Pay a Miami-Dade Clerk Ticket: Fines, Deadlines, and Traffic School

To pay a ticket through the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller, you have 30 days from the date the citation was issued to respond, and you can pay online, by phone, by mail, or in person at a courthouse.¹ Paying counts as admitting the infraction, so before you click through, it’s worth knowing that the same 30-day window lets you elect traffic school, request a hearing, or set up a payment plan instead.

What You Need Before You Pay

Have your citation number ready. Traffic citations use a combination of seven letters and numbers; parking citations have eight digits.² If you don’t have the citation in front of you, you can look up your case with your Florida driver’s license number instead. The amount that appears when you pull up your citation is the full amount owed, including court costs and surcharges on top of the base fine.

How to Pay Your Miami-Dade Ticket

The Clerk accepts payment through four channels.³

Online

Visit the Clerk’s Traffic Online Payment System, enter your citation or license number, and check out with Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. A confirmation receipt is generated immediately. Save it.

By Phone

Call 305-275-1111 to use the Clerk’s automated phone system, available 24 hours a day.

By Mail

Send a check or money order payable to “Clerk of the Court and Comptroller” to PO Box 19321, Miami, Florida 33101-9321. Write your citation number on the payment. Mailed payments take several business days to process, so if you’re close to the 30-day deadline, use certified mail so you can track delivery.

In Person

Pay with cash, check, money order, or credit card at any Clerk courthouse location, including the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building at 1351 NW 12th Street and the Stephen P. Clark Center at 111 NW First Street in Miami.⁴

Whichever channel you choose, paying the fine counts as admitting the infraction and waiving your right to a hearing.¹ Keep the confirmation number or receipt in case any dispute comes up later.

What You’ll Owe

Florida sets base fines by violation type, and the Clerk adds court costs and surcharges. For speeding, base fines scale with how far over the limit you were:⁵

1–5 mph over: warning, no fine
6–9 mph over: $25
10–14 mph over: $100
15–19 mph over: $150
20–29 mph over: $175
30 mph or more over: $250

Speeding in a school zone doubles the base fine. Running a red light carries a base fine of $158, whether the violation was caught by a camera or an officer.⁵ Your total will be higher than the base fine once court costs are added, and the online lookup shows the full amount.

Consider Traffic School Before You Pay

If you’re eligible, electing traffic school within the 30-day window lets you pay the citation at an 18 percent discount, complete an approved 4-hour driver improvement course, and keep points off your driving record.¹ Points remain on your Florida record for at least five years and can raise your insurance premiums the whole time.⁶ The fine is a one-time cost; the insurance impact compounds.

You can elect the 4-hour course once every 12 months and up to eight times in your lifetime.¹ You are not eligible if you:

Hold a commercial driver’s license
Were cited for speeding 30 mph or more over the limit
Received a red-light camera citation, tag violation, registration violation, or toll violation
Already elected traffic school within the past 12 months

After you elect and pay, you have 120 days to finish the course and submit your certificate of completion to the Clerk at PO Box 19321, Miami, Florida 33101-9321.⁷ Miss the 120-day deadline and you’ll be adjudicated guilty, points will be added, and you’ll owe additional fees.⁸

Requesting a Hearing Instead

If you believe the ticket was issued in error, you can plead not guilty within the same 30 days by submitting a Request for Trial online through the Clerk’s Traffic Online System, in person at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building or any district court location, or by mail.³ You’ll receive notice of the hearing date within six to eight weeks.

Requesting a hearing means giving up the fixed civil penalty. If the hearing officer finds a violation occurred, the penalty can be up to $500, or up to $1,000 for speeding in a school zone or construction zone.¹ Most drivers with a routine ticket and no strong defense are better off electing traffic school if they qualify.

Payment Plans

If you can’t pay the full amount at once, the Clerk offers payment plans for cases not already in collection, with a $25 setup fee.³ You can download the application from the Clerk’s website or apply in person at any courthouse. Entering a payment plan within the 30-day window counts as a valid response to your citation and keeps late penalties and license suspension from starting.¹ Default on the plan, though, and the Clerk must notify the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which will suspend your license as if you had never responded.⁸

What Happens If You Miss the 30-Day Deadline

A $16 late fee is added to your balance the moment the window closes.⁵ Within 10 days of your failure to respond, the Clerk is required to notify the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which then issues an order suspending your license, effective 20 days after the suspension notice is mailed.⁸

To clear the suspension, you’ll need to pay the original fine, the late fee, and a $60 reinstatement fee, then present a certificate of compliance at a driver’s license service center.⁹ Unpaid balances can also be referred to a collection agency, which can damage your credit.³ Even once you resolve it, the suspension stays on your driving record for seven years.⁸

If You Hold a Commercial Driver’s License

CDL holders cannot elect traffic school in Florida, so simply paying the ticket adds points to your record.¹¹⁰¹¹ If your CDL was issued by another state, you must notify that state’s licensing agency within the same 30 days. With livelihood on the line, professional drivers should think carefully before paying rather than contesting.

1
Justia Law. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions; Exception; Procedures
2
Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller. Traffic and Parking
3
Clerk of the Courts – Miami-Dade County, Florida. Civil Traffic Infractions
4
Clerk of the Court and Comptroller of Miami-Dade County. Locations
5
The Florida Statutes. Florida Code 318.18 – Amount of Penalties
6
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Points and Point Suspensions
7
Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller. Traffic School
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 318.15 – Failure to Comply With Civil Penalty or to Appear; Penalty
9
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 318.15 – Failure to Comply With Civil Penalty or to Appear; Penalty
10
eCFR. 49 CFR 383.31 – Notification of Convictions for Driver Violations
11
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Must an Operator of a CMV Who Holds a CDL Notify His/Her Current Employer of a Conviction