I have a surchage fee for a Texas drivers lic, but have moved and gotten a license . Do I have to pay Texas?

Question

My husband got a DWI in texas and paid the fee's while we lived there...but since we have moved to another state and no longer need the TX license, does he need to pay Texas? What happens if we don't?

Answer 1

If he pays a surcharge on his Texas license for DWI, but no longer has a Texas license, then no, he doens't have to pay it. If he still owes fines and fees for his crime, then yes, he still has to pay.

Answer 2

I'd pay it.  That's something that may lie there waiting for you like a rattle snake.  Suppose you don't pay it off.  One day you're back in Tejas for a visit and get a ticket - off to jail in the middle of your vacation----  couldn't suck any worse than that!

Answer 3

In your new state, you should be able to surrender the Texas license (hopefully, it didn't expire, yet), and get another from the new state.

At that point, I don't see why you would need to pay Texas anything, since you are not renewing your license there.

I don't know if your new state would issue you a license if you turned in an expired Texas license - you'd probably have to start from scratch and take a road test, written test, etc.

Answer 4

I believe that you will have to pay it.  Most states honor the other state's license suspensions.  Thus, if you don't pay the surcharge, Texas will suspend your license until you do.  The state you are moving to will have access to your TX license troubles and my bet would be that the state will abide by TX's license restrictions/suspensions, etc.  Also, it is the right thing to do since your punishment for DWI is to pay a surcharge for 3 years.  If the state's did not follow and respect other state's licensing decisions, everybody would be circumventing the suspension by going to a friendly state.  This may be happening but I bet that loophole has been closed.