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“Driving While Suspended” Traffic Ticket Stays on Missouri Driving Record Permanently

Some traffic tickets stay on your Missouri driving record forever, such as: “Driving While Suspended”, DWI (Driving While Intoxicated), DUID (Driving Under the Influence of Drugs), Excessive BAC (blood alcohol content), “No Insurance,” “No Driver’s License” (state, not municipal),  “Leaving the Scene of an Accident” (state, not municipal), vehicular manslaughter, any felony, and any conviction involving a drug- or alcohol-related driving offense or enforcement contact.

In Missouri, some first-time DWI and MIP convictions are eligible for expungement (removal or deletion) from your permanent record. See my blog post for more information about expungement of these types of convictions.

A “Driving While Suspended” Traffic Ticket Will Never Qualify to be Removed from Your Missouri Driving Record

Once a year, the Missouri Department of Revenue removes certain types of tickets from its database of driving records. A speeding ticket or other traffic violation can be removed from your Missouri driving record if 1) it was issued for a minor offense, 2) it is more than 3 years old, and 3) it did not cause a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license.  Convictions that stay on your driving record permanently (for “Driving While Suspended,” DWI, DUID, etc.) are not eligible for removal.

What Kinds of Traffic Tickets Are Considered “Minor Offenses” and Qualify to be Removed From Your Missouri Driving Record?

The state of Missouri considers the following to be “minor offenses” and are eligible to be deleted from your driving record: speeding tickets, stop sign violations, “Failure to Signal,” “Failure to Yield,” and “Careless & Imprudent Driving.” These types of tickets will be removed from driving records during the Missouri Department of Revenue’s annual purging of old tickets from its driving record files.

Unfortunately, the Missouri Department of Revenue’s annual housecleaning of its files does not catch all traffic tickets that are eligible to be deleted. See my previous blog post titled “Speeding Ticket Points Stay on Your Missouri Driving Record for Only 18 Months” to find out how to determine if you have old speeding tickets or other traffic violations that are eligible to be deleted from your driving record and how to request that those old tickets be removed.

What Should You Do if You Get a “Driving While Suspended” Traffic Ticket in Missouri?

Don’t ignore a “Driving While Suspended” ticket, mistakenly thinking that it’s just another speeding ticket. As noted previously, a conviction for “Driving While Suspended” stays on your Missouri driving record forever, and any insurance agent who reviews your driving record  prior to giving you a price quote for car insurance will be able to see it.

If you want to avoid a conviction for “Driving While Suspended,” you can hire a traffic law attorney to negotiate a plea bargain with the prosecuting attorney to get the ticket amended to a non-moving, no-point violation. Your lawyer will need to show proof to the Court that your driver’s license has been reinstated before the prosecuting attorney can recommend any type of reduction or amendment of the charge.

If you have multiple “Driving While Suspended” convictions on your driving record, you have less of a chance that a court will agree to amend or reduce your current “Driving While Suspended” charge.

12 Points Are Added to Your Missouri Driving Record for a “Driving While Suspended” Conviction and Your Driver’s License Will be Revoked for 1 Year

If you decide to not hire an attorney to negotiate a plea bargain with the Court and, instead, you decide to just pay the fine for the “Driving While Suspended” ticket, then a conviction for “Driving While Suspended” will be added to your driving record. That conviction will cause 12 points to be added to your driving record. In Missouri, if you accumulate 12 points on your driving record within 12 months, your driver’s license will be revoked for 1 year.

How To Get Your Missouri Driver’s License Reinstated

To find out how to get your driver’s license reinstated, call the Missouri Department of Revenue at (573) 526-2407 ext. 1 or go to this page of the Missouri Department of Revenue web site for information about what is required to get your driver’s license reinstated.

The Requirements for License Reinstatement Vary, Depending on the Reason for the Suspension or Revocation

The requirements for getting your license reinstated depend on the reason your license was suspended or revoked in the first place. For example, if your license was suspended because you refused to take a breathalyzer test during a DWI traffic stop, then you will have to complete a SATOP (Substance Abuse Traffic Offenders Program) class before you can get your driver’s license reinstated.

If your license was suspended because of unpaid speeding tickets, you will have to pay the fines for those tickets and obtain compliance letters from each court to show proof of payment before your license will be reinstated. If you have already pleaded guilty to the traffic violations but your guilty plea was fairly recent, it is possible that a lawyer can withdraw your guilty plea and negotiate a plea bargain with the Court to get the traffic ticket amended to a non-moving, no-point infraction. You will still have to pay fines and court costs, and compliance letters will be required before your license will be reinstated.

You may have to provide proof that you have purchased liability insurance coverage for your car before your driver’s license is reinstated. There is a form called SR-22 that must be filed with the Driver License Bureau in Jefferson City, Missouri to prove that you have met this requirement. Your insurance agent can file the form for you after you purchase the insurance.

Regardless of the reason for your driver’s license suspension or revocation, you will also have to pay a small fee (either $20 or $45), in addition to any fines or court costs that you owe, in order to get your driver’s license reinstated. The amount of the reinstatement fee varies depending on the reason for the suspension or revocation.

For more information about Missouri traffic law, go to my Traffic Law Resources page for links to information regarding Missouri speeding tickets, points, courts, Missouri driver’s licenses, and other traffic-related issues.

 

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Speeding Ticket Points Stay on Your Missouri Driving Record for Only 18 Months

Missouri speeding ticket points become inactive after 18 months, and at that point they no longer count toward a suspension of your driver’s license. The 18-month time period starts on the date of the conviction.

The Actual Traffic Ticket Stays on Your Missouri Driving Record for 3 Years

Although the points on your Missouri driving record become inactive after 18 months, the actual traffic ticket stays on your driving record for 3 years or longer, depending on the type of violation.

Some Traffic Tickets Stay on Your Missouri Driving Record for 5 Years

If you are convicted of a traffic violation that leads to a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license, then that speeding ticket or other traffic violation will stay on your Missouri driving record for 5 years, starting from the date of reinstatement of your driver’s license after the suspension or revocation period ends.

What Types of Traffic Tickets Stay on Your Driving Record Permanently?

Convictions for DWI, Excessive BAC (blood alcohol content), DUID (Driving While Under the Influence of Drugs), “no insurance,” “no driver’s license” (state, not municipal), vehicular manslaughter, driving while suspended or revoked, leaving the scene of an accident (state, not municipal), any felony, and any drug- or alcohol-related driving offense or enforcement contact will stay on your Missouri driving record permanently.

Some Traffic Tickets are Automatically Removed from Your Driving Record 

Once a year, the Missouri Department of Revenue does a system-wide sweep to remove certain types of tickets from motorists’ driving records. A ticket is eligible to be removed if it was issued for a minor offense, it is more than 3 years old, and it did not cause a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license.

Tickets that qualify as a “minor offense” include convictions for speeding, stop sign violations, failure to signal, failure to yield, and “careless & imprudent driving.” These types of tickets will be removed from driving records during the Missouri Department of Revenue’s annual “purge” of old tickets from its driving record files.

You Can Ask the Missouri Department of Revenue to Remove Old Traffic Tickets from Your Driving Record

The Missouri Department of Revenue’s annual housecleaning of its files does not catch all tickets that are eligible for removal. Some old tickets could be removed but are overlooked during the annual purging of the files and end up staying on your record longer than necessary. Keep track of how many tickets are on your record and how old they are, then call the Department of Revenue to ask that they delete all old tickets that are eligible for removal. The removal of old speeding tickets from a driving record is sometimes called “expungement.”

How to Know if Your Old Speeding Tickets or Other Traffic Tickets Are Eligible to be Removed from Your Missouri Driving Record

If you have a conviction on your Missouri driving record for a traffic ticket that occurred more than 3 years ago, it did not cause a suspension or revocation of your driver’s license, and it is not a type of ticket that is required to stay on your driving record permanently (DWI, no insurance, etc.), then you can call the Missouri Department of Revenue at (573) 751-4475 and request that they remove that ticket from your driving record. If the old ticket meets those requirements, the Missouri Department of Revenue is required to remove it upon your request.

Additional rules apply to convictions for traffic violations involving CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) or CMV (Commercial Motor Vehicle).

Why You Should Have Old Tickets Removed from Your Driving Record

Insurance agents routinely review your driving record before quoting a price for car insurance. Removing old traffic tickets from your driving record will prevent an insurance agent from seeing anything except current tickets for moving violation convictions or old tickets that are not eligible for removal.

What Are Points on Your Driving Record?

When you receive a speeding ticket and are convicted of a moving violation in Missouri, in addition to paying a fine, points are added to your driving record. If you accumulate too many points, the state will suspend or revoke your driver’s license. The number of points vary depending on the type of offense. For example, a speeding ticket issued by a city or county police officer will cause 2 points to be added to your driving record. If a state police officer issued the speeding ticket, then 3 points are added to your record. A conviction for driving without insurance will cause 4 points to be added to your driving record. And driving while suspended or revoked means 12 points will be added to your driving record.

How Many Points are Added to Your Missouri Driving Record for Each Traffic Violation?

Click here to find out how many points are added to your driving record for traffic violations in Missouri.

Here is a list of some common traffic violations and the number of points that are added to your driving record for each:

Speeding ticket issued by state police officer – 3 points
Speeding ticket issued by county or municipal police officer – 2 points
DWI (1st time) – 8 points
Driving While Suspended – 12 points
Failure to Produce Insurance I.D. – 4 points
No Driver’s License (1st time) – 2 points
Failure to Yield Right-of-Way – 2 points

How Many Points Can You Accumulate Before Your Driver’s License is Suspended?

If you accumulate 8 points within 18 months, the Missouri Department of Revenue will suspend your driver’s license for 30 days. If you are suspended a second time because of points, then your license will be suspended for 60 days; and if it’s your third or more suspension, then your license will be suspended for 90 days.

How Many Points Can You Have on Your Driving Record Before Your Driver’s License is Revoked?

Your Missouri driver’s license will be revoked for 1 year if you accumulate 12 points within 12 months, 18 points within 24 months, or 24 points within 36 months.

How to Find Out How Many Points Are on Your Driving Record

To find out the number of points on your driving record, call the Missouri Department of Revenue at (573) 526-2407 ext. 2. If you recently received a traffic ticket but have not paid the fine yet, those points will not show up on your driving record until after the fine is paid and the conviction is recorded.

Keep Track of the Amount of Points on Your Driving Record

Many people hire an attorney to have their speeding tickets “fixed” (meaning, the attorney negotiates a plea bargain with the prosecutor to have your ticket amended to a non-moving, no-point infraction).

However, some people choose instead to simply pay the fine for their speeding ticket, knowing that points will be added to their driving record. If you choose this option, just be sure to keep track of how many points you have on your driving record. Many drivers get pulled over by police for a routine traffic stop only to be surprised when the officer tells them that their license is suspended because they accumulated too many points.

An Attorney Can Help if Your Driver’s License is Suspended

If your driver’s license is suspended because you failed to pay fines for speeding tickets or other traffic violations, then you can hire an attorney to negotiate a plea bargain with the court to have your tickets amended to non-moving violations, which will reduce the amount of points on your driving record, and the suspension will be canceled.

To learn more about points and suspension or revocation of your Missouri driver’s license, go to my Driving While Revoked/Driving While Suspended page.

Your Attorney May be Able to Help You Withdraw Your Guilty Plea

If you have already pled guilty and paid your fines for a speeding ticket or other traffic violation, then, in some situations, it is possible for an attorney to file a motion to withdraw your guilty plea and negotiate a plea bargain with the court to have those tickets amended to non-moving violations with no points. However, if too much time has passed since your guilty plea, the court may not allow the withdrawal.

For more information, go to the Withdrawal of Guilty Plea page on my website.

To learn more about Missouri traffic law, go to my Traffic Law Resources page for links to information regarding Missouri speeding tickets, points, Missouri driver’s licenses, courts, and other traffic-related issues.