Iowa Traffic Ticket Fines and Costs

Iowa traffic ticket fines vary by violation but are the same throughout the state.

Some Iowa traffic tickets include the drivers’ fines. Look at your ticket for your fine. If you can’t find the fine:

• Look it up using the Iowa Courts Online Payment Search.
• Contact your Clerk of Court.
• Check to see if your ticket includes the word “non-scheduled” or “unscheduled.” If it does, you must make a mandatory court appearance. You’ll find out the costs then.

Can’t find your ticket to check? Head over to Lost IA Traffic Ticket.

Court Costs and Other Surcharges

Like traffic ticket fines, court costs are the same throughout the state.

Any court costs applicable to you will be included on your ticket, within the online payment search, or made known during your court appearance.

You can contact the court ahead of time for this information, too.

OWI Surcharges

OWI surcharges are the same throughout Iowa:

• First Offense: Up to $1,000.
• Second Offense: Between $1,500 and $5,000.
• Third Offense: Between $2,500 and $7,500.

Surcharges are only the beginning. Depending on the offense, OWI convictions carry jail time, {Suspended License} license suspension}, education courses, evaluation and treatment programs, and ignition interlock devices.

Refer to IA OWI for more information.

License Reinstatement

License suspended due to OWI? You must pay a $200 license reinstatement fee, considered a civil penalty.

Driver Improvement School Costs

Your judge or the DOT will require you to attend a driver improvement school if:

• You’re found guilty of speeding 25 miles or more over the speed limit.
• You accumulate three moving violations within a 12-month period.

You’ll pay the school, not the judge or DOT, but this cost is in addition to all other fines and penalties associated with the violation.

Learn more about IA Driver Improvement School.

Auto Insurance Rate Increase

It’s not too far off the mark to think of increased auto insurance rates as just one more violation-related cost you have to deal with.

Fortunately, you might not have to deal with it.

Contact your agent about how pleading or being found guilty of traffic ticket violation will affect your rates. If you find out they’ll be higher the next time you renew your policy, start comparing car insurance rates online to find a more affordable plan.

Iowa Traffic Ticket Penalties

The DOT can suspend, revoke, bar, or cancel your license for a variety of violations.

IA Driver’s License Suspension, Revocation, and Cancellation

License Suspension: A license suspension is a temporary loss of driving privileges. Sometimes this is a predetermined amount of time, and sometimes it only lasts as long as it takes you to meet whatever reinstatement requirements the DOT or judge sets forth. Some suspensions require both waiting a certain time period and meeting reinstatement requirements.

License Revocation: Revocations are similar to suspensions, but usually the last longer and have more stringent reinstatement requirements.

License Bar: Your license becomes barred if the Iowa DOT deems you a habitual offender (see below). Like revocations, license bars tend to last longer than suspensions.

License Cancellation: The DOT will cancel a driver’s license if it deems the driver was ineligible to receive a license.

Section Four (“Protecting Your Driving Privileges”) of Iowa Driver’s Manual outlines reasons the state will suspend, revoke, bar, or cancel a driver’s license.

Examples include:

License Suspension

• Being deemed a habitual violator.
• Failing to pay a traffic ticket, court costs, or other fines related to a citation.
• Failing to pass an exam or having a mental or physical condition making you unfit for driving.
• Excessive speeding.
• Committing a violation involving a fatality.

License Revocation

• Manslaughter involving a motor vehicle.
• Commission of a felony with a motor vehicle.
• Failure to stop and render aid at an accident scene involving yourself.
• Eluding or trying to elude a police officer.
• OWI-related violations.

License Bar

The IA DOT’s point system is in place mostly for habitual offender and insurance purposes, and if you commit certain offenses and accumulate a certain number of points, the DOT bars your license.

The following schedule outlines each point accumulation’s length of suspension:

• 6-7: Two years.
• 8-9: Three years.
• 10-12: Four years.
• 13-15: Five years.
• 16 or more: Six years.

Get more details, including how many points certain violations carry, at IA Point System.

License Cancellation

The state will cancel any license that―for eligibility issues―should have never been issued.

Penalties for Drivers Younger than 21

Any driver younger than 21 who operates a motor vehicle with a BAC of 0.02% or higher is considered operating while intoxicated (OWI) per the state’s Zero Tolerance Law.

• First Offense: 60-day suspension.
• Subsequent Offenses: 90-day suspension.

Drivers who refuse chemical testing?

• First Offense: One-year revocation.
• Subsequent Offenses: Two-year revocation.

NOTE: Drivers who submit to chemical testing are eligible for a 10-day temporary driving permit; those who don’t submit are ineligible.

Understand that these are just the suspension- and revocation-related penalties. Refer to IA OWI for more information.

Younger than 18

Drivers with graduated driver’s licenses (the instruction permits and intermediate licenses that come before a full driver’s license) must maintain crash- and violation-free periods before they can move on to the next license.

• Instruction Permit: Stay crash- and violation-free for six months before moving on to the intermediate license.
• Intermediate License: Stay crash- and violation-free for 12 months before moving on to the intermediate license.

Get a traffic ticket conviction, and you’ll have to restart the whole period.

Penalties for Iowa Commercial Drivers

CDL drivers must notify their employers within 30 days of receiving their citations.

The following are federally mandated CDL driver penalties from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA):

Major Offenses

Expect a one-year suspension or disqualification if you’re convicted of any of the following major offenses.

• Operating any vehicle with a BAC of 0.08% or higher.
• Operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) with a BAC of 0.04%.
• Refusing to take a sobriety test.
• Leaving the scene of an accident.
• Committing a felony with the vehicle.
• Operating a CMV with a suspended, revoked, or canceled CDL.
• Negligent driving that results in fatality.

Serious Offenses

The following are considered serious offenses:

• Speeding 15 miles or more over the limit.
• Reckless driving.
• Improper lane changing.
• Driving too closely behind another vehicle.
• Operating a CMV without having a CDL.
• Operating a CMV without having your CDL in your possession.
• Operating a CMV without the proper CDL endorsement.
• Violating a state law of texting while driving.

For:

• Second convictions, you’ll lose your license for 60 days.
• Third convictions, you’ll lose your license for 120 days.

CDL Disqualifications

Expect license suspension or disqualification for anywhere from 180 days to one year if you violate a driver or vehicle out-of-service order:

• While transporting nonhazardous materials.
• While transporting hazardous materials required to be placarded, or while driving a vehicle designed to transport 16 or more passengers.

The FMCSA’s Rules and Regulations fully outlines CDL driver penalties. Don’t forget to check out the Iowa Commercial Driver License Manual, too.