Driver's License Suspended

[stevenmw]

I have received one ticket in the past 5 years. I'm positive about this because I was in the Navy for four of the five.

I received a ticket a few months back, and I payed it immediately. I found out yesterday that my drivers license had been suspended on June 6. I didn't receive any kind of notice, warning, or anything. I finally found out when my insurance was canceled. Also with no notice that it would be happening.

So all of this happened with no warning. My license was suspended, and insurance was canceled with no chance to handle it until it was too late.

I called the court clerk in the county that I was issued the ticket. They said that it showed up as payed on their system, and that they never sent anything to The Department Of Public Safety. So after getting bounced around between a dozen people I got a hold of the Department of Public Safety in my county. They got furious and said that the other county was lying. They said they had no way of knowing about tickets unless someone sent out that they hadn't been payed so someone had to have sent it out.

How is it possible to have a ticket showed up as payed in one county, but not in another. Two very nice women were helping me out, and they both had my records pulled up. One said It shows hadn't payed, and the other said it showed I did.

Apparently all I have to do is have the county that issued the ticket fax a letter to the county that has suspnded my license and all will be fine. So this morning when everything opens I make two or three calls and hopefully clear it up.

Here is the nitty gritty. How long will it take for my license to actually be unsuspected? Even if I get this cleared up I apparently still have to go to the DPS and get some kind of paperwork, and then take it too my insurance. How long of a process am I looking at?

Why is it the state can suspend my license without warning, and take care of all of this behind my back without even dealing with me one bit, but now it's my responsibility to undo all of this when it was someone else's mistake? If they can suspend my license without my help or knowledge why can't they unsuspend my license without my help? I don't understand why it's suddenly my responsibility?

Can I sue the state or the issuing county for this? they said I may owe fees for not paying. I'm pretty sure I'll have to buy a new license when it isn't even set to expire for a very long time. Will the state pay for my new license?

if I do owe fees, and owe for a new license will the state cover any of it? I feel they owe me for a new license since it is their fault I am having to get a new one.

Was the state letting me drive for a month with a suspended license as a kind of trap? Is it illegal for them to let someone drive with a suspended license without the person's knowledge? If I had gotten into an accident through no fault of my own I could have been liable for damages to my vehicle. How can this be legal? If I were to have been pulled over I could have even been arrested. Then I would have missed school, work and all other kinds of things could have happened.

If it isn't can I sue? I could have gotten into all sorts of trouble for a ticket I did pay, and an error someone else made. I know I was speeding, but I took responsibility and payed the ticket on time. So is it possible to sue for the state putting me in a terrible situation?

- - - Updated - - -

I posted this in the wrong section of the forum. Can a moderator please move it?

[Mr. Knowitall]

The court, a county agency, abstracts information to the DPS, a statewide agency. If the DPS updates its information based upon what it learns from a court, the DPS record should be the same statewide. The court can have something else showing in its own records because it's separate agency operated by a separate unit of government.

You didn't follow the instruction to identify your state, so we're stuck speaking in generalities. It's possible that things are different in your state.

How long will it take for my license to actually be unsuspected?

That's a question for the DPS. One would hope they could act expeditiously, but sometimes government bureaucracies work at a glacial pace.

Why is it the state can suspend my license without warning, and take care of all of this behind my back without even dealing with me one bit, but now it's my responsibility to undo all of this when it was someone else's mistake?

If your address on your license is in fact your mailing address, it would be normal for you to receive notice of the suspension - I expect that's standard practice in your state, but I cannot verify that. If your address was out-of-date, the notice likely was sent to the wrong address. You can ask the DPS why you might not have received a letter.

If they can suspend my license without my help or knowledge why can't they unsuspend my license without my help? I don't understand why it's suddenly my responsibility?

Mistakes don't fix themselves. If nobody tells the court to send correct information to the DPS, it won't get done. It's not DPS's job to investigate possible court errors.

Can I sue the state or the issuing county for this? they said I may owe fees for not paying.

Can you sue, sure. Can you win? No. Governmental immunity.

I don't know who "they" are in the above sentence.

I'm pretty sure I'll have to buy a new license when it isn't even set to expire for a very long time. Will the state pay for my new license?

No.