Thanks for your interest in my services, but I do not handle cases where a person needs help reinstating a driver’s license because of unpaid traffic ticket fees. It is not financially beneficial to pay an attorney fee if you are unable to pay court fines. I can give you some brief advice in how to address this type of problem yourself without an attorney:
- Order your driving record with DOL, website dol.wa.gov and search driving records. That way you will see what traffic tickets are causing a license hold. Those tickets are in the Failure to Appear (FTA) portion at the top of your driving abstract.
- Contact each court for each case that is in FTA status. Many courts have a re-licensing program apart from collections. King County District Court, for example, will consolidate all cases within the same jurisdiction into a single repayment program. You can call the court and ask about the process in getting into a re-licensing program. Usually the judge will lower fines, allow for community service to pay off fines, waive any interest, pull the balance from collections, or waive fines all together.
- Once the license holds are removed, you can go to DOL and pay a reinstatement fee to get a new valid drivers license. Please note, your license will not be valid until the reinstatement fee is paid with DOL and you get a new license card, even though you have paid any outstanding fines causing a license hold.
If you are having licensing complications other than with fines due to unpaid traffic tickets, just let me know and I am happy to help.
