Traffic Amnesty Program
On October 1, 2015 a new program became effective in California called the Traffic Tickets/Infractions Amnesty Program. This program will remain in effect until March 31, 2017, and is available to all adults with Vehicle Code and non-Vehicle Code infractions, as well as some misdemeanor violations with specified exemptions. The program will also be available to individuals eligible to have a driver’s license,including undocumented individuals who are eligible for a driver’s license under AB 60. Those eligible fort he program may be charged a $50 fee by the court to participate.
The Traffic Amnesty Program allows certain eligible persons to reduce the amount owed for unpaid tickets and have their driver’s license reinstated. If the person is not eligible to have their fines reduced,then they may still be able to have their driver’s license reinstated.
To be eligible for reduced fines and driver’s license re-instatement, the following criteria must be met:
- Fines were originally due for payment on or before January 1, 2013
- No payments were made after September 30, 2015
- Ticket was for an infraction
- There is no victim restitution owed
- No outstanding misdemeanor or felony warrants
For reduced fines, the program works by removing the penalty/civil assessments, which generally account for anywhere from 50% to 80% of the total fine amount.
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- – To be eligible for the 80% debt reduction, the person must either:
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- Have annual earnings below the federal poverty level, which would be:
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- $14,712 for an individual
- $30,312 for a family of four
- Be receiving public assistance.
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If you received an additional civil assessment for failure to appear on your ticket or failure to pay fines,under this program any additional fees imposed under Penal Code section 1214.1 will be removed from the outstanding fine amount before the amnesty reduction is calculated.
If you have an unpaid citation that was due on or before January 1, 2013 but have made a payment after September 30, 2015, you may still be eligible to have your driver’s license reinstated, but will not be eligible for reduced fines. To reinstate your license, the DMV will charge a $55 re-instatement fee.
To find out more information on the Traffic Amnesty Program visit:
http://www.courts.ca.gov/trafficamnesty.htm
To find out if you are eligible, you will need to contact the court in which your citation was filed. If you are unsure if you have unpaid tickets, you can pull a copy of your driving record from the DMV, which can be done online at: