Traffic Fine Lookup

How much is a speeding ticket in Alabama?

amounts written into the statute · 2 tiers · every row cited · sources retrieved 2026-07-17

set by the local courtcourt-set

15 mph over the limit, first offense, paid by pleading guilty before a magistrate — the full arithmetic is on this page.

Alabama writes speeding fines into state law itself — Less than 25 mph over: set by the local court · 25 mph or more over: set by the local court. Where mandatory surcharges attach on top, this page itemizes them with their statutes. For 15 mph over the limit, the honest answer is set by the local court — the page decomposes what is knowable statewide instead of inventing a total. What raises it: construction zone offenses; repeat convictions within one year. Points: Speeding 1 to 25 mph over the limit carries 2 points; 26 or more mph over carries 5 points. Every row on this page carries its citation — 4 primary sources (statute text, court fine schedules, DMV publications), each with a retrieval date, plus the local-variation caveat that applies in Alabama. This is a reference to what the law and the schedules print; it is not legal advice.

How Alabama sets it Alabama's statute caps a first speeding conviction's fine at $100 — but for the ordinary payable ticket the fine is actually fixed statewide, and it is tiny: the Supreme Court's Rule 20 magistrate schedule sets $20 for speeding less than 25 mph over and $40 for 25 or more over, for anyone who pleads guilty before a magistrate in district or municipal court. The real money is court costs, which are built from statewide docket fees plus county-specific local-act fees and therefore differ county to county — Mobile County's published totals are $189 and $209 for those same two tiers.

The fine, tier by tier

Speeding fines in Alabama by speed over the limit. “Base fine” is what the statute or schedule names; “what you actually owe” includes the mandatory add-ons where state law fixes them.
Speed over the limit Base fine What you actually owe Citation
Less than 25 mph over the limit $20 state-set set by the local court court-set Ala. R. Jud. Admin. 20(A); Ala. Code §32-5A-8(b)

$20 is the statewide fine when the defendant elects to plead guilty before a magistrate (the payable-ticket path). A defendant sentenced by a judge instead faces the §32-5A-8 caps: up to $100 for a first conviction, $200 for a second within a year, $500 for a third. Court costs attach either way and vary by county.
25 mph or more over the limit $40 state-set set by the local court court-set Ala. R. Jud. Admin. 20(A); Ala. Code §32-5A-8(b)

$40 on the statewide magistrate schedule; the same §32-5A-8 judge-sentencing caps and county-varying costs apply. Mobile County's district court additionally publishes higher payable totals for absolute speeds of 90+ mph — a local practice, not a statewide tier.

The mandatory add-ons

These attach on top of whatever fine the court sets:

Add-on How it is computed Citation
Court costs and fees (county-assembled) Built from statewide docket fees plus county-specific fees enacted by local acts; no single statewide amount exists. Mobile County's published payable totals imply $169 in costs on top of the $20/$40 fines ($189 and $209 all-in). Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Mobile County) traffic court costs schedule

Worked example: 15 mph over the limit, first offense, paid by pleading guilty before a magistrate

Line Amount Citation
Fine — statewide Rule 20 magistrate schedule (less than 25 over) $20 Ala. R. Jud. Admin. 20(A)
Where it lands set by the local court court-set

The fine itself is $20 everywhere in Alabama for a magistrate guilty plea at 15 over — Rule 20(A) says the scheduled fine "shall apply" in both district and municipal court. But the payment total is dominated by court costs assembled from statewide docket fees plus county local-act fees, and those differ by county: Mobile County publishes $189 as the all-in payable amount for speeding less than 25 over. There is no statewide total to print, so this page does not print one.

What raises it

License points

Speeding 1 to 25 mph over the limit carries 2 points; 26 or more mph over carries 5 points.

Violation Points
Speeding (1 to 25 mph over speed limit) 2
Speeding (26 or more mph over speed limit) 5

Suspension by accumulation in a 2-year period: 12–14 points, 60 days; 15–17 points, 90 days; 18–20 points, 120 days; 21–23 points, 180 days; 24 and above, 365 days. A conviction older than 2 years loses its point count for suspension purposes but stays on the record. (ALEA Driver License Point System)

Local variation — the honest caveat

The fine is uniform statewide (Rule 20's magistrate schedule binds district and municipal courts for listed traffic offenses), but court costs are not: each county's cost package mixes statewide docket fees with fees created by county-specific local acts, so the payable total differs county to county. Mobile County publishes $189 (less than 25 over) and $209 (25+ over); Colbert County publishes its own schedule. Municipal courts may also adopt approved local schedules for offenses beyond the statewide traffic list. (Ala. R. Jud. Admin. 20(A)-(D); Mobile County traffic court costs schedule)

Sources

Every figure above was compiled from these sources, with a verbatim quote of the sentence carrying each number stored in the dataset so any row can be re-checked against its origin.

This is not legal advice This page republishes what Alabama's statutes, court fine schedules, and driver-licensing publications print, for reference. Amounts change on legislative cycles, and the court named on a citation is the authority on what is owed in that court. Nothing here is advice about any citation or case.