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First and foremost, the Department of Public Safety says this is an amnesty for surcharges.
“It’s got nothing to do with the original fine. It’s not a reduction on any of the criminal penalties they may have to pay if they were convicted of DWI, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the fines they may have paid for not having a license or not having insurance.”
DPS’s Tela Mange says surcharges are something different.
“You become part of the surcharge program by being convicted of driving while intoxicated, or driving without insurance or driving without a license, or getting too many tickets in a certain period of time.”
Those who are eligible had surcharges assessed between September 30, 2004 and December 31, 2008 and are delinquent or in default on their payments. If you meet the amnesty’s requirements you have to pay only 10% of the original amount owed for all surcharges combined with a maximum of $250.00. Mange says in some cases this will save thousands of dollars, but that ten percent must be paid in full by April 17th.
You can apply at the DPS website t-x-surcharge-online.