A speeding ticket in Arizona starts a clock: you have roughly 20 days from the citation date to respond, and your options are to pay the fine, request defensive driving school, or contest the charge in court. Which options are open to you depends on whether the officer wrote you up for a civil traffic violation or for criminal speeding, and the gap between those two is wide.
Your First Move and the Deadline
Every Arizona citation lists an appearance date, usually about 20 days out. You don’t have to walk into court on that date, but you do have to respond by then in one of the ways below. The ticket itself names the court handling your case, with its address and phone number printed on the citation. City officers send tickets to Municipal Court; county deputies and state troopers send them to Justice Court.1Arizona Judicial Branch. Limited Jurisdiction Courts
Before you do anything else, figure out which kind of ticket you have. That answer controls everything that follows.
Civil Speeding or Criminal Speeding
Most speeding tickets in Arizona are civil traffic violations. You went over the limit, and you’re looking at a fine and points on your driving record. No jail risk, no criminal record.
Criminal speeding is different. Under A.R.S. 28-701.02, you can be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor if you were:2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-701.02 – Excessive Speeds; Classification
- Going faster than 35 mph in a school crossing
- Exceeding the posted limit by more than 20 mph in a business or residential area, or exceeding 45 mph where no limit is posted
- Exceeding the posted limit by more than 20 mph anywhere else
If any of those fit, you have a criminal case to deal with, not a civil citation. The procedure, penalties, and stakes all change.
What a Civil Speeding Ticket Costs
The base fine depends on the court and your speed, but the base is only part of what you pay. Arizona stacks surcharges and assessments on every traffic fine under A.R.S. 12-116.01 and 12-116.02, and they add up fast.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 12-116.01 – Surcharges; Remittance Reports; Fund Deposits The Joint Legislative Budget Committee’s example: a $100 base fine turns into $222 after $78 in surcharges and $44 in assessments.4Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Statutory Court Surcharges and Assessments Expect anything above a $100 base to land between $250 and $400 total.
Can’t pay in full? Most Arizona courts set up interest-free payment plans, with a one-time $20 time-payment fee required by statute.
A conviction also adds 3 points to your MVD driving record. Accumulate 8 or more points in any 12-month period and you’ll be ordered to Traffic Survival School or face a license suspension.5Arizona Department of Transportation. Points Assessment Traffic Survival School is also automatically required for certain serious offenses regardless of your point count, including running red lights, wrong-way driving, aggressive driving, and any moving violation if you’re under 18.6Arizona Department of Transportation. Traffic Survival School
Then there’s insurance. Arizona drivers see an average rate increase of about 28% after a speeding conviction, and the higher rate typically holds for three to five years. The insurance cost usually dwarfs the ticket itself, which is the main reason to look hard at defensive driving school if you qualify.
What Criminal Speeding Costs
A conviction under A.R.S. 28-701.02 is a Class 3 misdemeanor: up to 30 days in jail and a fine up to $500 before surcharges.7Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-707 – Misdemeanors; Sentencing8Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-802 – Fines for Misdemeanors Add surcharges and the total runs considerably higher. The conviction also goes on your permanent criminal record, so it can surface on employment and housing background checks. You still take 3 points on your MVD record.
Criminal cases move through arraignment, a pre-trial conference, and potentially trial. Many are resolved at the pre-trial stage by negotiating the charge down to a civil violation, which removes the criminal record and jail exposure while leaving a fine. You have the right to a jury trial for criminal speeding, which you don’t have for a civil citation. If you’re facing this charge, a lawyer is worth the call.
Defensive Driving School
For eligible civil violations, this is almost always the best option. Finish the course and the citation is dismissed. No fine (beyond the course cost), no points, no insurance hit. It isn’t available for criminal charges.
You’re ineligible if:9Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-3392 – Defensive Driving School; Eligibility
- You attended defensive driving school for another citation in the past 12 months
- The violation involved serious injury or death
- You hold a CDL and were driving a commercial vehicle at the time
Standard civil speeding tickets qualify. One trap to avoid: in most courts, requesting a civil traffic hearing to contest the ticket forfeits the defensive driving school option. Pick your path before you respond.
You register with an Arizona Supreme Court-approved school, which checks your eligibility against the court database. The course runs about four to four and a half hours, online or in person, and must be finished at least seven full days before your court date.10Arizona Judicial Branch. Cost to Attend School Total cost varies by county but typically lands around $200 to $300, which is comparable to just paying the ticket but without the points or insurance consequences.
The Low-Speed Alternative: Waste of a Finite Resource
If you were clocked 10 mph or less over the limit, A.R.S. 28-702.01 allows the offense to be designated “waste of a finite resource” rather than speeding. The civil penalty is capped at $15 plus surcharges, no points go on your record, nothing is reported to MVD, and your insurer is legally prohibited from using it to raise your rates or cancel your policy.11Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-702.01 – Waste of a Finite Resource; Civil Penalties; Urbanized Areas; Definition
This applies on highways with posted limits of at least 30 mph outside urbanized areas or at least 40 mph inside urbanized areas. Courts and prosecutors don’t always offer it on their own; ask directly if your speed qualifies.
Contesting the Ticket
For a civil ticket, request a hearing before your appearance date. The case goes before a justice of the peace or a civil traffic hearing officer.12The Judicial Branch of Arizona. Civil Traffic Violation Forms and Kits No prosecutor appears for the state; you present your case against the citing officer’s evidence.13Pima County. Contest a Traffic Ticket and Request a Hearing The strongest defenses are usually technical: radar or lidar calibration problems, difficulty identifying your vehicle in traffic, or a speed measurement that doesn’t match the alleged violation. If the hearing officer finds you responsible, the fine imposed may differ from the amount on your original citation.
For criminal speeding, contesting means working through arraignment and a pre-trial conference, where most cases settle by plea to a lesser charge (often a civil speeding violation or waste of a finite resource). If no deal is reached, the state must prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Photo Radar Tickets Work Differently
If the ticket came in the mail from an automated speed camera, you are under no legal obligation to respond or identify the driver, and the mailed notice itself must say so.14Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-1602 – Photo Enforcement Violations; Law Enforcement Review The agency has 60 days to file the citation with the court, and once filed, you must be formally served within 90 days. If you’re never personally served inside that window, the ticket is dismissed.
Once you are served (by a process server, at your door, or by certified mail with a notice posted at your residence), the citation becomes a live court case and the same response options apply. Your driving privileges can’t be suspended for a photo enforcement citation served only through certified mail and door posting.14Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-1602 – Photo Enforcement Violations; Law Enforcement Review
If You’re Licensed in Another State
Arizona is a member of the Driver License Compact and reports traffic convictions to your home state’s licensing agency.15CSG National Center for Interstate Compacts. Driver License Compact Your home state then treats the offense as if it happened there, applying its own points and penalties. Defensive driving school is open to out-of-state drivers for eligible civil violations, and because completing it dismisses the citation, nothing gets reported home. For non-residents, the math on taking the course is almost always favorable.
If You Hold a CDL
Driving your personal vehicle (one that only needs a Class D or M license) and not using it for commercial purposes? You can attend defensive driving school like any other driver.9Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-3392 – Defensive Driving School; Eligibility
Cited while driving a commercial motor vehicle? A court may still order defensive driving school as part of sentencing, but it cannot dismiss the conviction or keep it off your record. The conviction reports to MVD. Under federal rules, speeding 15 mph or more over the limit is a “serious traffic violation” for CDL holders, triggering a 60-day disqualification for a first offense and a 120-day disqualification for two serious violations within three years. A criminal speeding charge is especially dangerous for a CDL.
What Happens If You Just Ignore It
Miss the appearance date and the court enters a default judgment against you. That counts as a conviction, with the full fine, the points, and the insurance consequences you were trying to avoid in the first place. The court then notifies MVD, which can suspend your driving privileges until the matter is cleared. On a criminal speeding charge, a failure to appear can produce an arrest warrant.
Unpaid fines also get referred to collections, with additional fees piling on. Reinstating a suspended license costs more time and money than the ticket ever would have. Pay it, take the course, or fight it, but don’t let the deadline pass.