Verified AS 28.10.471 · Checked October 2026 · 21 sources

What an expired-registration ticket costs in Alaska

First offense AS 28.10.471

$90 bail plus a $20 surcharge ($110) on the statewide schedule, payable without going to court

Verified October 2026 against the sources on this page

Alaska has no grace period. Every registration expires on the last day of the month the vehicle is assigned to (AS 28.10.108(e)), and AS 28.10.471 says a person may not drive or move a vehicle on a highway or vehicular way or area once its registration has expired. The amount is set statewide, not by county: AS 28.05.151 directs the Alaska Supreme Court to set a scheduled bail amount for each traffic offense that can be resolved without a court appearance, and its traffic bail forfeiture schedule (Administrative Rule 43.1, last amended by SCO 2023 effective June 26, 2024) lists “Operating vehicle w/expired registration” under AS 28.10.471 at $90. The court system’s Uniform Minor Offense Table lists the same $90 as an optional court appearance offense with 0 driver’s license points. On top of the bail you pay the police training surcharge under AS 12.55.039, which the court system’s Vehicle and Traffic Offenses Booklet says is not part of the fine and is listed separately on the citation. For an offense that cannot carry jail (see the classification below), AS 12.55.039(a)(4) sets that surcharge at $20 when the bail is $30 or more, and the court system’s own minor offense form TR-200 states the same $20 surcharge (none if the fine is under $30), so the total to resolve a state ticket online or by mail is $110. If the citation says the offense happened in a highway work zone or traffic safety corridor, the bail doubles to $180 (AS 28.05.151(d), AS 28.90.030, Rule 43.1). The charge is for the lapse itself; a renewed registration whose new decal is not on the plate fits a different charge on the same schedule, AS 28.10.461 (plates, decals or permits must be properly attached and displayed), at $75. Registration is not required at all for a vehicle driven or moved only on a highway, vehicular way or public parking place that is not connected by land to the state’s land-connected highway system or to a road averaging more than 499 vehicles a day (AS 28.10.011(10)). City tickets are separate: a municipality can charge its own ordinance under its own fine schedule (AS 28.05.151(a)). For example, the court’s Anchorage offense table lists Anchorage Municipal Code 9.52.030(A)(3), “Expired Registration Decal,” as a correctable offense with a $100 fine.

By Mario Bailey

What to do now

1

Renew the registration now

Renew online, or in person at a DMV office, where a $10 walk-in fee applies. If it has been expired less than a year, expect the full two-year fee counted from the original expiration month.
2

Respond within 30 days

Pay the $90 bail and the surcharge online or by mail with a no contest plea, plead not guilty and ask for a trial, or ask for an arraignment. If you lose at trial, the fine still cannot exceed the $90 bail.
3

Ask the prosecutor about dismissal

Renewing does not dismiss a state ticket by rule, but the prosecutor or the officer acting as prosecutor can dismiss or defer prosecution, and in some locations you can talk to the prosecutor before trial.
4

Anchorage city ticket? Use the fix-it route

If the citation cites AMC 9.52.030(A)(3), the court lists it as correctable: within 30 days, send the Anchorage Police Department an image of the new registration and a photo of the new sticker, as its fix-it page directs.

Alaska at a glance

Grace period: None; expires end of the tab month
Misdemeanor?: Yes on paper; charged as minor offense
Jail, first offense: No; capped at the $90 bail
Dismissed if you renew?: State: none; Anchorage city: correctable
Late renewal fee: None; renewal backdates to expiry

First offense, ordinary passenger vehicle. Each label compares Alaska with every verified state.

Same $90 bail each time Repeat offense

No points; renewal backdated License / registration

Note: amounts vary only by the charging law: a state citation uses the Supreme Court’s statewide bail schedule, while a city ordinance ticket (Anchorage’s, for example) uses that city’s own fine schedule, the figures above are the statutory frame, not a quote.

Repeat offenses

The bail schedule sets one amount for AS 28.10.471 with no step-up for a second or later ticket, and a court that finds you guilty after a trial cannot impose more than the scheduled $90 (AS 12.25.230(c); Minor Offense Rule 10(a)(1)(A)), plus the surcharge. What grows with time is the renewal bill: the DMV says that if the registration has been expired for less than one year, you pay the full two-year fee starting from the month it originally expired, even if the vehicle was not driven during the lapse, so the expired months are paid for anyway. After more than a year, the registration cycle resets and a new expiration month is assigned.

Is driving on expired tags a crime in Alaska?

On paper it is a misdemeanor; in practice it is handled as a minor offense that cannot carry jail. AS 28.90.010(a) makes violating any Title 28 provision a misdemeanor unless the law declares it a felony or an infraction, and AS 28.10.471 is not declared an infraction, so the court system’s Vehicle and Traffic Offenses Booklet lists its penalty section as AS 28.90.010(a)-(b), which allows a fine of up to $500, up to 90 days in jail, or both. But because the offense is on the Supreme Court’s bail schedule, it is a minor offense under Minor Offense Rule 2(b), and the court system’s Uniform Minor Offense Table says any offense on a bail forfeiture schedule must be charged as a minor offense even though the statute classifies it as a misdemeanor. AS 12.25.230(c) and Rule 43.1 then cap the penalty at the scheduled bail: if you go to court and are found guilty, the penalty may not exceed $90, and Minor Offense Rule 17(g) keeps that cap even if a prosecutor joins the charge to a criminal case. The booklet says that cap applies whether you plead no contest or contest the citation, and that a person charged with an offense that has a bail amount has no right to a jury or to a court-appointed lawyer. Ignoring the ticket is a different matter: AS 12.25.230(b) makes failing to pay the bail or appear in response to a scheduled-bail citation a class B misdemeanor.

Can it be dismissed?

No written rule dismisses a state expired-registration ticket because you renewed. Administrative Rule 43.1 marks the offenses that must be dismissed on proof of correction as “Corr,” and the court system’s booklet says an offense is listed as correctable only if a statute or regulation authorizes dismissal upon correction; AS 28.10.471 is listed at a flat $90 with no “Corr” mark, and the Uniform Minor Offense Table lists it as optional appearance, not correctable. Under Minor Offense Rule 11, the prosecutor or the prosecution’s representative (who may be the citing officer, Rule 12(a)) may dismiss the charge or defer prosecution on conditions, and the court system’s self-help page says that in some locations you can talk to the prosecutor before trial to try to reach a deal. The court can dismiss only on the grounds in Rule 11(b), such as unnecessary delay, the prosecution failing to appear for trial, or dismissal in furtherance of justice with the reasons stated, and it may not dismiss on the condition that you pay a fine, take a defensive driving course, do community work or meet other conditions. The self-help page says completing a defensive driving course does not get the citation dismissed; a dismissal tied to a course can come only from the prosecutor, as deferred prosecution (Rule 11(d)). If you cannot afford the fine, the self-help page says you may ask the court to lower it in exchange for community work service or a defensive driving course (form TR-405). Anchorage city tickets differ: if you were cited under Anchorage Municipal Code 9.52.030(A)(3) rather than AS 28.10.471, the court’s Anchorage offense table lists the charge as correctable (the same table lists AMC 9.52.030(A)(1), “Vehicles to be Licensed,” as optional appearance at $100, not correctable). The court system says a citation marked correctable is dismissed when you give the law enforcement agency proof of compliance within 30 days (the clerk dismisses on the agency’s notice, Minor Offense Rule 5(b)), and the Anchorage Police Department’s correctable-citations page says to email an image of the new DMV registration and a photo of the rear plate with the new sticker within 30 days of the citation’s issue date. The ordinance’s own text could not be loaded from the city’s code host, so read the correctable section of your citation for any conditions it states.

What happens beyond the fine

An expired-registration conviction under AS 28.10.471 carries 0 driver’s license points in the court system’s offense table, so on its own it does not count toward a point suspension. The risk comes from not responding. You have 30 days to pay, plead not guilty and ask for a trial, or ask for an arraignment (Minor Offense Rule 5(a)). If you do nothing, the court system says it sends a warning notice giving 15 more days, then enters a default judgment for the fine, the surcharge, and $70 in court and collection costs, and collects through your Permanent Fund Dividend. The court may not issue a bench warrant in a minor offense case (Minor Offense Rule 9(d)), but AS 12.25.230(b) makes failing to pay or appear on a scheduled-bail citation a separate class B misdemeanor.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a grace period for expired tags in Alaska?

No. Registrations expire on the last day of the month shown on the tab (AS 28.10.108(e)), and AS 28.10.471 bars driving the vehicle once the registration has expired. The DMV lets you start renewing up to 3 months before the expiration date.

How much is an expired tags ticket in Alaska?

The statewide traffic bail schedule (Administrative Rule 43.1) sets $90 for operating a vehicle with expired registration, and the statutory surcharge under AS 12.55.039(a)(4), $20 for an offense that cannot carry jail (the amount the court system’s minor offense form TR-200 also states), brings the total to $110. The bail doubles to $180 in a highway work zone or traffic safety corridor. Renewing then costs the normal biennial fee, $100 for a non-commercial passenger vehicle (AS 28.10.421(b)(1)(A)) plus any municipal registration tax, and $10 more if you renew in person at the DMV rather than online or by mail (AS 28.10.421(a)(2)). No separate late fee appears in the fee statutes (AS 28.10.421 and 28.10.441), the DMV regulations in 2 AAC 92, the DMV’s renewal and general registration pages, or its registration cost calculator; the cost of renewing late is that a registration expired less than a year is renewed from its original expiration month.

Will an Alaska expired registration ticket be dismissed if I renew?

Not by rule for a state ticket. AS 28.10.471 is not a correctable offense on the bail schedule, so renewing does not entitle you to dismissal. The prosecutor or the prosecution’s representative can dismiss or defer it, and the court can dismiss only on the limited grounds in Minor Offense Rule 11(b), such as the prosecution failing to appear for trial. A city ticket can differ: Anchorage’s ordinance charge, AMC 9.52.030(A)(3), is listed as correctable, and the court system says a correctable citation is dismissed when you give the police proof of compliance within 30 days; the Anchorage Police Department takes an image of the new registration and a photo of the new sticker.

Can you go to jail for expired tags in Alaska?

No. The general penalty for a Title 28 misdemeanor allows up to 90 days (AS 28.90.010(b)), but this offense is on the bail schedule, so the penalty cannot exceed the $90 bail even if you lose at trial (AS 12.25.230(c), Rule 43.1). Not responding is different: failing to pay or appear on the citation is a separate class B misdemeanor (AS 12.25.230(b)).

Sources

This summary was checked against the following sources on the date shown above. Fines and fees change, verify before relying on specifics.

Expired Registration: other states

Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming All states

General legal information, not legal advice. Statutes and penalty schedules summarized from the sources above as of October 2026.