filing requirements, and ordered deadlines.

Start with the route that fits your case

Your plea and case status determine which adult completion period applies. The adult statute covers people who are not covered by the separate minor provision and meet all its eligibility conditions.1

Adult routes: Section 63-9-11(3)(b). Minor route: Section 63-1-55, reproduced in the Mississippi Judicial College’s municipal-court manual.12

The minor’s possible 90-day license suspension and the adult’s 90-day course period are different rules. Having the same number does not make them interchangeable.

Who qualifies for the adult traffic safety violator course?

Adult eligibility requires more than having your first speeding ticket. Section 63-9-11(3)(a) requires a qualifying misdemeanor under Title 63, Chapter 3, 5, or 7 and all the conditions below.1

• Valid license or permit: The ordinary rule requires a valid Mississippi driver’s license or permit. The statute separately accommodates out-of-state residents.
• Conviction history: You cannot have a conviction under those chapters within the three years before the current offense. Convictions entered before October 1, 2002, do not count for this provision.
• Course history: Your public and nonpublic DPS records cannot show successful completion of a course under this section during the three years before the offense.
• Affidavit: You must file the required sworn statement about conviction history, current course participation, and a completed course not yet reflected in your record.
• Payments: You must pay the applicable fine, costs, and assessments, plus the additional $10 election fee. The course is also at your expense.1

The affidavit states that this is your first conviction in more than three years or since October 1, 2002, whichever is the shorter period. It also states that you are not currently taking a course under this section and have not completed one that is missing from the public or nonpublic record.1

Those are separate checks. An unrecorded completion is not a way around the course-history rule, and a previous qualifying conviction is not the same as a previous course. Collect the dates of both before completing the form.

“No prior tickets” can be an imprecise local shorthand

The statewide conviction condition refers to convictions under the specified chapters during a defined lookback period. Some local materials use broader ticket wording. Starkville’s adult petition, for example, asks the signer to swear that the current offense is the first traffic ticket received within three years.13

If you received an earlier citation that was dismissed, tell the clerk what happened and ask how to complete the form accurately. A citation and a conviction are different events; do not sign a statement that you know is untrue simply because you think the statute makes you eligible.

Commercial licenses need separate attention

Section 63-9-11(4) excludes holders of a commercial driver’s license issued under the Mississippi Commercial Driver’s License Law from the adult program. The exclusion applies even when the violation happened in a personal vehicle.1

If your commercial license or permit was issued elsewhere, disclose it to the court before requesting a record benefit. Federal law also restricts diversion that prevents a commercial learner’s permit or CDL holder’s traffic conviction from appearing on the CDLIS record, including convictions in another state. The federal rule has exceptions for parking, vehicle-weight, and vehicle-defect violations.4

The 90-day route: request it by the citation’s appearance date

For an eligible defendant entering a guilty or no-contest plea, Section 63-9-11(3)(b)(i) allows an oral or written course request. Present it to the court in person, or mail it with a postmark on or before the appearance date printed on the citation. The plea itself may be entered in person or in writing.1

“No contest” is the everyday name for nolo contendere. The statute provides for the court to withhold acceptance of either plea and defer sentencing while the eligible defendant completes the approved course.1

Start with the clerk before paying through an ordinary ticket-payment screen. Ask for the traffic safety violator course procedure and the required affidavit. Your goal is to make the program election clear, rather than leave the court to interpret an ordinary payment as a course request.

Once you are proceeding under this route, the court must allow you, as an eligible defendant, 90 days to complete at least four hours of a court-approved course. When proof of successful completion is entered with the court, it must dismiss the prosecution and close the case.1

Ask for the actual completion date and proof-filing instructions in writing. The statute describes a court deferral that allows 90 days; it does not tell you to count 90 days from the day the officer handed you the ticket. Use the dates in the court’s directions and raise any discrepancy promptly.

The 45-day route: a not-guilty plea followed by conviction

An eligible driver who pleads not guilty but is convicted has a separate route under Section 63-9-11(3)(b)(ii). On the defendant’s request, the court must suspend the sentence to allow 45 days for successful completion of at least four hours of approved instruction.1

The same eligibility and payment conditions still apply. Taking a class does not mean you can erase an old conviction.

After successful completion, the court must set aside the conviction, dismiss the prosecution, and close the case. The statute also directs the court to expunge the conviction record on its own motion.1

Ask about the course request when the court enters its decision, and obtain the suspension order and due date. If your conviction is already final or the case is closed, ask the court or a Mississippi attorney what options remain. Buying a course does not establish that the court can reopen your case under this provision.

What you pay—and what the payment buys

The adult program does not waive the ticket’s financial obligations. Section 63-9-11(3)(a)(vi)-(vii) requires the fine, court costs, applicable assessments, and an additional $10 fee. The instructional course is at your own cost.1

Ask the clerk for a breakdown that separates:

1. The fine for the charged offense.
2. Court costs and required assessments.
3. The $10 program-election fee.
4. The provider’s course charge.

The $10 fee is only one part of the cost. It does not tell you the total you will pay for dismissal.

Hernando’s published adult instructions require fines to be paid in full at sign-up and describe the fine plus $10 court fee as nonrefundable if the course is not completed. That is a local payment instruction; confirm your own court’s timing and refund terms.5

Dismissal may be worth pursuing for the court and driving-record result described here. Ask your insurer what it means for your policy; the course does not guarantee an insurance saving.

Get the exact course approved before enrolling

For the adult program, the court approves the traffic safety violator course. Section 63-9-11(3)(d) requires at least four instructional hours and additional curriculum and instructor safeguards: an instructor’s manual, student workbooks, scientifically verifiable analysis of curriculum effectiveness, and minimum instructor qualifications.1

A provider’s description of a “Mississippi defensive driving course” does not establish that your court accepts that exact course for your case. Ask the clerk for the approved provider, course title, format, and certificate requirements.

Online availability is also a court-specific question. Hernando’s page says its classes are online. Picayune’s under-21 notice lists online options and says an unlisted course needs court review before enrollment. Neither instruction establishes that every Mississippi court accepts every online course.56

If you live outside Mississippi

Section 63-9-11(3)(c) allows an out-of-state resident to complete a substantially similar program in the home state, province, or country. The resident must meet the subsection’s other conditions, with a valid license or permit issued by the home jurisdiction instead of Mississippi.1

Give the Mississippi court the proposed course’s details before paying. Ask what proof it needs to accept the program as substantially similar and where to send the certificate. A provider in your home state cannot decide whether the Mississippi court’s requirements are satisfied.

Under 21? Ask about the minor order, including driving restrictions

Some Mississippi courts publish separate adult and under-21 school instructions, but the minor statute has its own conditions. Section 63-1-55 concerns a minor who is dependent on and subject to the care, custody, and control of parents or a guardian and has been convicted or entered a guilty plea for a covered traffic violation.2

It excludes offenses identified in Section 63-1-51(1)(a)-(e), as well as violations of the Implied Consent Law and Uniform Controlled Substances Law. The judge may keep the minor’s license in court custody for up to 90 days in lieu of conviction and may require successful completion of a judge-approved defensive driving course. Court costs and the driver-education penalty assessment may be imposed at the court’s discretion.2

That statutory action does not constitute a conviction. If the minor appeals the suspension through the legally provided process, the statute directs the judge to return the license and impose the fines or penalties otherwise applicable, which constitutes a conviction.2

Local instructions can describe the process differently. Picayune’s notice, revised February 17, 2026, describes an under-21 first-offense course option without a guilty plea and with 90 days to complete the course and submit proof. It does not explain how that description fits the guilty-plea-or-conviction and license-custody language of Section 63-1-55.62

Use that notice to prepare questions. It does not establish a statewide guarantee of dismissal without a license suspension. Ask the judge or clerk:

• Which legal provision and order apply to this case?
• Is a plea required, and what will the court enter on its docket?
• Will the license be held or driving privileges restricted?
• Which course, payment, and proof-filing conditions apply?
• What happens if the course is not completed?

Hernando, for example, publishes a $50 payment upon dismissal for its minor program and requires certificates to be returned in person. Those terms belong to Hernando’s process, not every under-21 case in Mississippi.5

File the certificate and confirm the court’s final action

Completion and filing are separate tasks. The adult deferred-plea statute requires proof of successful completion to be entered with the court before dismissal. Follow the court’s proof instructions even if the provider also sends a certificate.1

Hernando requires the completed certificate in person by the deadline and says fax and email are not accepted. Picayune’s minor notice requires proof within 90 days and identifies certificate details including the participant’s name, course title, provider, completion date, and instructional hours.56

Keep a copy of the certificate, payment receipts, the court order, and evidence that the clerk received your filing. Then ask for confirmation that the prosecution was dismissed and the case closed. For the post-trial route, also confirm that the conviction was set aside and the court completed its required expungement action.

A nonpublic eligibility record remains for ten years

DPS still keeps some information after adult-program dismissal. Section 63-9-17(5) requires the court to report satisfactory course completion and DPS to maintain a private, nonpublic record for ten years. Its specified purpose is court eligibility checking under Section 63-9-11.7

That record does not constitute a criminal record for private or administrative inquiry, and the reports are exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act. The ten-year retention period is different from the three-year course-history eligibility lookback.71

The post-trial path also has an interim reporting issue: Section 63-9-17(2) requires a conviction abstract within five days unless another law requires it sooner. Successful course completion later brings the set-aside and expungement duties under Section 63-9-11(3)(b)(ii). Ask the clerk how the final action will be communicated if the conviction was already reported.71

Keep these details together before contacting the court

Use this checklist to make the conversation specific:

• Citation number, charged code section, court name, and appearance date.
• License or permit jurisdiction and any commercial license or permit.
• Dates and outcomes of prior traffic cases and prior course participation.
• The correct affidavit and the court’s method for submitting the request.
• Plea/case status, applicable route, and written course and certificate due dates.
• Approved course name and format, payment breakdown, and proof-delivery method.

If a deadline is approaching and you cannot complete the course or file proof, contact the court promptly about your case. The sources cited here do not establish a statewide automatic extension. Keep the scheduled court date unless the court directs otherwise.

Start with the court named on your citation. Ask for the correct course procedure before paying, and keep your paperwork until you have confirmation of the required final court action.

Related Reading

• How to get a speeding ticket dismissed
• Does traffic school remove a ticket from your record?

Sources

1. Mississippi Code Section 63-9-11(3)-(4), reproduced in the Mississippi Judicial College’s Manual for Mississippi Municipal Courts 2026 (Updated July 1, 2026), Chapter 14, Section 1405. Enactment history: 2005 HB 1130, Section 6 and bill history.
2. Mississippi Judicial College, Manual for Mississippi Municipal Courts 2026 (Updated July 1, 2026), updated July 1, 2026, Chapter 14, Section 1408; reproduces Mississippi Code Section 63-1-55. Official publications index.
3. Starkville Municipal Court, adult affidavit and petition for deferred sentencing.
4. 49 CFR Section 384.226, prohibition on masking convictions.
5. Hernando Municipal Court, defensive driving school instructions, page states effective January 1, 2022.
6. Picayune Municipal Court, Traffic Safety Course Information — Minors (Under 21), revised February 17, 2026, pages 1-3.
7. Mississippi Code Section 63-9-17(2), (5), reproduced in 2005 HB 1130, Section 7 and the Manual for Mississippi Municipal Courts 2026 (Updated July 1, 2026), Chapter 14, Section 1406.

Last updated: October 8, 2026