Suspended/Invalid Licence

[The Annoyed Man]

For the record, I probably would agree that the surcharges are excessive, or unnecessary. Here's the problem though....they're not illegal. Unconstitutional, maybe....but not illegal. It will remain legal until either the legislature repeals it, or a court overturns it. As long as it is legal, your refusal to do whatever it takes to get it cleared up, plus occasionally driving on a suspended license, is going to make all this blow up in your face, and they are going to legally put you in jail. When that happens, and the longer you let it go unhandled AND occasionally drive illegally, the bigger it's going to bite you on the butt, and the more likely it is (as others have pointed out) that you could lose all of your gun rights permanently. I'm not without sympathy for your plight, but I do think you're digging your hole deeper—and we all know what the first rule of digging is when you find yourself in over your head. Bitter tasting stuff, but there it is.

[JeepGuy79]

agree 100% with TAM

[jz75455]

Well I guess I can pass up on the CHL for now...

Its still a good question though, Can you get a CHL with just TX ID or with a suspended license becuase of a non payment on a surcharge? We may never know

Sad thing is, I still have to cut the tree.

[Tbucher1218]

JMO but even though they wont set up a payment plan, I would be willing to bet they would take payments and apply to your balance. They (DPS) of course would not re-instate your license until fully paid in full.

[jz75455]

JMO but even though they wont set up a payment plan, I would be willing to bet they would take payments and apply to your balance. They (DPS) of course would not re-instate your license until fully paid in full.

I have not thought of that...

I am going to check into that.

[74novaman]

The interesting thing to me about the surcharge system is that they applied it RETROACTIVELY to past tickets.

So, thanks to fast cars and a heavy foot, guess who gets to pay a surcharge? Me.

I can understand if they said "from the date we pass this surcharge law, any ticket you get will count against it"....but it seems awfully odd to me that it applied to tickets I had already paid for/taken care of. I'm curious if they're getting into murky constitutional grounds regarding passing new laws to punish acts done before the law passed. I know that speeding was already illegal, but to punish crimes which have already been taken care of seems very to me.

But, because I don't like giving money to the govt and just maybe because I've grown up and matured a bit.... since the surcharge system has been put in place...I haven't gotten a single ticket. I'm almost to 2 years with no tickets at all....

But I'm still paying that surcharge.

[ScooterSissy]

For the record, I probably would agree that the surcharges are excessive, or unnecessary. Here's the problem though....they're not illegal. Unconstitutional, maybe....but not illegal. It will remain legal until either the legislature repeals it, or a court overturns it. As long as it is legal, your refusal to do whatever it takes to get it cleared up, plus occasionally driving on a suspended license, is going to make all this blow up in your face, and they are going to legally put you in jail. When that happens, and the longer you let it go unhandled AND occasionally drive illegally, the bigger it's going to bite you on the butt, and the more likely it is (as others have pointed out) that you could lose all of your gun rights permanently. I'm not without sympathy for your plight, but I do think you're digging your hole deeper—and we all know what the first rule of digging is when you find yourself in over your head. Bitter tasting stuff, but there it is.

I agree with TAM, and will offer a suggestion I've not seen before. You may not like the suggestion, but from what I've seen so far, I think it's your best option.

Though they won't drop the suspension until you pay the $900+, you still don't have to pay it all at once. Instead of simply not paying, and occasionally risking jail by driving. Pay towards it every paycheck until it's paid off. Even if you're still driving suspended, at least you have a light at the end of the tunnel, and will eventually not be doing so.

Edit
And of course, after posting that, I see that someone else suggested it, and you're going to check into it. Good move.

[GeekDad]

I don't consider the surcharge a debt, I think of it more as extortion.

Its not extortion is double jeopardy and its illegal, again... thanks for Gov. Perry.

Getting convicted and having to pay for your mistakes is not double jeapordy.

Paying a for a citation is the penalty. The surcharge you pay on top of the citation for three years to a non government agency (Which is actually the same company that launders the money for the NTTA) for a conviction of no insurance is double jeopardy.

Read about the 5th amendment.

The Double Jeopardy Clause encompasses four distinct prohibitions: subsequent prosecution after acquittal, subsequent prosecution after conviction, subsequent prosecution after certain mistrials, and multiple punishment in the same indictment.

Legislation that is passed in to law does not make the law, lawful. That is what the courts are for.

[gigag04]

One's a civil penalty. Apples v Oranges...

[74novaman]

One's a civil penalty. Apples v Oranges...

I get what you're saying, but it still seems a technicality thats against the spirit of the law if not the letter...I'm mainly grouchy about it applying to tickets from before the surcharge law passed. If they'd stipulated "from this day forward" I wouldn't be as grouchy about it.

[recaffeination]

The penalty should be more than the cost of liability insurance so we don't reward lawbreaking.

Suppose someone cheats on their taxes and underpays by $5000. It's fair to make them pay the $5000 plus a surcharge or other penalty. Otherwise you're encouragng people to cheat.

[gigag04]

One's a civil penalty. Apples v Oranges...

I get what you're saying, but it still seems a technicality thats against the spirit of the law if not the letter...I'm mainly grouchy about it applying to tickets from before the surcharge law passed. If they'd stipulated "from this day forward" I wouldn't be as grouchy about it.

I agree that it's a bad deal. I hate the surcharge deal.

[smoothoperator]

The Double Jeopardy Clause encompasses four distinct prohibitions: subsequent prosecution after acquittal, subsequent prosecution after conviction, subsequent prosecution after certain mistrials, and multiple punishment in the same indictment.

That's your opinion but it doesn't look like it's shared by legislators or judges. For example:

Sec. 12.21. CLASS A MISDEMEANOR.
An individual adjudged guilty of a Class A misdemeanor shall be punished by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $4,000;
(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year; or
(3) both such fine and confinement.

[GeekDad]

The Double Jeopardy Clause encompasses four distinct prohibitions: subsequent prosecution after acquittal, subsequent prosecution after conviction, subsequent prosecution after certain mistrials, and multiple punishment in the same indictment.

That's your opinion but it doesn't look like it's shared by legislators or judges. For example:

Sec. 12.21. CLASS A MISDEMEANOR.
An individual adjudged guilty of a Class A misdemeanor shall be punished by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $4,000;
(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year; or
(3) both such fine and confinement.

They double fine you and you pay 2 different organizations.

[Ace5299]

Good luck on your license but you do realize it's going to cost more than 900 for your CHL? You have class fees, state fees, cost of gun, holster, gun belt, amo and range time. All that is not cheap. Its not my place to tell you how to spend your money but my advise is to think about it. I know I spend min $200 per mth on range fee and amo alone. I am sure other spend more. Good luck if you move forward.