The Baytown Bulletin Board

I personally don't drink these days; it makes me sleepy instead of feel good. Guess I'm getting old. My question for you that may know is: My fishing partner got a DWI about a year ago, first one and he went through community service, set in on a few dozen meetings and has a parole officer. He paid out the wazoo and will never do that again. You can't afford it.

His license came up for renew and he sat for two hours to get up to the booth and was told he had to pay $1000 a year for three years to get a renewal. I asked him, pay who? He didn't know or his parole officer, by the way these people are bottom feeders anyway.

They called it a surcharge. Anybody heard of that? He can't drive or get a fishing license according to TX Dot until it's paid and doesn't have the money. Bummer

That doesn't seem right. If you pay your fines and fees through the lawyer/courts and then it is ruled taken care of that should be it.

But then again, no offense, I don't feel sorry for drunk drivers. They deserve everything they get.

Your friend was likely informed of this and likely has documents from the court that informs him of the penalties that are imposed, as a result of conviction. Regardless, here is what the Texas State Law says:

The Driver Responsibility Program (DRP) can be located in TRC Chapter 708 and was enacted by the 78th legislative session (House Bill 3588). This law requires the Department to assess surcharges based on certain traffic offenses.

The surcharge amount varies based upon the type of violation committed. No points are accessed for these offenses because the surcharge is automatic upon conviction. The following offense information and associated surcharges are listed below:

* Driving While Intoxicated or a DWI-related offense
o First time offense = $1,000
o Second or subsequent offense = $1,500
o DWI with Blood Alcohol Content 0.16 or greater = $2,000
* Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility= $250
* Driving While License Invalid = $250
* Driving without a Valid License (i.e. No Driver License, No Commercial Driver License, No Endorsement Violation, No Motorcycle License, Operate with License for other Class Vehicle) = $100

Surcharges, which are cumulative, are automatically assessed for these convictions. Therefore, an initial conviction for DWI will be assessed $1,000 annually, and a subsequent DWI conviction within the same three-year period will be assessed an additional $1,500 annually.


In addition, the basic cost of renewal for someone with a DWI is $100.00 and the surcharge is in addition to this amount.

You can find this information at the Texas Dept of Public Safety:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administrat...dlfees.htm
https://www.msb-gila.com/ePay/Faq.aspx#a1

Thx txna, I'm going to forward this to him right now. I can't understand why nobody mentioned it while all the huplah was going on.

He's a father a good guy and made a bad decision. He's my little brother.

BTW, this wa nearly a year ago.

Unfortunately, good people still make bad choices and if caught in the circumstances, they find the price they pay is the same as everyone that makes similar decisions. Whether we agree with the degree of punishment, the law, or any other aspect that may be a result of our poor choices, will have little to do with the fact that we must still pay the price, as set forth at that time.

While in most cases, it is likely that all aspects of the penalties are provided to the individual within the final papers that indicate final disposition of the case, it is not necessarily required, as it is a matter of "public information" and just like the old saying, "ignorance of the law is no excuse", it doesn't exempt the individual from having to comply with other aspects that are a matter of law, as it is up to each individual to be knowledgeable and comply with all laws, lest they find out the "hard way".

I'm not dissing your brother... it's just the way things are, in a any society of laws and the resulting effects of being unaware of the punishments that accompany such infractions. It may only raise the debate of whether one would have made a different choice, had they been aware of all aspects of the resulting infraction. After all, our jails are also full of people that committed more serious offenses, despite their likely knowledge of the possible consequences of their actions.