Defensive Driving School

  Saves on insurance premiums and may help clear your criminal record.

Have you ever driven while demonstrating an unsafe lane change, not wearing a seatbelt, driven on the shoulder of the freeway, or perhaps driven above the speed limit?  Since we are all human, I feel we can all safely say yes.  Yes, I have done one, some, or all these things. Some of us, though, are lucky enough to say that I have never been sighted by a Police Officer, Sheriff, or Department of Public Safety/DPS. Others are not as lucky.

For the unlucky ones, are you aware of your right to request to take Defensive Driving School, DDS, instead of paying the fine or accepting a guilty plea?

You have options for driving offenses that are eligible for DDS. You are eligible; if you have not taken a DDS course in the last 12 months, you do not hold a Commercial Driver’s License/CDL, and you are requesting to take the class for one violation, not multiple. What this means is that if you received a citation for both speeding and an unsafe lane change, for example, you may take the course for one of the citations received at the time, but not both.

You do not qualify for DDS if your driving violation caused injury or death, which means that the incident cannot have caused a serious accident or death, or you hold a CDL. If the judge allows DDS, you must complete the course 7 days prior to the deadline that the Judge granted. In my experience, litigants will request DDS, and once granted, a large percentage of them fail to complete the course at the appointed deadline, which then results in them paying the original fine or having a civil penalty assessed. A civil penalty means that points can be assessed on your driver’s license through the Motor Vehicle Department/MVD, which may cause your insurance premium to increase.  If you are cited for a criminal speeding violation, it will result in getting a criminal record, A Class 1, 2, or 3 misdemeanor.  At present, the State of Arizona does not expunge criminal misdemeanor charges; you will have a criminal record for the remainder of your life.

If you complete DDS, you’ve put yourself in a great position. Your violation is dismissed, and no points are added to your driving record. You also avoid paying fines to the court. You also get to keep your money in your pocket for that Latte, new pair of shoes, or to buy those much-needed groceries for your family.

On many occasions, before allowing DDS as a diversion, I will require the litigant to write an essay on how a criminal record will affect their lives. This essay must be written from their personal experience. I have enclosed three essays that express how a criminal record may affect the personal lives of each individual and what they have learned.

You can find more information on your rights, @https://justicecourts.marcioap.gov.

This article is written by,

Judge, Sharron L. Sauls, Presiding Judge of the Kyrene Justice Court

Jude Sauls, a resident of the Phoenix, Arizona area, is a local author and has served as Justice of the Peace for the Kyrene Justice Court for 7 years. She is currently up for reelection.  Primary elections take place on July 21, 2026