The City of Magnolia is using several new tools to collect outstanding fines and fees for violations when the owner of a vehicle who has an outstanding warrant for failure to appear or failure to pay a fine on a complaint that involves violations of a traffic law. These programs will prevent individuals with outstanding violations from renewing their driver’s license and vehicle registration until the violation is settled with a municipal court.

The city entered into an interlocal agreement with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and the Montgomery County Tax Assessor to participate in the Scofflaw Program. Sixty days after a violation, the case is submitted to the tax assessor’s office which adds an additional fee and places a block for renewal of vehicle registration, until the case is settled with the court.

“What makes this program so unique is that it doesn’t matter where you reside, as everyone is required to renew their vehicle registration once a year,” Magnolia Police Chief Domingo Ibarra said. “This nearly guarantees drivers with outstanding fines will have to return to the county offices or lose the privilege of driving.”

The City of Magnolia also utilizes the OmniBase Services program. OmniBase maintains and administers the central database for cities and counties contracted to use the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Failure to Appear program (FTA). Sixty days after a violation, the case is submitted to the DPS OmniBase program which adds a $30 fee and places a block for renewal of driver’s license until the case is settled with the court.

An example of the Scofflaw program would be if a citizen arrived at the tax office to renew the registration of a vehicle and the citizen is told they have an outstanding ticket with the City of Magnolia. The account would be flagged and the citizen would be told that they have a ticket or fine that needs to be paid before the registration may be completed. The clerk would then give the citizen an instruction sheet detailing how to use the kiosk payment system and request that the citizen bring back the printed receipt after completing their payment. The registration of the vehicle may be completed after the kiosk payment has been made. Procedures to clear a registration block will be provided at the City of Magnolia Municipal Court or at the tax office, with directions on how to use the self-service kiosk.

For more information, call 832-934-0605 or visit www.cityofmagnolia.com.

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