Effective 12 November 2026.
The Ticket File gives general information about the law. It is not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
General information only
Everything on The Ticket File (theticketfile.com) is general information, published to help readers understand how traffic tickets, license points, suspensions, reinstatement, traffic school and SR-22 and FR-44 filings work in the US. It is not legal advice, and it does not take your ticket, your driving record, your license type, your state or your circumstances into account. It is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney who knows your facts and your state’s law.
What we are not
The Ticket File is not a law firm, a lawyer referral service, a court, a DMV or any other government agency, a payment site, an insurer, an SR-22 agency or a traffic school. It does not offer legal services, represent anyone or refer anyone to a lawyer. It takes no payments, files nothing with a court or a DMV, sells no insurance or courses, and looks up no one’s ticket, license or record. Reading this site, using a tool or writing to us does not create an attorney-client relationship, and what you send us is not confidential or privileged the way a conversation with your own lawyer can be.
No view on your ticket or license
Nothing on this site says what will happen to your license, how many points your ticket will add, whether or when you will be suspended, how long you need an SR-22 or FR-44, what your ticket will cost, or whether a charge will be reduced or dismissed. Nothing here says whether you should pay, plead, contest, take a course, ask for supervision, a deferral or a prayer for judgment, request a hearing or hire a lawyer, and nothing here tells you to ignore a ticket. Those decisions are yours, ideally with advice from someone who knows your case.
Rules differ by state
There is no national point system, SR-22 rule or traffic-school rule. Each state sets its own point values or counts, thresholds, windows, suspension lengths, course rules, filing terms and fees, and they differ for young drivers, provisional licenses and commercial license holders. A ticket in another state is handled under rules that depend on both states. A rule on a page for one state does not apply in another. Where we have not read a state’s rule in official text, the page says “not confirmed”, and that tells you nothing about what the rule is.
The court’s or the DMV’s letter controls
The statute, the court and the DMV decide what happens to a ticket and a license. What the court or the DMV sends you, and the ticket itself, set your dates and steps, and they control over anything on this site. Their deadlines may run earlier than a general rule described here: a date to appear or answer, a date to request a hearing, a date a suspension starts, or a date to file proof. Read every letter in full and follow it. Nothing on this site, and no message to us, stops a date running.
The law changes
Statutes, regulations, DMV practice and fees change, sometimes with little notice, and a new rule can apply to some violations and not others, depending on when they happened. Each state figure on this site shows the day we read it, and it may have changed since. Check the current rule with the official source, the court or the DMV before you rely on it.
Tools show rules, not decisions
Our tools show a state’s rule as written and do arithmetic on what you enter. They show rules, not decisions. A result such as “reaches it” means only that your entries reach a number the state’s text names. It is not a finding that you will be suspended, and it does not give a date. A tool can’t see a court’s order, a conviction not yet entered, an out-of-state record not yet reported, a hearing, a course not yet credited or anything else on your actual record.
Insurance
Pages on SR-22, FR-44 and insurance explain filings, DMV fees and what state law lets insurers do. They give no premium figures and name no insurer. Insurers set rates within their state’s rules; your state’s insurance department takes questions and complaints about them.
Forms and payments
We host no pleas, letters, hearing requests or other forms, and no templates. Get forms from the court or the agency. To pay a ticket or look up a case, use the court’s or the state’s own official site, which state pages link and label “official”.
Accuracy
Pages are checked against the sources they cite, but no check catches everything. Check important details with the original source before you rely on them. See also our terms of use.
How our content is made
Every page is fact-checked against its sources before it is published, and appears under The Ticket File name. Our editorial policy and how we check page explain the process.
Advertising and independence
The Ticket File is funded by display advertising. The ads are chosen by the ad network, not by us, and they are not recommendations. An ad on a page, including one for a lawyer, an insurer, an SR-22 filing or a traffic school, is not an endorsement or a referral, and advertisers have no say over what we publish. We use no affiliate links, accept no paid placements, sell no leads, make no lawyer referrals, sell no insurance or courses and offer no quotes or rankings. Names of agencies, courts, publishers and companies are used only to identify them, and we are not affiliated with them.
External links
We link to statutes, courts, agencies and other official sites so you can check what we say. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content.
Questions and corrections
If you think something is wrong, email contact@theticketfile.com with the page address and a source, and we will look at it. We can’t answer questions about a ticket, a license, a court date or an SR-22. See also our corrections page.