Tarrant County · TDLR CP018
Defensive driving for a Arlington ticket. Six hours, online, TDLR-approved.
Cited in Arlington? Our course is approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for use anywhere in Texas. What changes from city to city is the court, so this page is about Arlington Municipal Court and what it asks for.
What Arlington Municipal Court asks for
Verified against the court's own page on . Courts change their procedures, so confirm anything below with the clerk before you rely on it.
| Deadline to ask | Within 30 days of receiving the citation. Arlington is explicit that you are given an APPEARANCE date, not a court date, and that you must appear in person or by mail inside that window. |
|---|---|
| Where | 101 S. Mesquite Street, Arlington, TX 76010 |
| Phone | 817-459-6777 |
What to submit
- A plea entered through the court's online services portal, by mail or in person
Does Arlington want your driving record?
Plan on yes. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 45A.356(a) has you present both (a)(1) your certificate of completion and (a)(2) your Department of Public Safety driving record. Arlington Municipal Court does not spell the record out in the requirements we could verify from its own page, but the statute is not specific to a city. The statute qualifies the record with "if any", and a judge may instead proceed under art. 45A.359, in which case the court will not ask you for one. Your court clerk is the authority on your own case.
Worth knowing about Arlington specifically
Arlington's own portal carries a warning worth reading twice: if you do not see an option to keep the citation off your driving record, paying it online counts as a conviction and is reported. Paying the ticket is not the same as asking for the course.
Arlington adds a 2% credit card fee to every transaction, online AND in person. Check or cash avoid it, but the court asks you not to mail cash.
Deadlines and the court costs themselves are published on neither the portal nor the court's Options page, so call the clerk on 817-459-6777 before you rely on any figure you find elsewhere.
Arlington lists the driving safety course as one of ten ways to answer a citation, alongside deferred disposition, compliance dismissals and a 30-day extension to pay. Asking for the course is a distinct choice you have to make, not the default.
The clerk's office is at 101 S. Mesquite Street and is open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. -- earlier than most Texas municipal courts.
A deferred-disposition reduced fee is paid through a DIFFERENT vendor (AllPaid, at govpayconnect.com) from the portal that takes ordinary citation payments. Paying in the wrong place is a real risk here.
Calling the court or sending a fax does NOT count as appearing. Arlington says so in as many words, and the 30 days runs regardless.
Arlington is a Safe Harbor Court: it states you may come in at any time to deal with outstanding cases without fear of arrest on a warrant the Arlington court itself issued. Few Texas city courts say this, and it is the reason a person who has let a citation lapse can still walk in.
In the court's own framing there are exactly two ways to keep the offense off your record: deferred disposition, or a driving safety class. Paying online is neither -- Arlington counts an online or telephone payment as a no-contest plea, enters it as a guilty judgment, and reports it to DPS as a conviction.
Source: Arlington Municipal Court.
If your citation was written outside the Arlington city limits, it will be heard by a Tarrant County justice of the peace rather than the municipal court. See Tarrant County's justice courts. The procedure is the same statute either way.
You need two documents, not one
The court asks for your certificate of completion and a certified Type 3A driving record. We can send you both, in one order.
Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 45A.356(a) names them together: (a)(1) your uniform certificate of completion, and (a)(2) a copy of your driving record showing you have not completed a driving safety course for dismissal in the previous 12 months. They are consecutive items in the same subsection.
- Document 1 Certificate of completion Issued the moment you finish the six-hour course, with nothing extra to pay for it. Comes with the course
- Document 2 Certified Type 3A driving record We place the order with DPS for you after checkout, and Type 3A is the only record type DPS allows for a driving safety course. Added to your order
Buy the course on its own and the clerk can still send you back for the record. Ordering both now means there is no second order to place later.
The statute qualifies the record with "if any", and a judge may instead proceed under art. 45A.359, in which case the court will not ask you for one. Your court clerk is the authority on your own case.
Course + Type 3A driving record
Both documents in one order for your Arlington citation: the six-hour approved course and the certified DPS record you have to file with it.
Course only
The approved six-hour course on its own, only if you already hold your Type 3A record.
Driving record only
The certified Type 3A record, ordered from DPS on your behalf.
How it works, wherever you were cited
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Ask the court first
Enter a plea of no contest or guilty by the date on your citation and request a driving safety course. Taking the course before the court grants it does not qualify you.
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Complete the six hours
Online, at your own pace, on any device. Six hours is the TDLR minimum, so no approved provider can offer shorter.
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Order your Type 3A record
The certified DPS record is the second document the court needs. It is the only record type DPS permits for a driving safety course.
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File both with the court in time
Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 45A.352 allows a 90-day period, but your court sets your actual date, so get it from the clerk in writing.
Dismissal is the court's decision, not ours. We are accountable for a TDLR-approved course and a valid certificate on time. Source: Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 45A.352.