(a)  It is a misdemeanor for any person to violate any of the provisions of this act or rules and regulations authorized under this act unless the violation is by this act or other law of this state declared to be a felony.

(b)  Every person convicted of a misdemeanor for a violation of any of the provisions of this act or rules and regulations authorized under this act for which another penalty is not provided shall:

(i)  For a first conviction be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00);

(ii)  For a second conviction of the same offense within one (1) year thereafter, be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars ($300.00);

(iii)  For a third or subsequent conviction of the same offense within one (1) year after the first conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both.

(c)  Evidence of a prior conviction or convictions under subsection (a) of this section shall not be introduced during the trial of any case, but shall be introduced only after the completion of the trial for the purpose of determining the penalty to be imposed upon a conviction hereunder.

(d)  Except as provided in subsection (g) of this section:

(i)  Repealed by Laws 2018, ch. 117, § 2.

(ii)  Repealed by Laws 2018, ch. 117, § 2.

(iii)  Repealed by Laws 2018, ch. 117, § 2.

(iv)  Convictions shall not be considered pursuant to W.S. 31-7-129(a)(i) for driver license suspensions for speeding violations of less than eighty (80) miles per hour where the posted speed limit is at least sixty-five (65) miles per hour or less than six (6) miles per hour over the posted speed limit in all other instances and zones, except speeding violations in school zones, or construction zones;

(v)  Notwithstanding W.S. 5-9-107, court fees and costs for violations of W.S. 31-5-301(b) or (c) and the training fee imposed under subsection (h) of this section shall not be assessed for speeds through five (5) miles per hour over the speed limits authorized by W.S. 31-5-301(b) or (c);

(vi)  Except for violations in construction or school zones, every person convicted of a violation of W.S. 31-5-301(b)(iii), (iv), (vi), (vii) or (c):

(A)  For speeds less than six (6) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined five dollars ($5.00) for each mile per hour in excess of the legal speed limit not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00);

(B)  For speeds six (6) through ten (10) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined thirty dollars ($30.00) plus two dollars ($2.00) for each mile per hour in excess of five (5) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs;

(C)  For speeds eleven (11) through twenty (20) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined forty-five dollars ($45.00) plus five dollars ($5.00) for each mile per hour in excess of ten (10) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs;

(D)  For speeds more than twenty (20) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined ninety-five dollars ($95.00) plus five dollars ($5.00) for each mile per hour in excess of twenty (20) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs.

(vii)  Every person convicted of a violation of W.S. 31-5-301(b)(ii) or speeding in a construction zone:

(A)  For speeds less than six (6) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined sixty-five dollars ($65.00) plus two dollars ($2.00) for each mile per hour in excess of the legal speed limit;

(B)  For speeds six (6) through ten (10) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined forty dollars ($40.00) plus seven dollars ($7.00) for each mile per hour in excess of five (5) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs;

(C)  For speeds eleven (11) through twenty (20) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined ninety-five dollars ($95.00) plus seven dollars ($7.00) for each mile per hour in excess of ten (10) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs;

(D)  For speeds more than twenty (20) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined one hundred ninety-five dollars ($195.00) plus seven dollars ($7.00) for each mile per hour in excess of twenty (20) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs.

(viii)  Every person convicted of a violation of speeding in a school zone under W.S. 31-5-301(b)(i):

(A)  For speeds less than six (6) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined fifty dollars ($50.00) plus two dollars ($2.00) for each mile per hour in excess of the legal speed limit;

(B)  For speeds six (6) through ten (10) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined ninety-five dollars ($95.00) plus ten dollars ($10.00) for each mile per hour in excess of five (5) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs;

(C)  For speeds more than ten (10) miles per hour over the legal speed limit, shall be fined two hundred dollars ($200.00) plus ten dollars ($10.00) for each mile per hour in excess of ten (10) miles per hour over the legal speed limit plus assessed fees and costs;

(D)  Upon any subsequent conviction of exceeding the legal speed limit in a school zone as provided in W.S. 31-5-301(b)(i) by more than ten (10) miles per hour within one (1) year, a person shall be fined not less than three hundred ninety-five dollars ($395.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) plus assessed fees and costs.

(e)  Any person convicted of a violation of W.S. 31-5-507(a) shall be fined not less than one hundred ninety-five dollars ($195.00) nor more than seven hundred forty-five dollars ($745.00) plus assessed fees and costs. Upon any subsequent conviction of a violation of W.S. 31-5-507(a) within one (1) year, a person shall be fined not less than three hundred ninety-five dollars ($395.00) nor more than nine hundred ninety-five dollars ($995.00) plus assessed fees and costs.

(f)  Any person convicted of violating W.S. 31-5-229 shall be punished by a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both.

(g)  In addition to any other penalty, every person convicted of violating W.S. 31-5-301(b), (c) or 31-5-302 by exceeding the legal speed limit by six (6) or more miles per hour while operating a vehicle or combination of vehicles with a gross vehicle weight or gross vehicle weight rating exceeding thirty-nine thousand (39,000) pounds shall be fined two hundred ninety-five dollars ($295.00) plus assessed fees and costs.

(h)  Every person convicted of a violation for which a fine or penalty is set forth under this section shall have imposed in addition to the prescribed fine or penalty and any court fees a police officer continuing education and training fee of five dollars ($5.00) except as provided in paragraph (d)(v) of this section. The fee shall be for police officer as defined in W.S. 31-5-102(a)(xxxiii) continuing education and training that complies with standards promulgated by the peace officers standards and training commission and shall be remitted as provided by W.S. 5-3-205(a)(iii) and 5-9-144 to the account in the enterprise fund under W.S. 9-1-633(n).

(j)  Any person convicted of a misdemeanor for a violation of any of the provisions under W.S. 31-5-1102 through 31-5-1108 shall:

(i)  For a first conviction be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00), by imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) days, or both;

(ii)  For a second conviction of the same offense within one (1) year thereafter, be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars ($300.00) or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days, or both;

(iii)  For a third or subsequent conviction of the same offense within one (1) year after the first conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both.

(a)  The authority of a police officer to make an arrest is the same as upon an arrest for a felony when the officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the person arrested has committed any of the following offenses and the manner of making arrests shall be as in misdemeanor cases:

(i)  Negligent homicide or homicide by vehicle;

(ii)  Driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or any substance as prohibited by W.S. 31-5-233;

(iii)  Failure to stop, failure to give information or failure to render reasonable assistance, in the event of an accident resulting in death or personal injuries as prescribed in W.S. 31-5-1101 and 31-5-1103;

(iv)  Failure to stop or give information in the event of an accident resulting in damage to a vehicle or other property as prescribed in W.S. 31-5-1102 through 31-5-1104;

(v)  Reckless driving;

(vi)  Racing on the highway; or

(vii)  Willfully fleeing from or attempting to elude a police officer.

(b)  Whenever any person is arrested as authorized in this section he shall be taken without unnecessary delay before the proper court as specified in W.S. 31-5-1205(g), except that in the case of any of the offenses designated in paragraphs (a)(iv) through (vii) of this section, a police officer shall have the same discretion as is provided in other cases in subsection (d) of this section.

(c)  Whenever any person is halted by a police officer for any violation of this act, he shall be taken without unnecessary delay before the proper court as specified in W.S. 31-5-1205(g), in any of the following cases:

(i)  When the person demands an immediate appearance before a judge; or

(ii)  In any other event when the person is issued a traffic citation by a police officer and refuses to give his promise to appear in court manifested by his refusal to accept the citation.

(d)  Whenever any person is halted by a police officer for any violation of this act and is not required to be taken before a court as provided by subsection (c) of this section, the person shall, in the discretion of the officer, either be given a traffic citation or be taken without unnecessary delay before the proper judge, as specified in W.S. 31-5-1205(g), in any of the following cases:

(i)  When the person does not furnish satisfactory evidence of identity or when the officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe the person will disregard a promise to appear in court;

(ii)  When the person is charged with a violation of W.S. 31-5-959, relating to vehicles transporting hazardous materials;

(iii)  When the person is charged with a violation of W.S. 31-18-804.

(e)  A police officer who arrests a nonresident of this state for any violation of this act may instead of issuing a traffic citation containing notice to appear in court, take the nonresident without unnecessary delay before the proper court, as specified in W.S. 31-5-1205(g) or pursuant to W.S. 31-5-1205(h) require that the bond be posted in accord with an adopted bond schedule and which may be accepted by the arresting officer for delivery to the court.

(a)  Whenever a person is halted by a police officer for any violation of this act punishable as a misdemeanor, and is not taken before a judge as required or permitted, the officer shall prepare a written traffic citation containing a notice to appear in court.

(b)  The time specified in the notice to appear must be at least five (5) days after the alleged violation unless the person charged with the violation demands an earlier hearing.

(c)  The place specified in the notice to appear must be before a judge as designated in subsection (g) of this section.

(d)  The person charged with the violation may give his promise to appear in court by accepting at least one (1) copy of the written traffic citation prepared by the officer, in which event the officer shall deliver a copy of the citation to the person, and thereupon, the officer shall not take the person into physical custody for the violation.

(e)  Any officer violating any of the provisions of this section is guilty of misconduct in office and is subject to removal from office.

(f)  Except for felonies and those offenses enumerated in W.S. 31-5-1204(a)(i), (ii) and (iii), a police officer at the scene of a traffic accident may issue a written traffic citation, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, to any driver of a vehicle involved in the accident when, based upon personal investigation, the officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the person has committed any offense under the provisions of this act in connection with the accident.

(g)  Whenever any person is taken before a judge or is given a written traffic citation containing a notice to appear before a judge, the judge shall be a judge within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible with reference to the place where the alleged violation occurred. For the purpose of this section, the terms "judge" and "court" includes judges and courts having jurisdiction of offenses under this act as committing judges and courts and those having jurisdiction of the trials of the offenses.

(h)  Whenever any person is taken into custody by a police officer for the purpose of taking him before a judge or court as authorized or required in this act upon any charge other than a felony or the offenses enumerated in W.S. 31-5-1204(a)(i), (ii) and (iii), and no judge is available at the time of arrest, and there is no bail schedule established by the judge or court and no lawfully designated court clerk or other public officer who is available and authorized to accept bail upon behalf of the judge or court, the person shall be released from custody upon the issuance to him of a written traffic citation and his acceptance of the citation signifying his promise to appear as provided in subsection (d) of this section.

(j)  The procedure prescribed by this section is not exclusive to this act, but is applicable in all proceedings arising out of an alleged violation of a statute, ordinance or regulation relating to operation or use of any vehicle or to use of the highways.

(k)  Repealed by Laws 2025, ch. 9, § 2.

(a)  It is unlawful for any person to violate his promise to appear given to an officer upon the issuance of a traffic citation regardless of the disposition of the charge for which the citation was originally issued.

(b)  A promise to appear in court may be complied with by an appearance by counsel.

(c)  Failure to appear as defined in this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both.

(a)  Every traffic enforcement officer upon issuing a traffic citation to an alleged violator of any provision of the motor vehicle laws of this state or of any traffic ordinance of any city or town shall deposit the original or a copy of the traffic citation with a court having jurisdiction over the alleged offense or with its traffic violations bureau.

(b)  Upon the deposit of the original or a copy of the traffic citation with a court having jurisdiction over the alleged offense or with its traffic violations bureau as aforesaid, the original or copy of the traffic citation may be disposed of only by trial in court or other official action by a judge of the court, including forfeiture of the bail, or by the deposit of sufficient bail with or payment of a fine to the traffic violations bureau by the person to whom the traffic citation was issued by the traffic enforcement officer.

(c)  It is unlawful and official misconduct for any traffic enforcement officer or other officer or public employee to dispose of a traffic citation or copies thereof or of the record of the issuance of the same in a manner other than as required by this act.

(d)  The chief administrative officer of every traffic enforcement agency shall require the return to him of a copy of every traffic citation issued by an officer under his supervision to an alleged violator of any traffic law or ordinance and of all copies of every traffic citation which has been spoiled or upon which any entry has been made and not issued to an alleged violator.

(e)  The chief administrative officer shall also maintain or cause to be maintained in connection with every traffic citation issued by an officer under his supervision a record of the disposition of the charge by the court or its traffic violations bureau in which the original or copy of the traffic citation was deposited.

(a)  Every record of traffic citations required in W.S. 31-5-1201 through 31-5-1214, shall be audited annually by the appropriate fiscal officer of the governmental agency to which the traffic enforcement agency is responsible.

(b)  The fiscal officer shall publish or cause to be published an annual summary of all traffic violation notices issued by the traffic enforcement agency and the dispositions thereof in at least one (1) local daily newspaper of general circulation.

(a)  Every judge of a court shall keep or cause to be kept a record of every traffic complaint, traffic citation or other legal form of traffic charge deposited with or presented to the court and shall keep a record of every official action by the court in reference thereto, including but not limited to a record of every conviction, forfeiture of bail, judgment of acquittal and the amount of fine or forfeiture resulting from every traffic complaint or citation deposited with or presented to the court.

(b)  Except as provided in subsection (g) of this section, within ten (10) days after the conviction or forfeiture of bail of a person upon a charge of violating any provisions of this act or other law regulating the operation of vehicles on highways every clerk of the court of record in which the conviction was had or bail was forfeited shall prepare and immediately forward to the department an abstract of the court record covering the case in which the person was so convicted or forfeited bail, which abstract must be certified by the person required to prepare the same to be true and correct. Report need not be made of any conviction involving the illegal parking or standing of a vehicle.

(c)  The abstract must be made upon a form furnished by the department and shall include the name and address of the party charged, the number, if any, of his driver's license, the registration number of the vehicle involved, the nature of the offense, the date of hearing, the plea, the judgment or whether bail forfeited and the amount of the fine or forfeiture as the case may be.

(d)  Every court of record shall also forward a like report to the department upon the conviction of any person of manslaughter or other felony in the commission of which a vehicle was used.

(e)  The failure, refusal or neglect of any judicial officer to comply with any of the requirements of this section constitutes misconduct in office and is grounds for removal therefrom.

(f)  The department shall keep all abstracts received hereunder at its main office and the abstracts shall be open to public inspection during reasonable business hours.

(g)  Upon implementation of a case management system in a circuit court or district court, the supreme court shall, on behalf of the circuit court or district court, furnish the abstract of the court record required under this section to the department. The abstract furnished under this section shall include the information required in W.S. 7-19-107(k).