Traffic Violation Lawyers
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Sheriffs, deputies, city police, and state troopers all write on Mississippi's uniform traffic ticket, and the ticket must show the court where the case will be heard and the date and time you are to appear (Section 63-9-21). Around Hattiesburg, three of the courts that hear traffic cases are:

Do not let the court date pass. Missing court can lead to an arrest warrant, and if you left your driver's license with the officer or the court in place of bond, the clerk sends it to the Department of Public Safety, which suspends it until the court reports that the charge is resolved (Sections 21-23-7 and 63-9-25). Our warrants page explains what to do about a warrant, and our guide to Hattiesburg Municipal Court walks through a court date at 701 James Street.

If the court lets you pay without coming to court, paying the fine ends the case. It does not keep the ticket quiet. Within five days after a traffic conviction, the court must send the Department of Public Safety a report of the case, called an abstract, and the abstract states whether the fine was satisfied "by prepayment or appearance bond forfeiture" (Section 63-9-17). The clerk sends the conviction to the Department so that it can be recorded (Section 63-1-51).

Skipping court and letting the bond go is no way around it. Several Mississippi statutes treat a forfeited bond like a conviction, including the rule that three reckless driving offenses committed within twelve months, each ending in a conviction or a forfeited bond, cost a driver the license for a year (Section 63-1-51). A no contest plea in municipal court is also a conviction: the judge convicts and sentences as in any other case (Section 21-23-7(8)). For commercial drivers, Mississippi and federal law say it outright: paying the fine or court costs is a conviction (Section 63-1-203(h); 49 C.F.R. § 383.5).

So before you pay, read the ticket, note the appearance date, and find out whether you qualify for the traffic safety violator course below. If you plan to contest the ticket, a written request to the prosecutor before trial gets you the names of the prosecution's witnesses, any written statement you gave, test reports, and the photographs and electronic data the prosecution plans to use (Rule 17.10 of the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure). The prosecutor can then ask you for the same kinds of material.

Section 63-9-11(3) lets an eligible driver charged with a misdemeanor under Chapters 3, 5, or 7 of Title 63 (the rules of the road, including speeding and reckless and careless driving, plus the size, weight, and equipment laws) take a court-approved traffic safety violator course of at least four hours and "thereby have no record of the violation on the person's driving record." You qualify if:

• You have a valid Mississippi driver's license or permit. An out-of-state resident may use a license from home and take a similar course there.
• You have no conviction under Chapters 3, 5, or 7 of Title 63 within the three years before this offense.
• Your driving record shows no completed violator course in those three years.
• You file an affidavit with the court saying this is your first conviction in more than three years, that you are not taking a violator course now, and that you have not finished one that is not yet on your driving record.
• You pay the fine, costs, and assessments, plus a $10 fee to elect the course.

Ask by your appearance date. You may plead guilty or no contest in person or in writing and ask for the course in person or by mail postmarked on or before the appearance date on the ticket. The court then holds off on accepting the plea and gives you 90 days to finish the course. When you file proof that you finished, the court dismisses the case and closes it. The only record kept afterward is a private one the courts use to check eligibility, which "shall not constitute a criminal record" for private or administrative inquiries (Section 63-9-17(5)).

If you lose at trial. A driver who pleads not guilty, is convicted, and meets the same conditions can still ask for the course. The court must suspend the sentence and give you 45 days to finish the course; finish it, and the court sets the conviction aside, dismisses the case, and expunges the record of the conviction.

Limits. The course does not reach driving without a license, driving on a suspended license, or insurance tickets, which are in other chapters of the Code. Commercial driver's license holders cannot use it at all, even for a ticket in a personal car (Section 63-9-11(4)). If the driver is a minor who lives under a parent's or guardian's care, the course statute does not apply; the judge can use the rule for minors described below (Section 63-1-55). The court must tell you about the course if you ask or appear in person (Section 63-9-11(3)(e)).

Many moving violations fall under the general penalty in Section 63-9-11, which applies when a rules-of-the-road statute sets no penalty of its own. Speeding is one of them. These are the ranges the statutes set:

A municipal judge may suspend all or part of a sentence on terms the judge sets (Section 21-23-7(5)). If a fine is not paid on time, the clerk mails a notice, and if the full amount is still unpaid 90 days after the notice is mailed, the court can pursue collection (Section 63-1-53(1)).

Mississippi's traffic statutes do not set up a points system. Under the statutes, a license is revoked for certain listed convictions, and the Department of Public Safety may suspend the license of a driver it finds habitually reckless or negligent or convicted of serious traffic offenses often enough to show a disregard for safety. A Department of Public Safety rule on the books (Miss. Admin. Code tit. 31, pt. 1, r. 13.1) does describe suspensions based on points built up over three years, but the published rule leaves out the point values, and the Department's driver manual and FAQ do not mention points.

• One-year revocation. The Commissioner of Public Safety must revoke a license for a year on certain final convictions, including manslaughter or negligent homicide with a vehicle, a felony committed with a vehicle, failing to stop and render aid after a crash that kills or injures someone, and three reckless driving offenses committed within twelve months, each ending in a conviction or a forfeited bond (Section 63-1-51).
• Discretionary suspension. The Commissioner may suspend a license without a preliminary hearing for reasons that include habitually reckless or negligent driving, convictions for serious traffic offenses frequent enough to show a disregard for safety, and being the driver in a crash that killed or injured someone or caused serious property damage. On request, you get a hearing within 20 days in the county where you live (Section 63-1-53).
• Your license as bond. Except after a DUI arrest, you may leave your license with the officer or the court in place of other bond, and the receipt lets you keep driving for up to 30 days while the case is pending. Miss court, and the Department suspends the license until the court reports that the charge is finally resolved (Section 63-9-25).
• Reinstatement. The fee to reinstate a suspended or revoked license is $100 in most cases, and $175 after an implied consent suspension (Section 63-1-46).

A DUI brings its own license rules; see our DUI license suspension page.

A ticket can cost a commercial driver far more than the fine. For a CDL holder, paying the fine is a conviction under both Mississippi and federal law, and the usual ways to keep a ticket off the record are closed:

• No violator course for a violation in any vehicle (Section 63-9-11(4)).
• No deferral or diversion. No judge may defer sentence or judgment for a CDL holder charged with any traffic violation other than parking (Section 63-1-222), and federal law forbids a state to mask a CDL holder's conviction (49 C.F.R. § 384.226).
• Serious traffic violations include speeding 15 mph or more over the posted limit, reckless driving, improper lane changes, following too closely, a traffic violation connected with a fatal crash, and driving a commercial vehicle without the proper CDL. Two convictions from separate incidents within three years mean a 60-day disqualification, and three mean 120 days (Section 63-1-216). A ticket in your personal vehicle counts when the conviction results in a suspension or revocation of your license (Section 63-1-203(r)).
• Commercial vehicle speeding at more than 15 mph over the posted limit on a highway carries one and a half times the usual speeding fine (Section 63-1-220(3)).
• Licensed in another state: Mississippi reports the conviction to your licensing state within ten days (Section 63-1-213).

For a DUI charge, see our CDL DUI page.

• Your home state may hear about it. Mississippi belongs to the Driver License Compact. If your home state is also a member, Mississippi reports your Mississippi traffic conviction there, and your home state treats it the way its own law says (Section 63-1-103).
• Highway Patrol tickets. A trooper may take the license of a driver from a reciprocating state (one whose law gives Mississippi drivers the same treatment) in place of bond. If the driver does not comply with the ticket, the trooper must ask for a warrant, the Department of Public Safety suspends the license until the ticket is resolved, and the report goes to the home state (Sections 63-10-3 and 63-10-5).
• The violator course at home. An out-of-state resident who qualifies for the traffic safety violator course may complete a substantially similar course in the home state (Section 63-9-11(3)(c)).
• Mississippi drivers and camera tickets. A ticket from another state that came from an automated traffic enforcement system, or from an enforcement method Mississippi does not allow, is not placed on your Mississippi driving record or reported to an insurance company for insurance purposes (Section 63-9-35).

For a minor who depends on a parent or guardian and is in that parent's or guardian's care, a judge may, instead of the usual penalties, take and hold the minor's license for up to 90 days. The docket entry says the license is suspended "in lieu of conviction," and the statute says that "shall not constitute a conviction." The judge may also require a defensive driving course. The option is not available for the serious offenses listed in Section 63-1-51(1), DUI, or drug charges, and an appeal of the suspension brings back the penalties and the conviction (Section 63-1-55). For an underage DUI, see our underage DUI page.

A conviction in municipal or justice court can be appealed for a new trial. Under Rule 29.1 of the Mississippi Rules of Criminal Procedure, you file three things with the circuit clerk within 30 days of the judgment: a written notice of appeal, a cost bond, and an appearance bond (or cash deposits). The judge who convicted you sets the cost bond, between $100 and $2,500 (Rule 29.3), and the appearance bond. No court can extend the 30 days (Rule 1.3(b)): a post-trial motion does not stop the clock, and neither does a stay from the judge who convicted you. File all three together. If day 30 falls on a weekend, a legal holiday, or a day the clerk's office is closed, the deadline moves to the next day the office is open (Rule 1.3(a)).

The appeal goes to county court, or to circuit court in a county without one, and the case is tried again from the start. Forrest County has a county court. When the most you face is six months or less, the judge may try the appeal without a jury (Rule 29.5). A defendant who cannot afford the bonds may ask the county or circuit court to excuse them on an affidavit of poverty (Rules 29.3 and 29.4).

Mississippi's first-offender expunction law covers misdemeanors that are not traffic violations (Section 99-19-71(1)), and an expunction order from a municipal or justice court "has no effect on the driving record" kept under Title 63 (Sections 21-23-7(6) and 9-11-15(3)). The time to protect a driving record is before the case ends. Our expungement page explains what can be cleared.