Most people who get a ticket on Highway 67 or in town pay it online and forget about it. Then the insurance renewal comes in higher, or a second ticket a year later pushes the point total toward a suspension, and the first ticket turns out to have been the expensive one.
Missouri only adds points to your license after a conviction. That is the whole reason to talk to a lawyer before you pay. A ticket that is handled in court instead of at the payment window can often end differently than the one you were handed.
What a ticket actually costs in Missouri
Missouri runs a point system. Each moving violation you are convicted of adds points to your driving record, and the totals trigger action by the Department of Revenue on their own, with no judge involved.
Eight points in eighteen months brings a suspension. Twelve points in twelve months brings a revocation. The points also sit on the record your insurer pulls at renewal.
- Speeding under state law: 3 points. Under a city or county ordinance: 2 points.
- Careless and imprudent driving under state law: 4 points.
- Most other moving violations: 2 points.
- Driving while your license is suspended or revoked: 12 points, which is a revocation on its own.
- A first suspension lasts 30 days. A second lasts 60. A third lasts 90.
Why people hire a lawyer for a ticket
The goal in most Missouri ticket cases is to have the moving violation amended to a non-moving violation, which carries no points. The fine is usually higher than the original ticket, and in exchange the conviction that goes on your record is one your insurer does not care about.
Whether that is available depends on the charge, your driving record, and the prosecutor's office handling the case. We will tell you at the free consultation what we think is realistic for your ticket, including when paying it is the better choice.
Tickets that are more than a ticket
Some things that arrive looking like a ticket are criminal charges with a court date you cannot pay your way out of.
Driving while suspended or revoked is a class D misdemeanor on a first offense and climbs from there, with felony exposure for repeat offenses. Careless and imprudent driving carries four points and is often charged after a crash. Leaving the scene, no insurance, and anything involving alcohol are their own cases. Each of these is handled as a criminal defense matter, not a ticket.
Commercial drivers and out-of-state licenses
If you hold a CDL, federal rules limit how a ticket can be amended, even if you were in your personal vehicle. The options are narrower and the stakes are higher, so call before the court date rather than after.
If your license is from another state, Missouri reports the conviction to your home state, which then applies its own point rules. A lot of the tickets written on Highway 67 go to people passing through, and most of those cases can be handled without a trip back to Farmington.
You usually do not have to come to court
For most minor traffic cases, your attorney can appear for you, work the case with the prosecutor, and send you the result. You find out what the amended charge and fine are, pay it, and it is done.
Send us a photo of the ticket, front and back. That is enough to get started.