New Ohio law eliminates some debt-related driver's license suspensions

Yahoo

16-04-2025

Apr. 16—A new law now in effect eliminates some debt-related driver's license suspensions to make it easier for Ohioans to get back on the road legally.
Courts have until May 9 to notify the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles whether a suspension should be lifted due to House Bill 29, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in January. It removes license suspensions for failure to pay a court fine or fee, without reinstatement fees.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, about one million drivers (just over 10%) have a suspended driver's license. Of those, about 60% are for reasons other than dangerous driving,
"House Bill 29 is smart, practical policy that will enable Ohioans to reinstate their licenses, drive to work, take their children to school and participate more fully in their communities," said Patrick Higgins, policy counsel for the ACLU of Ohio. "A person's ability to pay should not determine whether they are free to drive."
Clerk of Courts Marty Gehres of Dayton Municipal Court called the bill a "great first start" but cautioned: "What this bill doesn't do is release people of their obligation of their fine and court costs."
The BMV was tasked with sending tens of thousands of suspensions to court jurisdictions across the state.
Gehres and Rob Scott, clerk of courts for Kettering Municipal Court, both said their courts do not do forfeiture suspensions for people with unpaid fines and fees. Instead, they offer payment plans and have had amnesty programs and driver's license clinics to help people get back on the road legally.
"We're very flexible working with people, trying to work with them making them valid," Scott said.
The suspensions their offices reviewed were older, from cases in the 1990s and 2000s, they said.
"We had roughly about 500 license forfeitures for us to check," Gehres said.
Kettering court staff had a little over 200 to check on the list, Scott said.
Both clerks said they already have forwarded the information to the BMV.
Individuals will be notified by mail if the BMV removed a failure-to-pay suspension. If a person is eligible to reinstate their license, the letter will include information on what steps to take, said Lindsey Bohrer, assistant director of communications for the Ohio Department of Public Safety and BMV spokeswoman.
Those with questions about whether a suspension was lifted should contact the court where it was ordered.
People can view their reinstatement requirements online at any time, but until courts communicate which suspensions will be removed, the BMV will not be able to provide eligibility information in accordance with HB 29, Bohrer said.
Even if a debt-related suspension is lifted, there may be other roadblocks to getting reinstated.
"It's not a solution to every issue people are experiencing with license suspensions in Ohio," Gehres said.
For example, if someone whose license was suspended for a debt-related reason was pulled over while driving to work, to the doctor's office or taking children to school, the resulting citation for driving on a suspended license would still stand under the new law.
"We just want to do everything we can here to break that cycle," Scott said.
The new law says those whose licenses were suspended for not paying child support can file a motion with the court for limited driving privileges.
For the last three years, Montgomery County suspended more residents' licenses for failing to pay child support than any other county in Ohio.
The Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services last year issued 1,961 of the state's 15,841 license suspensions for child support defaults, according to Ohio JFS data obtained by the Dayton Daily News. That's over 12% of the state's suspensions from a county that makes up 4.5% of the state's population.
In Ohio, county JFS agencies are responsible for collecting child support payments.
Those in default on their payments are able to present evidence that a suspension effectively prevents them from getting current. This new law, however, doesn't require JFS departments to act on that information.
Reba Chenoweth, public information officer for Montgomery County Human Services, previously told the Dayton Daily News that driver's license suspension is a discretionary remedy used as leverage to encourage compliance with a child support order for a parent who is not paying at least 50% of their support. Parents have multiple options, such as a short-term payment plan, making a payment of at least 50% of what was owed over the last three months or reporting new employment.
HB 29 also eliminates driver's license suspensions for some drug-abuse offenses and school truancy, and reduces the look-back period from five years to one year for those caught driving without insurance.