Driver’s licenses can be suspended for many reasons, like failure to have insurance or driving under the influence. Another reason is for failing to pay fines and costs assessed by a court (maybe for a traffic ticket). This information ONLY applies to situations where a driver’s license is suspended for failure to pay court fines and costs in West Virginia.

The new law that passed in 2022 helps to eliminate driver’s license suspensions due to unpaid court costs and fines. This law allows you to set up a payment plan so you can continue to have a valid driver’s license, while you are making payments. Because this is a new law, we don’t have all the answers about how this will work in all situations. We will update this article as we learn more. Basically, this law has 2 important parts:

(1) If your license was suspended before July 1, 2016, for failure to pay court costs, fines, restitutions or penalties OR for failure to appear in court, your suspension is NULL and VOID.  You can contact the DMV at 304-926-2505 to reinstate your license.

(2) If your license was suspended after July 1, 2016, for failure to pay court costs or fines, you can request a payment plan from Clerk’s office or pay your costs in full to reinstate your license.  Once a payment plan is set up, the Clerk will provide you with a verification for the DMV.  With the verification, the DMV will reduce or waive the driver’s license reinstatement fee.

Again, this new law does NOT apply to driver’s licenses that are suspended for failure to have insurance, driving under the influence, truancy violations, or any other reasons.

You have 180 days to enroll in a payment plan after the court determines your court costs and fines. If you are incarcerated, you have 30 days after you are released to enroll in a payment plan.

As of right now, if your driver’s license was already suspended for failure to pay court costs and fees between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2020, you can still enroll in a payment plan even if it has been longer than 180 days since a court determined your costs and fines. After so long, the law allows courts to send these cases to collection agencies. It is possible once your case has been turned over to a collection agency, you may have to pay them, rather than the court to resolve the debt. At this point we don’t know how long you will be able to pay these fees and fines at the court.

The Clerk’s office can apply late fees, record judgments, and begin debt collection against you if you do not enter a payment plan within 180 days and fail to pay your court costs and fines in full. Your driver’s license should no longer be suspended, however, for failure to pay court fees and fines. Again, it can still be suspended for other reasons, like failure to appear in court.

To find out if your driver’s license is suspended due to unpaid court costs and fines, you first need to contact the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). You can contact the DMV by calling (304) 558-3900 or 1-800-642-9066. You can also check the status of your West Virginia driver’s license by visiting the DMV’s website at https://apps.wv.gov/DMV/SelfService/DrivingRecord. The DMV will be able to tell you why your driver’s license is suspended.

To get all of the information you may need, you may want to request a copy of your Driving Record. This can help you figure out what courts to contact and what fees you owe to the DMV.  You will want to make sure that the DMV Driving Record is accurate.

If your driver’s license is suspended solely due to unpaid court costs and fines, you will be able to apply for a payment plan to help you reinstate your license.

First, contact the DMV and ask for your suspension’s identification number.

Then, contact the Clerk’s office at your County Courthouse and ask to set up a payment plan. The Clerk’s office will need your suspension’s identification number to look up your suspension.

You will then need to fill out an affidavit stating that you are unable to pay all your court costs and fines at one time. This is the affidavit form you will need to fill out.

After that, the Clerk’s office will determine if you qualify for a payment plan.

If you qualify for a payment plan, you must pay a $25.00 fee to set it up. You can pay the $25.00 fee in one single payment, or you can pay it over five months at $5.00 per month.

After you pay the fee, the Clerk’s office will give you a verification of enrollment form to send to the DMV. You can then apply at the DMV to reinstate your license. The DMV will reduce or waive your license reinstatement fee if you give them your verification of enrollment form.

Your payment plan will include:

• the number of payments due,
• the due date of each payment,
• and the amount of each payment.

It will also include the types of payment the Clerk’s office accepts (i.e. cash, check, credit card).

The amount of your monthly payment will depend on how much you owe in court costs and fines. The amount owed each month will either be 2% of your annual net income divided by 12, or $10.00, whichever is greater.

If you make a late payment, the Clerk’s office may send notices, electronically or by mail, to remind you of your missed payment. For every 30 days your payment is late, the Clerk’s office can charge you a late fee. If your payment is 90 days late, the Clerk’s office can record a judgement lien against you or send your bill to a collection agency. A judgement lien is when a creditor may take your real or personal property to fulfill your payment obligation.

If your license is suspended and you are caught driving, you will have to pay additional fines and fees. If you are caught driving on a suspended license more than once, the DMV may apply a period of time where you cannot drive even after all of your reinstatement fees are paid. Please do not drive with a suspended license!

1. Generally, you have 180 days to enroll in a payment plan after the court determines your court costs and fees.(If your license was suspended in the past, before July 1, 2020, read the first question on this page for more information about your options.)
2. Check with the DMV about the status of your suspended license, get your suspension number.
3. Contact your county Clerk’s office to set up a payment plan. Fill out the forms.
4. If approved, make the payments.
5. Do not drive with a suspended license.

Legal Aid of West Virginia has developed a guide for Do-It Yourself Driver’s License Reinstatement in West Virginia. If you have trouble accessing this guide, please contact us.

If you have questions or need help with a driver’s license reinstatement, you can also contact Legal Aid of West Virginia to apply for help.