Texting While Driving Penalties by State

Arkansas

Arkansas gives judges some room to work with: $25 to $250 for a first offense, $50 to $500 for a second.

California

California's headline number is a little misleading. The base fine is only $20, but court fees and assessments push the real total to around $162 for a first offense and roughly $250 for anything after that. No license points, at least.

Colorado

Colorado treats this as a misdemeanor, not a slap on the wrist: $300 and four points on your license, regardless of whether it's your first offense or your fifth.

Connecticut

Connecticut's fines climb fast: $200 for a first offense, $375 for a second, $625 for a third. There's no flattening out here.

Delaware

A first offense in Delaware costs $100. After that, expect somewhere between $200 and $300.

Florida

Florida's first offense is comparatively gentle: $30 plus court fees, and zero points on your license. That changes on a second offense within five years, which adds three points along with a fine of $60 plus fees.

Georgia

Georgia charges $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second, and $150 for a third, with matching points (1, 2, then 3). There's a genuine loophole for first-timers: show up in court with proof you've bought a hands-free device since the ticket, and the charge can be dropped entirely.

Hawaii

Hawaii's fine is a flat $297, no matter which offense it is, unless you're caught in a school or construction zone, where it jumps to $347.

Idaho

Idaho's base fine looks modest at $75, but court costs bring the real total closer to $131.50. Get caught again and it's $150 (about $207 with costs), then $300 (about $357) for a third. Three offenses in three years can cost you your license outright.

Illinois

A first ticket in Illinois costs $75, with the fine increasing from there. Adult drivers don't lose license points for it, but drivers under 19 do, up to 10 of them.

Indiana

Indiana caps its fine at $500 for a first offense and skips license points altogether.

Iowa

Iowa's fine jumped to $100 plus court costs when the state's new hands-free law took effect in January 2026, more than double the old $45 texting-only penalty. It's now classified as a moving violation, which it wasn't before.

Kansas

Kansas keeps the math easy: $60 plus court costs, flat, no matter how many times you're caught, and no license points either way.

Kentucky

Kentucky starts at $25, rises to $50 for a second offense, and stays there for a third. Three points come with every ticket.

Louisiana

Louisiana doesn't ease into this one: up to $500 for a first offense, doubling to as much as $1,000 for anything after that. No license points, at least.

Maine

A first offense in Maine can run up to $250 and adds two points. A second offense skips the fine conversation entirely and goes straight to a 30-day license suspension.

Maryland

Maryland's fine is a straightforward $70, plus one point on your license.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts starts at $100 for a first offense. A second offense adds a mandatory course on top of a $250 fine, and a third comes with a $500 fine plus a surcharge.

Michigan

Michigan's fine tops out at $100 for a first offense, with two points added to your license.

Minnesota

Minnesota's fine can reach up to $225, and there are no license points attached to it.

Mississippi

Mississippi keeps this one flat: $100, no matter the circumstances.

Missouri

Missouri overhauled this law recently. It used to apply only to drivers 21 and under, but the current version covers every driver with the same escalating fines: $150, then $250, then $500.

Montana

Montana is the only state without a statewide texting and driving ban. That doesn't make it safe, it just means there's no ticket waiting for you, which is a pretty low bar to clear. Distracted driving is still a leading cause of crashes for new drivers, law or no law.

Nebraska

Nebraska's fine climbs from $200 to $300 to $500, with up to three points added. This is one of the only states where texting is a secondary offense, meaning an officer needs another reason to pull you over before adding a texting citation on top.

Nevada

A first or second offense in Nevada costs $50 or $100 with no points attached. A third offense is where it gets real: $250 and four points.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire's fine climbs in even steps: $100, then $250, then $500.

New Jersey

New Jersey works in ranges rather than flat numbers, $200 to $400 for a first offense, $400 to $600 for a second, $600 to $800 for a third. Points don't show up until that third offense, when two finally get added.

New Mexico

New Mexico charges $25 for a first offense and $50 for everything after that, with no license points involved.

New York

New York's fine runs $50 to $200 for a first offense and grows from there, topping out around $450. The real sting is the license points: five per violation, one of the steepest point penalties anywhere in the country.

North Carolina

North Carolina keeps it simple: a flat $100 fine and two points on your license.

North Dakota

The fine itself is only $100, but North Dakota adds six points to your license for it, the highest single-violation point penalty in the country.

Ohio

Ohio's fine escalates from $150 to $250 to $500 and doubles in construction or school zones, though it doesn't add license points. Drivers under 18 face a separate and stricter rule that bans any device use at all, backed by a 60-day suspension.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma's fine tops out around $100 for a first offense. Keep it up and you risk losing your license entirely.

Oregon

Oregon has the highest first-offense fine in the country: up to $1,000, doubling to $2,000 for a second offense within ten years.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's fine is $50 right now, with three points attached, but the rule behind it is about to get a lot bigger. Starting June 2026, the law expands from texting specifically to all handheld phone use.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island's fine can reach up to $100 for a first offense.

South Carolina

South Carolina has one of the lowest fines in the country, up to $25, with no license points. The state also added a broader hands-free law in 2025 that covers more than just texting.

South Dakota

South Dakota charges $122.50 for a texting ticket, court costs already baked in.

Tennessee

Tennessee starts at up to $50 for a first offense and doubles to up to $100 for anything after that.

Texas

Texas fines run $25 to $99 for a first offense and $100 to $200 for repeat violations. School zones are stricter across the board: all handheld phone use is banned there, even though Texas has no statewide handheld ban otherwise.

Utah

Utah doesn't mess around: up to $750 for a first offense, up to $1,000 for repeats, and as many as 50 points on your license. Jail time is on the table for repeat offenders.

Vermont

Vermont's fine runs $100 to $200 for a first offense and $250 to $500 after that, with no license points either way.

Virginia

Virginia charges $125 for a first offense and $250 for a second.

Washington

Washington's fine is $136 for a first offense and $234 for a second, with no license points attached to either.

West Virginia

West Virginia starts at $100, rises to $200, then $300 for a third offense, which is also when license points finally enter the picture.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin's flat fine is $400, one of the higher amounts in the country, plus four points on your license.

Wyoming

Wyoming's fine tops out at $75 for a first offense.

The Real Cost of a Text

A text is never just a text once it's on your record. Add up the fine, the points, and a possible insurance bump, and that five-second glance at your phone gets expensive fast. The fix costs nothing: keep your phone out of reach before you start driving. Already dealing with a ticket? Look into whether your state and court allow a defensive driving course, since the option, and the payoff, depends on where you live.