How much is a speeding ticket in Arkansas?
up to $175cap only
15 mph over the limit, first offense, state-law charge in district court — the full arithmetic is on this page.
Arkansas has no statewide fine amount for ordinary speeding: each local court sets its own schedule. What IS uniform statewide — the caps, the mandatory add-ons, the points — is decomposed on this page, and where only your court can name the final figure, the page says so instead of inventing one. For 15 mph over the limit, the all-in figure is up to $175. What raises it: highway work zone (signed, construction personnel present); school zone (violating §27-51-212 school-zone limits); passenger under 18, speeding 20+ mph over. Points: The Office of Driver Services assesses 3 to 8 points for speeding by mph over the limit: 3 points up to 10 over, 4 points at 11–14 and 16–20 over, 5 points at 21–30 over, 8 points at 31 and above. A separate charge code, 'speeding 15 mph or more above the limit' without an exact tier, carries 5 points. Every row on this page carries its citation — 8 primary sources (statute text, court fine schedules, DMV publications), each with a retrieval date, plus the local-variation caveat that applies in Arkansas. This is a reference to what the law and the schedules print; it is not legal advice.
How Arkansas sets it Arkansas's traffic act caps a first speeding conviction's fine at $100 with no mph tiers — each district court publishes its own fine schedule within that cap. The cost side, unusually, IS uniform: state law fixes court costs for a traffic offense at $75 in every circuit and district court and forbids courts to add other costs unless another statute specifically provides one. So a first-offense state-law speeding ticket is the court's fine (up to $100) plus $75, before any separately authorized add-on.
The fine, tier by tier
| Speed over the limit | Base fine | What you actually owe | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any speed over the limit (statute prints no mph fine tiers) | up to $100 cap only | up to $175 cap only | A.C.A. §27-50-305(b)(1); §16-10-305(a)(3) First-conviction cap: a fine of not more than $100 or up to 10 days. Within one year, a second conviction is capped at $200 (or 20 days, or both) and a third or subsequent at $500 (or 6 months, or both). The $175 total ceiling shown is the first-conviction fine cap plus the uniform $75 traffic court cost; separately authorized add-ons (e.g., the $5 minor-passenger fine at 20+ over, installment fees) can exceed it, and school-zone and work-zone cases follow their own provisions. |
- state-set state law or a statewide schedule fixes this number.
- cap only the statute sets a ceiling; the court picks the amount within it.
- court-set no statewide number exists — the local court’s schedule decides.
The mandatory add-ons
These attach on top of whatever fine the court sets:
| Add-on | How it is computed | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Uniform court costs (traffic offense) | $75 flat in circuit court or district court for a traffic offense that is a misdemeanor or violation under state law or local ordinance, levied on each conviction, guilty/nolo plea, or bond forfeiture; §16-10-305(d) bars any other court costs unless specifically provided by state law | A.C.A. §16-10-305(a)(3), (d) |
Worked example: 15 mph over the limit, first offense, state-law charge in district court
| Line | Amount | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Fine — set by the district court's schedule, statutory ceiling | $100 | A.C.A. §27-50-305(b)(1) |
| Uniform court costs (traffic offense) | $75 | A.C.A. §16-10-305(a)(3) |
| Where it lands | up to $175 cap only |
The fine line is a CEILING, not a price: each district court publishes its own schedule and sets the amount up to $100 for a first conviction. The $75 court cost is the same everywhere by statute, and the statute bars stacking further costs unless another law specifically provides one — so fine plus costs for a first offense tops out at $175. At 15 over there is no work-zone doubling, school-zone ladder, or minor-passenger add-on unless those circumstances are present.
What raises it
- Highway work zone (signed, construction personnel present). The judge assesses an additional fine equal to the fine imposed — doubling the fine — for a moving violation in a signed highway work zone with construction personnel present; the statute states that equivalent additional court costs under §16-10-305 are NOT assessed. (A.C.A. §27-50-408(b)(1)(A), (c)(1))
- School zone (violating §27-51-212 school-zone limits). A separate escalating penalty: first conviction $25–$100 or 1–10 days (or both); second within a year $50–$250 plus a 6-month license suspension; third or subsequent within a year $250–$1,000 plus a 1-year suspension. (A.C.A. §27-51-214)
- Passenger under 18, speeding 20+ mph over. An additional $5 fine attaches when the finder of fact determines the violation — reckless driving or speeding more than 20 mph over — was committed with a person under 18 as a passenger; remitted to the Arkansas Children's Advocacy Center Fund. (A.C.A. §27-51-217)
License points
The Office of Driver Services assesses 3 to 8 points for speeding by mph over the limit: 3 points up to 10 over, 4 points at 11–14 and 16–20 over, 5 points at 21–30 over, 8 points at 31 and above. A separate charge code, 'speeding 15 mph or more above the limit' without an exact tier, carries 5 points.
| Violation | Points |
|---|---|
| 01-05 over regulated or posted speed limit | 3 |
| 06-10 over regulated or posted speed limit | 3 |
| 11-14 over regulated or posted speed limit | 4 |
| Speeding 15 mph or more above limit (charge code without exact tier) | 5 |
| 16-20 over regulated or posted speed limit | 4 |
| 21-25 over regulated or posted speed limit | 5 |
| 26-30 over regulated or posted speed limit | 5 |
| 31-35 over regulated or posted speed limit | 8 |
| 36-40 over regulated or posted speed limit | 8 |
| 41+ over regulated or posted speed limit | 8 |
At 10 points the Office of Driver Services mails a warning letter; at 14 or more points a hearing is automatically scheduled, with probation or suspension among the outcomes, and failing to attend the hearing suspends the license automatically. (Arkansas DFA Driver Services, Driver Improvements)
Local variation — the honest caveat
Each district court publishes its own fine schedule within the statutory caps, so the fine on an identical ticket differs from one district to the next — but the $75 traffic court cost is uniform statewide, and §16-10-305(d) forbids courts and localities to invent additional costs beyond those state law specifically provides. City-ordinance speeding prosecutions follow the ordinance's own fine terms with the same $75 cost. (A.C.A. §16-10-305(a)(3), (d); §27-50-305)
- The DFA points table prints both exact-tier rows (11-14 = 4, 16-20 = 4) and a generic 'speeding 15 mph or more' code at 5 points; the rows are reproduced as published, quirk included.
- The $175 total ceiling is specific to a FIRST conviction on a state-law charge: repeat convictions raise the fine cap to $200/$500, and separately authorized amounts (work-zone doubling, school-zone ladder, $5 minor-passenger fine, installment-payment fees) sit outside it.
- §27-50-305 is codified as the penalty for the 1959 amendatory act; §27-51-201's history line (Acts 1959, No. 307, §33) places the speed-limit section within that act's coverage.
- Speeding is formally a misdemeanor with jail alternatives in the statute (10 days to 6 months depending on conviction count); the tables above describe only the money.
- Speed limits: 75 mph on rural four-lane divided controlled-access highways (70 for commercial vehicles), 65 mph on urban controlled-access highways, 30 mph in urban districts (A.C.A. §27-51-201(b), (c)).
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.
- A.C.A. §27-50-305 — Penalty for violation of 1959 amendatory act (2024 Arkansas Code, Justia mirror)
retrieved 2026-07-17 · 2024 Arkansas Code
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-50/subchapter-3/section-27-50-305/ - A.C.A. §16-10-305 — Court costs (2024 Arkansas Code, Justia mirror)
retrieved 2026-07-17 · 2024 Arkansas Code
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-2/chapter-10/subchapter-3/section-16-10-305/ - A.C.A. §27-51-201 — Limitations generally (2024 Arkansas Code, Justia mirror)
retrieved 2026-07-17 · 2024 Arkansas Code
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-2/section-27-51-201/ - A.C.A. §27-50-408 — Fines for moving traffic violations in a highway work zone (2024 Arkansas Code, Justia mirror)
retrieved 2026-07-17 · 2024 Arkansas Code
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-50/subchapter-4/section-27-50-408/ - A.C.A. §27-51-214 — Penalties for speeding in school zone (2024 Arkansas Code, Justia mirror)
retrieved 2026-07-17 · 2024 Arkansas Code
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-2/section-27-51-214/ - A.C.A. §27-51-217 — Additional fine for moving violations committed in presence of minor (2024 Arkansas Code, Justia mirror)
retrieved 2026-07-17 · 2024 Arkansas Code
https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-27/subtitle-4/chapter-51/subchapter-2/section-27-51-217/ - Arkansas DFA, Office of Driver Services — Violations and Points
retrieved 2026-07-17
https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/office/driver-services/driver-improvements/violations-and-points/ - Arkansas DFA, Office of Driver Services — Driver Improvements
retrieved 2026-07-17
https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/office/driver-services/driver-improvements/
This is not legal advice This page republishes what Arkansas'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.