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Usually, when a person has his/her license suspended, they also have several other issues related to their license such as warrants or surcharges. These “holds” will prevent the license holder from having their license reinstated or replaced. However, these holds may do not necessarily prevent the person from obtaining an occupational license. This article will review the typical holds and how the may effect an occupational license.
We generally see the same holds against a person’s license in nearly every situation. The following is a non-exclusive list:
- Outstanding warrants: these warrants can be issued for failure to appear in court as stated on the ticket or for failure to pay the ticket as agreed to with the court. For tickets where the person never appeared in court or entered into a agreement to dispose of the case, an alias warrant is issued. Alias warrants can be lifted by an attorney. For warrants issued after an agreement has been made to resolve the ticket, i.e., payment plan, community service, driver safety course, an attorney cannot lift the warrant; rather, the person must pay the fine in full or turn himself/herself into the jail to sit out the fines owed. Warrants will generally not stop an occupational license, however, a judge may not grant the order on his/her own discretion until the warrants are lifted.
- Omni Fees: these are administrative fees owed to the court because the person failed to appear in court on time and take care of the ticket. Omni fees are $30.00 per violation and do not get dismissed, even if the underlying criminal case is dismissed, because they are administrative in nature and have nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of the person. However, if the person goes to trial and is found not guilty, the omni fee is waived. Omni fees rarely prevent the issuance of an occupational license unless the judge makes it a prerequisite to signing the order.
- Surcharges: these are administrative charges and holds against a person’s drivers license issued because the person received a conviction for an offense for which a surcharge applies. For example, a no insurance conviction incurs a surcharge of $260.00 per year for three years following the conviction. Failure to pay the surcharge can cause the license to become invalid and may be an obstacle to an occupational license if the presiding judge requires the surcharges to be paid first.
In summary, the holds listed above do not necessarily prevent an occupational license from being issued but will definitely block any effort to have the original license reinstated. The best thing to do is remove all holds and get an occupational license, if needed, at the same time. In any case, the holds won’t go away on their own.
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