Indiana Infraction Fines by Class: Court Costs and Points

Indiana infraction fines by class run from a $25 maximum for a Class D violation up to a $10,000 maximum for a Class A. Those numbers are ceilings, though, not what most drivers actually pay. For ordinary moving violations the real fine is usually $35.50, and mandatory court costs of roughly $139 end up being the larger line on the ticket.¹²

The Four Infraction Classes and Their Maximum Fines

Indiana law sorts every infraction into one of four classes. Each class has its own cap on the judgment a court can enter against you.¹

Class A infraction — up to $10,000. The most serious non-criminal violations. Driving on a suspended or revoked license is the classic example.³
Class B infraction — up to $1,000. Includes speeding in a school zone, which also carries mandatory minimum fines described below.⁴
Class C infraction — up to $500. Covers most ordinary moving violations, including standard speeding and running a red light. A separate graduated schedule keeps most Class C fines well below this ceiling.
Class D infraction — up to $25. The lowest tier. A front-seat seat belt violation (occupant age 16 or older) is a Class D infraction and does not add points to your driving record.⁵

None of these are criminal charges. An infraction is a civil violation, so there’s no jail time and no criminal record attached to it. Reckless driving, by contrast, is a Class C misdemeanor and sits outside the infraction system entirely.⁶

Where Class B Fines Have a Floor

Speeding in a school zone is a Class B infraction with mandatory minimum fines that step up quickly: $300 for a first offense, $500 for a second within three years, and $1,000 for a third or later offense in the same three-year window. Two school-zone speeding violations in a single year can also trigger a court-ordered license suspension.⁴

Where a Class A Fine Actually Hits

The $10,000 Class A ceiling matters most for drivers cited for operating on a suspended license. If your license is already suspended for nonpayment of an earlier fine and you get pulled over, you’re now facing a Class A infraction on top of the original unpaid judgment.³

What a Class C Moving Violation Actually Costs

The $500 Class C ceiling almost never applies to a first-time speeder. For Class C moving violations, Indiana uses a graduated schedule tied to two things: whether you contest the ticket, and how many prior moving violations you have in the same county in the past five years.¹

Admit the violation or plead no contest before the court date: maximum fine of $35.50, plus court costs.
Admit or plead no contest on the court date: same $35.50 cap, plus court costs.
Contest the violation and lose, with no prior moving violations in the county in five years: maximum fine of $35.50, plus court costs.
Contest and lose, with one prior moving violation in that five-year window: maximum fine of $250.50, plus court costs.
Contest and lose, with two or more prior moving violations in five years: maximum fine of $500, plus court costs.

The practical takeaway is that a first-time moving violation in a given county costs the same $35.50 whether you admit it upfront or fight it and lose. The financial risk of contesting only climbs once you already have a track record in that county. This graduated schedule applies to Class C moving violations only. Class A, B, and D infractions follow their own statutory maximums.

Court Costs Usually Exceed the Fine

The fine is only part of the bill. Indiana adds mandatory court costs to every infraction judgment. According to the Indiana Trial Court Fee Manual, the base infraction court cost is $70, and on top of that come mandatory surcharges: $20 for automated record keeping, $20 for judicial salaries, $5 for document storage, and a stack of smaller fees. The total mandatory cost lands at roughly $139 before any conditional fees.²

So a first-time speeding ticket with a $35.50 fine actually runs closer to $175 out the door. If a sheriff served the citation, add $28 for service of process. Miss the payment deadline and the court can tack on a $25 late payment fee.²

Put together, the total cost of a routine Class C moving violation is dominated by the court-cost stack, not the fine itself. Class B and Class A judgments still trigger the same base court costs, but with fines that dwarf them.

Points and Insurance: The Cost Beyond the Ticket

Most moving violations also add points to your driving record. The BMV assigns each conviction a point value based on how serious the offense is, ranging from zero to ten. Points stay active for two years from the conviction date, and accumulating too many in that window can lead to probationary status or a license suspension.⁷

Not every infraction carries points. Seat belt violations are specifically excluded.⁵ If you do accumulate points, completing a BMV-approved Driver Safety Program course earns a four-point credit on your record, usable once every three years. Courts can also order the course as an alternative to suspension.⁸

Insurance is often the biggest downstream cost. Based on Indiana rate data, a speeding conviction raises full-coverage premiums by an average of 24%, or about $315 more per year. Some insurers apply increases as low as 13%; others raise rates 40% or more. Your insurer will find the violation on your motor vehicle record at renewal whether or not you report it. Multiple infractions compound: stacking two or three moving violations in a short period can push you into high-risk coverage.

If You Don’t Pay

Ignoring an infraction doesn’t close it out. Failing to appear or failing to pay a judgment can trigger a suspension of your driving privileges.⁹

Once suspended for nonpayment, you have to resolve the underlying fine and pay a reinstatement fee to the BMV before driving legally again. The reinstatement amount varies by suspension type and shows on your official driving record. Then things escalate: driving on that suspended license is itself a Class A infraction, exposing you to a judgment of up to $10,000.³

Unpaid fines can also be referred to collections. The infraction judgment itself is civil and creates no criminal record, but a collection referral can damage your credit.²

Environmental Penalties Are Not Infractions

If you’re looking up fines because of an environmental citation (illegal dumping, for example), you’re in a different system. Indiana environmental penalties are civil penalties enforced by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, not infractions handled at traffic court. They carry a civil penalty of up to $25,000 per day of violation for breaches of environmental management laws, air or water pollution control laws, or related permits or orders.¹⁰¹¹ The class-based fine structure on this page does not apply to those actions.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 34 Civil Law and Procedure 34-28-5-4
2
Indiana Courts. Indiana Trial Court Fee Manual
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-24-19-1 – Class A Infraction
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 9 Motor Vehicles 9-21-5-11
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-19-10-8 – Failure of Front Seat Occupant to Use Belt
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 9 Motor Vehicles 9-21-8-52
7
Indiana BMV. BMV Driver Record Points
8
Indiana BMV. BMV Citation Points and Driver Safety Program
9
Indiana BMV. BMV Common Traffic Violations
10
Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Civil Penalty Policy
11
Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Open Dumping