What steps do I take to get my license clear?

Question

I have 1 (or 2) warrants for traffic tickets, my license is suspended, and i need to pay i think $1200 in fees. I know the first thing I need to do is get insurance, but how do I take care of the other stuff? About how much will this cost me besides the 1200?

Answer 1

You cannot get insurance with a suspended license so you need to take care of that ASAP! You need to go to your local courthouse and talk to a judge in order to set up a payment plan and plead guilty/non-guilty to the tickets. If you plead not guilty then there will be a hearing scheduled, usually 30-60 days later in which all parties attend. Then the judge gives a ruling (up to 30 days later). Then you get sentenced and fined (usually another 30 days later).

This is not a quick process if you plead not guilty.

Remember - the more tickets you have, the higher your insurance rates. See if you can negotiate on pleading guilty for some in exchange for getting others dismissed.

I WOULD NOT TRY THIS WITHOUT AT LEAST TALKING TO AN ATTORNEY FIRST!

Good luck!

Answer 2

You don't even know for sure how many warrants you have ("I have 1 (or 2) warrants for traffic tickets...") or how much your fines are ("...need to pay i think $1200 in fees..."). but you expect US to tell you what you need to do?

Okay, no problem, I will. First get it together. Find out how many warrants are out there by turning yourself in and then going to court and talking to the judge. Find out what you need to pay, and set up a plan to get it paid. Once you have all that cleared you can start down the road to getting a license back. I imagine the judge is going to tell you (or perhaps the state will be the bearer of the bad tidings) that you will need to file a SR-22 for the next 3 years. Go see your insurance broker and get that in effect, now, with your life clear of such things and your SR-22 in place, contact the DMV and ask about your license status.

And DON'T get back into a mess like this again. I wish you well.

Answer 3

First off, I am not sure if you can even get insurance with your license suspended. If you can, the rates are going to be through the roof. Second off, you need to clear up the warrants first and foremost. If you are picked up for anything, you are going to jail because of the warrants. I would call the city or county government and ask what you should do to get this all straightened out. I don't know what the tickets are for but you need to take care of this mess right away. If you get arrested it is not going to look good in the future.

Answer 4

I agree with everyone else who has said that you need to talk to a lawyer and turn yourself in so you can begin to settle this. I just want to add that the SR-22 is not really as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. Insurance companies are used to these and they just tack on like another $20 a year to file the paperwork for you with the DMV (in California) to proove that you are maintaining insurance.

When you do get your license back your insurance rates will be higher because somewhere you messed up. There is no workaround. You have to STOP DRIVING, loose your license, pay the fine, pay crappy insurance rates for awhile, and hopefully learn your lesson and never screw up again. That's how life works. Good Luck.

Answer 5

No,the first thing that you need to do is to clear the warrants! Until you do that, there's no sense in getting insurance since you're not going to be able to drive until the warrants are cleared. If you're required to provide SR22 verification, that's going to get expensive -- probably a lot more than those warrants...

Answer 6

go to court ask the judge what you should do,if you are lucky he will drop the warrants because you came in,,if they find you now you will go to jail,pay the fine,ask for your license back and then get insurance he might let you do that instead of you getting a SR22

Answer 7

you need to pay those fines. thats the only way you will get a clear license.