The Dayton Municipal Court will hold a one-day event Friday to assist with reinstating suspended driver licenses.
The event will be held in conjunction with the Ohio BMV Reinstatement Fee Amnesty Initiative, a program meant to reduce or waive reinstatement fees for offenders whose driver licenses have been suspended for specific violations.
Despite satisfying all other court-ordered sanctions, some people with suspended licenses are unable to get back on the road because they can’t afford the fee, Dayton Municipal Clerk of Courts Mark Owens said. Often, depending on the offense, these fees stack up.
“A lot of people, they may have paid the courts all they need, they’re all done with everything that they were granted, but they don’t have the money to pay the (reinstatement fee), so they may go and drive anyway, and then they have another problem,” Owens said.
“Some of them have thousands of dollars in reinstatement fees, so we’re hoping that we can get them an opportunity to greatly reduce or, in some cases, actually get rid of those reinstatement fees so they can be driving legally.”
Some people will continue to drive after losing their license and often end up engaging in risky behaviors.
In March 2016, Huber Heights police tried to pull over Kyndra Shackleford, who had a suspended license.
She drove off, ran a red light and hit an SUV, killing the driver.
Court officials hope that the amnesty event will help prevent similar incidnets.
“It is dangerous for police officers,” said Owns. “It’s dangerous for motorists because if people don’t have a license they’re not going to have insurance either so if they have an accident, are involved in something, they don’t have insurance.”
Local judges, Ohio BMV representatives and volunteers will provide aid. More than a dozen legal, family service and automotive insurance organizations will also be there to help.
To have driver license reinstatement fees reduced, the suspension must have been made for an eligible offense. Licenses suspended due to offenses related to alcohol, drugs, deadly weapons or associated offenses do not qualify.
Other than the payment of reinstatement fees, those applying must have completed all court-ordered sanctions related to the offense, and 18 months must have passed since the end of the period of the suspension.
Applicants who can provide proof of indigence may be eligible for a full waive of their reinstatement fees altogether.
The amnesty program only applies to a driver’s license suspension, not to a commercial driver’s license suspension.
The amnesty program is a product of Ohio House Bill 336, introduced by former Ohio state Rep. John Barnes and state Rep. David Greenspan last November. Since the program began in January, the state has waived $5,029,030 and reduced $44,208,935 worth of reinstatement fees, as of May 25.
The amnesty program will end July 31, so applications must be received by then to be eligible.
Preregistration for the June 14 event can be done at www.daytonclerk.org/pa/amnestyform.cfm or in person at the traffic counter on the first floor of Dayton Municipal Court, 301 W. Third St.
