What an expired-registration ticket costs in Missouri

Missouri requires every vehicle owner to register annually (RSMo §301.020), and an expired-registration ticket is a violation of that section: RSMo §301.030.1 itself refers to a violation "issued under section 301.020 for an expired registration." Missouri’s uniform fine schedule for state traffic charges, which every circuit violations bureau must adopt under Supreme Court Rules 38.09 and 38.10, prices that charge (code 301.020-001, failure to register a motor vehicle) at $50.50, payable without going to court, with court costs added; paying in full before the court date counts as a guilty plea. Officers can also write the ticket under a city ordinance, and the uniform municipal fine schedule lists expired plates at the same $50.50. If the state charge goes before a judge instead, the statutory ceiling is far higher, because §301.020 is a Class B misdemeanor. Renewing late adds a $5 delinquent renewal penalty (RSMo §301.050). On the grace period the official sources do not line up: the Department of Revenue says plates must be renewed by the last day of the expiration month and charges the $5 penalty after that, while RSMo §301.030.1, as amended in 2020, makes renewal fees for an ordinary (noncommercial) registration payable through the end of the month after the twelfth month of the registration period and bars both the penalty and an expired-registration ticket under §301.020 until the second month after it. Treat the end of the month on your plate as the deadline.