Two Tickets, One Stop: The 2025 Rule That Lets One Course Clear Them All

Texas traffic stops routinely produce more than one citation — speeding plus expired registration, a red light plus no seatbelt. Until recently, defensive driving could dismiss exactly one of them, and the rest needed separate handling. That changed on September 1, 2025: under S.B. 296, every eligible charge arising from the same stop can now be dismissed with a single course completion (art. 45A.352(b)).

It's one of the most driver-friendly changes in years — and because it's recent, many court websites and most other guides don't mention it. Here's exactly how to use it.

The mechanics: when you request the course by your answer date, ask the court to apply the request to each eligible charge from the stop. Each charge must independently qualify — the same eligibility rules apply per charge, not per stop. You complete one 6-hour course, submit one certificate and one Type 3A record, and every qualifying charge is dismissed together.

The cost structure: you pay the court's costs per charge as usual, and the statute allows a separate administrative fee of up to $10 per dismissed offense (art. 45A.358). So two charges might run roughly double the court costs — but only one $28 course and one $12 driving record. Compared to the old world (one dismissal plus paying or deferring the second charge as a conviction risk), the savings are real, and the record protection doubles.

Timing note: the rule applies based on when you request, not when you were cited — any request made on or after September 1, 2025 gets the new treatment, even on an older ticket. Full background in our 2025 law changes guide.

Can ride along: any charge from the stop that would qualify for the course on its own — a second moving violation under the speed bars, a driver's seatbelt charge, a stop sign alongside the speeding.

Can't ride along — but have their own, often cheaper fixes:no insurance (mandatory dismissal with proof of coverage valid at the stop), expired registration ($20 fix-it dismissal), expired license ($20), and equipment defects ($10 repair-and-dismiss). The right play for a messy stop is usually parallel tracks: the course for the moving violations, the compliance statutes for the paperwork tickets.

Can't be fixed by anything on this page: charges excluded from the course entirely — 25+ mph over, work-zone-with-workers, school bus passing, accident-related charges. If one charge from your stop is excluded, the others can still use the course; the excluded one needs its own strategy.

Because the rule is new, don't assume the clerk will volunteer it. When you make your request, list every citation number from the stop and state that you're requesting the driving safety course for each eligible charge arising from the same criminal transaction under art. 45A.352(b). If a court's form only has room for one citation, attach a sheet listing the rest and confirm with the clerk that all are covered by the single course. Get the court's order confirming which charges are included before you take the course — that order is your protection if a charge gets missed.

The multi-charge rule makes the course the best value in Texas traffic law: $28 all-in, one 6-hour evening, every qualifying citation from the stop dismissed.