ONCE IT WAS OKAY FOR COURTS TO CHARGE THIS FEE
The 70th legislature amended the Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act to allow courts to charge a $10.00 dismissal fee in cases where the person was unable to produce proof of financial responsibility when requested by an officer, but they were able to subsequently provide adequate proof that they were in fact in compliance with the act, either covered by insurance or by other means permissible under the act.
THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL
SAID THE FEE WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
In 1988, that section of the Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act allowing courts to charge the $10.00 dismissal fee on financial responsibility cases was declared unconstitutional by The Office of the Attorney General of Texas, Opinion No. JM-917. The Attorney General opined that since the crime is driving without financial responsibility, and not failing to show proof to the officer, charging a dismissal fee to someone who was actually insured amounts to punishing the person for a crime they did not commit, and is therefore, unconstitutional.
THE LEGISLATURE AGREED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility has since been codified into Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 601. Heeding the advice of the Attorney General Opinion, that the fee is unconstitutional, the legislature correctly chose to omit any provision authorizing courts to charge a fee for the dismissal of financial responsibility cases.
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CASES ARE DIFFERENT FROM
EXPIRED REGISTRATION, DRIVERS LICENSE AND INSPECTION CASES
In contrast to the financial responsibility dismissal statute, the statutes dealing with the dismissal of expired registration, expired drivers license and expired inspection specifically authorize courts to charge dismissal fees on those type of cases. These fees are not unconstitutional because, unlike financial responsibility cases, the person is paying a dismissal fee for a violation they actually committed which they later remedied by renewal of their registration, drivers license or inspection sticker. These statutes allow the courts some discretion to encourage compliance by allowing a small fee, rather than a big fine, for those violators who come into compliance. Compliance fee would probably be a more appropriate term for these fees.
Since charging a dismissal fee on a "No Insurance" violation is unconstitutional, the legislature has intentionally removed the statutory authority for the courts to do so. Therefore, any court that assesses or charges such a fee is doing so illegally.
Charles French was licensed to practice law in Texas in 1991. The majority of his practice includes the Justice of the Peace and Municipal Courts in Houston, Harris County and surrounding counties. You may visit his website by going to:
