The state of Michigan is lifting suspensions on tens of thousands of driver’s licenses if the suspension resulted from a failure to appear in court (FAC), or a failure to comply with judgment (FCJ), including failure to pay tickets or court fines.
The new law that goes into effect on October 1 will nix violations of some 73,000 drivers while almost half of those affected will get their licenses back immediately, according to Fox 2. Moving forward, Michigan will no longer suspend driver’s licenses for issues that are non-driving related, including missed court appearances. Further, certain traffic violations will be scaled back to civil infractions, Fox 2 reports.
The Michigan Department of State will be notifying drivers with letters sent out during the first two weeks of October. Letters will document what violations an individual will be cleared of, and will indicate further steps Michiganders need to take, if any, to get their licenses back, according to the Office of Michigan’s Secretary of State. The office says that those who still owe fees on non-moving violations will be able to begin driving, but they will still be required to pay existing fines.
The change comes as a result of legislation passed in 2020. Rep. Bronna Kahle, a Republican who represents Michigan’s 57th District, was the bill’s lead sponsor. “We’ve created all these unnecessary barriers that prevent people from driving: high insurance rates, driver responsibility fees, and license suspensions for unpaid tickets,” Kahle stated, according to Fox 2. “In Michigan, people need to drive to work, and the legislature is taking huge steps now to make that possible.”
State Representative Bronna Kahle
The Office of Michigan’s Secretary of State has released a comprehensive list of infractions being scaled back, which includes violations rooted in a failure to appear in court (FAC) and failure to comply with judgments (FCJ), including failure to pay tickets:
- Open Intoxicants in Vehicle
- Open Intoxicants in Vehicle (Passenger)
- Person Under 21 Transport/Possess in Vehicle
- Person Under 21 Transport/Possess in Vehicle (Passenger)
- MIP (Person Under 21 Purchase/Consume/Possess Liquor)
- Failure to Comply with Civil Infraction
- Person Under 21 Used Fraudulent ID to Purchase Liquor
- Sold/Furnished Alcoholic Liquor to a Person Under 21
- MIP (Person Under 21 Purchase/Consume/Possess Liquor)
- Felonious Driving
- Controlled Substance
- False Report or Threat of Bomb/Harmful Device (School)
- Holds placed on licenses for unpaid parking tickets will also be lifted
“When the Task Force looked at data across the state, we expected to see people in jail for assault or robbery,” stated Chief Justice Bridget McCormack of the Michigan Supreme Court according to Fox 2. “But what we found was tens of thousands of people getting locked up for driving on a suspended license. That’s not what jail is for, nor is it what taxpayers expect from an efficient justice system. These reforms are helping the justice system be more effective and helping people to stay in the workforce.”
“The revocation of a driver’s license has an immediate ripple effect on a person’s life, and to lose it for reasons completely unrelated to driving safely was unnecessarily punitive,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a statement according to the Lansing State Journal. “I am grateful for the work of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, and the many community partners who worked diligently to right this wrong.”
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