In Ohio, one million drivers have their licenses suspended. Approximately 60 percent of all driver’s license suspensions are the result of debt-related and other issues rather than dangerous driving. A person’s ability to pay a fine or a fee should not determine whether they are free to drive. 

Ohio is on its way to joining more than 20 states that have already moved away from these debt-related penalties.

Today, the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a substitute version of Senate Bill 37, sponsored Senators Louis Blessing, III (R-Colerain Township) and Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati), that will limit driver’s license suspensions to convictions related to dangerous driving.

The updated bill language includes a number of changes that will benefit low-income Ohioans including:

• Eliminating the government’s authority to revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a person’s driver’s license for failure to pay court fines and fees and for failure to appear in court when the offense does not carry the possibility of jail or prison time. 
• Eliminating judgment suspensions, which currently allow private parties to submit civil judgments to the BMV to suspend a person’s driver’s license until they pay a civil debt.
• Eliminating security suspensions which, along with judgment suspensions, are another way private parties utilize the BMV and driver’s license suspensions as debt-collection tools. 
• Requiring reinstatement of a driver's license that wassuspended for failure to provide proof of financial responsibility after the person provides such proof, pays a reduced $25 reinstatement fee, and pays the $10 deputy registrar fee. 
• Eliminating the requirement that a person whose license was suspended for failure to provide proof of financial responsibility continually files such proof for three to five years after the offense (a.k.a. a SR-22 certificate). 
• Eliminating the random selection insurance verification provision. While the program ended in 2019, the new provision automatically terminates ongoing suspensions and waives the associated reinstatement fees. 
• Making changes to driver’s license suspensions related to default on child support payments, including extending the compliance deadline to 45 days, and requiring petitions for limited driving privileges to be granted if petitioner meets all the requirements. 

When a state’s public policy acts as a barrier to a person reaching their full potential, the long-term consequences impact individuals, families, and their communities at large. A valid driver’s license is essential to participating in Ohio’s economy and earning the money necessary to resolve existing debt. 

The Ohio Poverty Law Center encourages the Senate Judiciary Committee to move forward with passage of Substitute Senate Bill 37 before the end of the year to ensure driver’s license suspensions are limited to those convictions related to dangerous driving. 

You can join our campaign and find more details about debt-related driver’s license suspensions and how they affect your community at our Return to the Road Campaign webpage.