El Paso County · TDLR CP018
Defensive driving for a El Paso ticket. Six hours, online, TDLR-approved.
Cited in El Paso? 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 El Paso Municipal Court and what it asks for.
What El Paso 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 | Before your scheduled hearing, or before the judge on your court date. |
|---|---|
| Time to complete | 90 days to complete the course and submit your documents. |
| Court costs | Court costs plus an administration fee; the court does not publish the amount online. |
| Where | 810 E. Overland Avenue, El Paso, TX 79901 |
| Phone | 915-212-0215 |
What to submit
- A copy of your Type 3A certified driving record from the Texas Department of Public Safety
- The TDLR court-copy certificate of completion
- Proof of car insurance
Does El Paso want your driving record?
Yes, and this court spells it out. El Paso Municipal Court lists the driving record in its own published requirements, above. That matches Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 45A.356(a), which has you present both (a)(1) your certificate of completion and (a)(2) your Department of Public Safety driving record. 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.
What this court will not allow
- Under 17, or without a valid Texas license, active military status or military family credentials
- Holding a commercial driver license
- A safety course taken for a traffic violation in the past 12 months
- Speeding 25 mph over the limit, reckless driving, fleeing police, leaving an accident scene
- Passing a school bus, a construction-zone offense with workers present, or passing emergency vehicles
Worth knowing about El Paso specifically
El Paso names the Type 3A certified driving record explicitly in its own list of required documents. That is the court telling you, in writing, that the certificate alone is not enough.
Source: El Paso Municipal Court.
If your citation was written outside the El Paso city limits, it will be heard by a El Paso County justice of the peace rather than the municipal court. See El Paso 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 El Paso 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
For El Paso: 90 days to complete the course and submit your documents.
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.