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Can a defensive driving course get my Louisiana traffic ticket dismissed?

In Louisiana, a court may dismiss a traffic misdemeanor after you finish a driver improvement program, and the judge decides whether to allow it. It can do so after a first conviction under Title 32 or a local traffic ordinance, or by deferring sentence ninety days for a course certificate. Deferral is only for Title 32 offenses, not speeding twenty-five miles per hour or more over the limit.

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The rule, fact by fact

Dismissal
After the program, the court may set the conviction aside and dismiss the prosecutionIt is the court's choice, not an automatic result.
Verified. www.legis.la.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
First conviction
First Title 32 traffic misdemeanor only: the court may suspend sentence, order a programA similar parish or city traffic ordinance counts too.
Same source and date as above
Tickets left out
Deferral excludes speeding twenty-five miles per hour or more over the limitCheck your citation for the speed it records.
Same source and date as above
Deferred sentence
Deferred sentencing gives you ninety days to present a course certificateAll the law's conditions must be met first.
Same source and date as above
Use limit
The court may dismiss only one charge for each course completedTwo charges need two courses.
Same source and date as above

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. Ask the court for a driving course on or before the appearance date on your citation. A written request is on time if it is postmarked by that date. In the deferral route you enter a plea of nolo contendere or guilty, but the court can't require that plea if you are sixteen or younger. You also need a valid driver's license or permit, no course under this law on your record in the two years before the offense, and an affidavit filed with the court that you are not taking a course under this law and have no finished course missing from your record.

  2. Step 2. Take a driver improvement program the court approves. Any driver improvement course under this law has to include railroad and highway grade crossing safety.

  3. Step 3. Finish the course and present the certificate within the ninety days the court allows. The court decides whether to defer sentencing, and only when all the conditions are met.

Before you pay

Ask the court, not a provider, whether it will allow a course for your ticket. If you ask for a course and then don't take it, the court fee is not refunded.

Check the appearance date on your citation. A written request has to be postmarked by then.

Check whether the ticket is for speeding twenty-five miles per hour or more over the limit.

Check your record for a course taken under this law in the two years before the offense.

Questions

Will my insurance go up if the charge is dismissed?

An insurer may not raise your premium or cancel your policy merely because of an offense dismissed under this law or because you completed a course under it.

Does the court charge a fee besides the course?

It may. The court can set a fee of up to ten dollars to cover the cost of administering this law. You still pay the course cost, plus any fines and costs for the driving offense.

Does a dismissed ticket show on my driving record?

The dismissed charge is not part of your driving record or used for any purpose. The court does report the completed course and its date to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, so a later course can be checked for eligibility.

What to do next

Ask your court before you pay. Then read the Louisiana law on driver improvement programs.

www.legis.la.gov

Sources we read