Fee amnesty program aims to help drivers reinstate licenses

Local residents who need to reinstate their driver’s licenses will get a break with a new amnesty program available in Lorain on March 26. Lorain Municipal Court, which serves Lorain, Sheffield Lake and Sheffield Township, will have a BMV Reinstatement Fee Amnesty Program this month. A representative of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will appear at the court from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to assist people whose driver’s licenses are suspended for unpaid reinstatement fees. The program operates in conjunction with the Ohio BMV Reinstatement Fee Amnesty Initiative that began Jan. 31 and ends July 31. Some drivers may qualify for a partial waiver of fees, while persons enrolled in the SNAP Program may qualify for a complete waiver of fees. “The court has already referred many people to the amnesty program, and they have saved hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars in reinstatement fees,” said Lorain Municipal Court Judge Mark Mihok. “This allows more people to obtain driving privileges again.” The clerk of courts office is working with the judges to take partial payments on court fines to release any court holds on their licenses, said Clerk of Courts Ted Kalo. “The combination of partial payments to the court and the BMV Amnesty Programs brings in needed revenue to the city and helps get people back on the road,” said Judge Thomas Elwell. People may come March 26 without an appointment, or they can apply on their own anytime at either a BMV deputy registrar’s office or online at www.bmv. ohio.gov. There is no fee for the application.