Texas Department of Safety Surcharges

The Texas Department of Public Safety must provide for the payment of a surcharge in installments. The Driver Responsibility Program may not permit a person to pay a surcharge over a period of more than 36 consecutive months, and the Department of Public Safety may declare the amount of the unpaid surcharge is due immediately if the person fails to make a required installment payment.

The Texas Department of Public Safety may authorize the payment of a surcharge by use of a credit card. The joys of convenience; however, the person is required to pay all costs incurred by the DPS in connection with the acceptance of the credit card. That interest gets you every time. If a surcharge or a related cost is paid by credit card and the amount is subsequently reversed by the issuer of the credit card the license of the person is automatically suspended.

Failure to Pay Surcharges in Texas:

A person’s driver’s license can be automatically suspended, if the person fails to pay the amount of a surcharge on the person's license or fails to enter into an installment payment agreement with the Department of Public Safety before the 30th day after the date the Department of Public Safety sent a notice. A license suspended under the Driver Responsibility Program remains suspended until the person pays the amount of the surcharge and any related costs.

The Texas Department of Public Safety may enter into a contract with a private attorney or a public or private vendor for the provision of services for the collection of surcharges receivable and related costs under the Driver Responsibility Program. The total amount of compensation may not exceed 30 percent of the amount of the surcharges and related costs collected.

Notice of Surcharges:

A citation issued for an offense under a traffic law of Texas, or a political subdivision of Texas, must include in type larger than any other type on the citation, the following statement, "A conviction of an offense under a traffic law of this state or a political subdivision of this state may result in the assessment on your driver's license of a surcharge under the Driver Responsibility Program."

The Texas Department of Public Safety shall notify the holder of a driver's license of the assessment of a surcharge on that license by first class mail sent to the person's most recent address as shown on the records of the Texas DPS. The notice must specify the date by which the surcharge must be paid and state the consequences of a failure to pay the surcharge.

Surcharge For Driving Intoxicated

Each year the Texas Department of Public Safety must assess a surcharge on the license of each person who during the preceding 36-month period has been finally convicted of an offense relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

A first offense surcharge in Texas is $1,000 per year, it is $1,500 per year for a second or subsequent conviction within a 36-month period and $2,000 for a first or subsequent conviction if it is shown on the trial of the offense that an analysis of a specimen of the person's blood, breath, or urine showed an alcohol concentration level of 0.16 or more at the time the analysis was performed. A surcharge under the Texas Driver Responsibility Program for the same conviction may not be assessed in more than three years.

Surcharge For Points:

Each year, the Department of Public Safety shall assess a surcharge on the license of a person who has accumulated six or more points under the Texas Driver Responsibility Program during the preceding 36-month period. The amount of a surcharge under the Driver Responsibility Programs is $100 for the first six points and $25 for each additional point. The Texas Department of Public Safety shall notify the holder of a driver's license of the assignment of a fifth point on that license by first-class mail sent to the person's most recent address as shown on the records of the department. There's nothing like an official document to make you extra paranoid about accruing points on your record.

If you get a ticket for not having your lights on, you can always take our Texas Defensive Driving Course.