Tennessee Added a New Way to Remove Speeding Points. Here’s Which One Applies to You.
If you got a speeding ticket in Tennessee, there are now two different ways a driving course can help you, and which one you’re on depends entirely on your court.
That’s new as of July 1, 2026, and it’s causing some confusion. So let me lay both out.
I run an online 4-hour driver education course, and I’ve spent the last few weeks on the phone with clerks around the state. Some counties have moved to the new process. Plenty haven’t. Both are legitimate right now.
Route 1: Your court sent you to a driver education course
This is the process most Tennessee drivers have used for years, and it’s still running.
You go to court, or you contact the clerk, and the court gives you the option to take a driver education course. Sometimes it’s a diversion arrangement where finishing the course gets your citation dismissed. Sometimes a judge orders it as part of your sentence. Either way, the court is involved from the start and the court is who you answer to.
If that’s your situation, nothing has changed for you. You take an approved 4-hour course, you download your certificate, and you turn it in to the court by whatever deadline they gave you. The clerk handles it from there.
Most of the people who call me are still in this category. If a clerk or a judge told you to take a course, follow their instructions and ignore everything in the next section.
Route 2: You’re paying the fine and want the points off your record
This is the part that’s new.
Tennessee Public Chapter 993 took effect July 1, 2026. It came out of HB1891 and its companion SB2114, and it amends Title 55 of the Tennessee code.
What it does: if you pay your speeding fine and court costs instead of appearing in court, you can now sign up for an approved online driver education course on your own and get points removed from your record. No court appearance. No asking a judge for permission. No application through the clerk.
Before this, mailing in your payment was a dead end. You paid, you ate the points, done. Point removal was only for people who showed up and got permission. That’s no longer true.
The catch is that the court is completely out of it. You register yourself, you finish the course yourself, and you send the paperwork to the Department of Safety yourself. Nobody is going to check your work or remind you.
What point removal actually gets you
I want to be clear about this because people get their hopes up and then get frustrated with me later.
You get up to 5 points removed from your Tennessee driving record.
You do not get the ticket dismissed. The conviction stays. Your insurance company can still see it. That’s different from a diversion arrangement through the court, where dismissal is sometimes on the table.
If 5 points sounds small, think about what points actually do. Tennessee starts sending warning letters at 6 points in a 12-month period, and 12 points can put you into suspension proceedings. A single speeding conviction runs anywhere from 1 to 8 points depending on how fast you were going. Clearing 5 is often the difference between a letter in the mail and a hearing you have to attend.
A few limits worth knowing:
- You have 90 days from the date of conviction to finish. For a mail-in payment, that’s the date the court enters it, not the day you dropped the envelope. Don’t sit on this.
- It’s a 4-hour course. The 8-hour version is a separate program for Driver Improvement referrals.
- You can use it once every four years. Save it for a ticket that actually costs you something.
Why your county might be handling this differently
Knox County has gone all in on the new process. Their clerk’s office told me directly that they no longer take applications for the driver improvement program, no longer refer anyone to a judge for permission, and no longer submit anything to the Department of Safety on a driver’s behalf. They take your payment and hand you information. Anything already in progress as of August 1, 2026 finishes under the old rules. Everything after that is on the driver.
Other counties are still running the old way. Their clerks still want your certificate at the window, still track completion, and still handle the diversion side. That’s fine. The law added an option for people paying fines by mail. It didn’t take anything away from courts that want to keep managing the process themselves.
So you’ll get different answers depending on where your ticket came from, and both answers can be correct.
One question sorts it out. Call the clerk’s office and ask: “Do I turn my completion certificate in to you, or do I send it to the Department of Safety?” Whatever they say, that’s your answer.
How to remove speeding points on your own, step by step
- Pay your fine and court costs. This starts your 90-day clock.
- Pick a course from the state’s approved list. The Department of Safety publishes it. If a provider isn’t on that list, your certificate is worth nothing. Ours is on it, along with a couple dozen others.
- Finish the 4-hour course inside 90 days. Online courses save your progress, so you can knock it out in pieces.
- Send your certificate to the Department of Safety. Upload it through the state’s e-Services portal, which is faster, or mail it to the Financial Responsibility Division, P.O. Box 945, Nashville, TN 37202-0945.
- Keep a copy. Paperwork gets lost. Yours wouldn’t be the first.
The mistake I’d worry about
Sending your certificate to the wrong place.
If your court is still handling driver improvement and you mail your certificate to Nashville instead, the court never sees it and your diversion doesn’t get credited. If your court has stepped out and you hand your certificate to a clerk who isn’t processing them anymore, it goes in a drawer and your points stay right where they are.
Same certificate, same course, completely different outcome depending on where it lands. That’s why the phone call is worth five minutes.
Take the state-approved 4-hour course for $25
Tennessee Driver Education is approved by the Tennessee Department of Safety, and the course works for both routes. It’s fully online, it saves your progress, and your certificate is available to download the second you finish.
Not sure which pile you’re in? Call me at 423-443-5512 and I’ll help you figure it out.
Register for the CourseFrequently asked questions
How many points can a driver education course remove in Tennessee?
Up to 5 points for a speeding conviction. The conviction itself stays on your record.
How long do I have to complete the course?
90 days from the date of your speeding conviction. If you paid by mail, that’s the date the court entered it, not the date you mailed the payment.
Do I send my certificate to the court or to the Department of Safety?
Depends on your court. If a court or judge ordered the course, turn it in to the court. If you paid your fine without appearing and you’re removing points on your own under Public Chapter 993, send it to the Department of Safety. Call your clerk’s office and ask which one applies to you.
How often can I do this?
Once every four years. It may be applied to only one speeding conviction in a four-year period.
Tennessee speeding ticket driving record points Public Chapter 993 defensive driving course traffic school Tennessee law update driver improvement program
Sources:
TN Dept. of Safety – Remove Speeding Points ·
TN HB1891 / Public Chapter 993 ·
Knox County Criminal Court – Driver Education
Tennessee Driver Education is a state-approved course provider, not a law firm. This article explains the process, not legal advice about your individual case.
