Traffic Ticket Surcharges Repealed
Effective September 1, 2019, The Texas Driver Responsibility Program has been repealed. Under this law, the State imposed surcharges for certain types of offenses. These were basically additional financial penalties on top of the ticket and if unpaid, a person’s driver’s license would become invalid. Depending on the offense, these surcharges ranged from $100 to $2,000 each year.
As of September 1, 2019 all pending surcharges and past balances will be waived. This is also great news for an estimated 600,000 people who had their licenses suspended as a result of unpaid surcharges. If you had your license suspended as a result of unpaid surcharges, you should contact a DPS driver’s license office and make arrangements to go in and request that your driver’s license be reinstated. Check with the DPS at txapps.texas.gov
Although there are no longer surcharges, it is still very important to seek all alternatives to avoid a conviction for any citation. There are still certain types of offenses that if convicted, could still lead to a suspension of your driver’s license.
Also, since Driver Responsibility Program was designed to bring revenue to the State, to make up for that lost revenue, the court costs for all citations has increased by twenty dollars.
