Drivers' license; suspension for nonpayment of fines or costs. (SB578)

Introduced By

Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) with support from co-patron Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Suspension of driver's license for nonpayment of fines or costs. Removes the requirement that a court suspend the driver's license of a person convicted of any violation of the law who fails or refuses to provide for immediate payment of fines or costs. The bill allows a court, after 90 days of nonpayment where the court finds the nonpayment was not an intentional refusal to obey the sentence of the court, to provide additional time for payment, reduce the amount of each payment installment, assign community service in lieu of payment, or waive the unpaid portion in whole or in part. Upon a finding that the nonpayment was an intentional refusal to obey the sentence of the court, a court may suspend the defendant's driver's license until payment in full or until the defendant enters into a payment plan. Read the Bill »

Status

01/29/2018: Failed to Pass in Committee

History

DateAction
01/09/2018Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18102708D
01/09/2018Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/26/2018Impact statement from DPB (SB578)
01/29/2018Continued to 2019 in Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)

Duplicate Bills

The following bills are identical to this one: HB941.

Comments

ACLU-VA Criminal Justice, tracking this bill in Photosynthesis, notes:

The ACLU of VA strongly supports repealing laws that suspends a person's driver's license for any reason unrelated to bad driving. These provisions in the law disproportionately affect lower-income drivers and do nothing to improve road safety. Police have also used Driver's License checkpoints to target minorities and immigrant communities around the Commonwealth, further increasing the disparity of how these provisions in the law are enforced.