If a Texas county leaves the Failure to Appear program, can it make DPS lift the driver license holds it requested?

Plain-English summary

Texas has a program, set up in chapter 706 of the Transportation Code and often called the "Failure to Appear Program," that ties driver's license renewals to unresolved court matters. A city or county signs a contract with the Department of Public Safety and reports people who fail to appear on a complaint or citation, or fail to pay or satisfy a judgment. DPS can then refuse to renew those people's driver's licenses until the underlying matter is cleared up. Part of the deal is a $10 reimbursement fee per reported complaint or citation, which the person generally has to pay before the license hold comes off.

The Department's director, Steven McCraw, asked the Attorney General a pointed question after Harris County joined the program and then ended its agreement. The county asked DPS to lift every hold it had requested, even for people who had not paid the reimbursement fee. McCraw wanted to know whether a political subdivision can force DPS to lift its holds when the subdivision has not met the clearance-notice requirements in section 706.005 or collected the fee under section 706.006.

The AG walked through the statute's mechanics. Section 706.005(b) lists the specific events that require DPS to stop denying a renewal: a clearance notice under subsection (a), the person's acquittal, dismissal of the charge with prejudice for lack of evidence, or notice from the subdivision that the failure-to-appear report or payment order was sent in error or was destroyed under the subdivision's records-retention policy. Section 706.006 separately requires the subdivision to collect the reimbursement fee from a person who failed to appear, with only a handful of exceptions (acquittal, dismissal with prejudice for lack of evidence, a report sent in error, a closed-and-destroyed case, or a court finding of indigence). Reading those provisions, the AG concluded that nothing in chapter 706 authorizes a political subdivision to require DPS to lift previously requested holds for any reason outside the section 706.005(b) list. In particular, a subdivision cannot demand that its holds be lifted just because it no longer wants to participate in the program. The AG added that ending the contract does not release the individual's obligation to pay the fee or the subdivision's obligation to collect it once the failure to appear has already been reported.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

The opinion was written for the Department of Public Safety, which had to decide how to handle a county's blanket request to clear its holds. For DPS, the answer was that it was not required to lift holds simply because Harris County left the program; the only triggers that compel DPS to release a hold are the ones in section 706.005(b). For political subdivisions, the opinion meant that withdrawing from the Failure to Appear Program does not automatically unwind the holds already requested or wipe out the fee obligations that attached when the failures to appear were reported. For drivers with outstanding holds, the practical implication was that a county's exit did not, on its own, restore their renewal eligibility; the statutory clearance events still had to occur. The AG did not address any contractual or policy arrangements outside chapter 706's text.

Common questions

Q: What is the Failure to Appear Program?
A: It is a chapter 706 arrangement where a city or county contracts with DPS to report people who fail to appear on a citation or fail to pay a judgment, and DPS then denies those people's driver's license renewals until the matter is cleared.

Q: Can a county force DPS to lift its holds after leaving the program?
A: Not on that basis alone. The AG concluded chapter 706 only requires DPS to lift a hold for the reasons listed in section 706.005(b), and a county's decision to stop participating is not one of them.

Q: Does canceling the contract erase the $10 reimbursement fee?
A: No. The AG said canceling the contract does not release the person's obligation to pay the fee or the subdivision's obligation to collect it, if the failure to appear was already reported to DPS.

Q: When must DPS lift a renewal hold?
A: When it receives a clearance notice, or notice that the person was acquitted, that the charge was dismissed with prejudice for lack of evidence, or that the report or payment order was sent in error or destroyed under the subdivision's records-retention policy.

Background and statutory framework

Chapter 706 of the Transportation Code (sections 706.001 through 706.012) builds a cooperative enforcement tool between local governments and the state. Section 706.002 authorizes the contract; section 706.001(7) defines "political subdivision" as a municipality or county; section 706.004(a) lets DPS deny a renewal after a report; section 706.005 lists the notices that require DPS to stop denying a renewal, including the clearance notice in subsection (a) and the events in subsection (b); and section 706.006 governs the $10 reimbursement fee, the denial of renewal until the fee is paid (subsection (c)), and the limited exceptions, including a court finding of indigence (subsection (d)). The opinion turned on a straightforward reading of these provisions: because section 706.005(b) is the exclusive list of circumstances that compel DPS to release a hold, a political subdivision cannot manufacture a new trigger, such as its own withdrawal from the program, that the Legislature did not include. The opinion cited no court decisions; it rested entirely on the statutory text.

Citations and references

Statutory provisions:

• Tex. Transp. Code § 706.005 (notices that require lifting a renewal hold); § 706.006 (reimbursement fee and exceptions); § 706.002 (contract); § 706.004 (denial of renewal)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/ken-paxton/kp-0341
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2020/kp-0341.pdf

Original opinion text

KEN PAXTON
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

November 4, 2020

Mr. Steven C. McCraw
Director
Texas Department of Public Safety
Post Office Box 4087
Austin, Texas 78773-0001

Opinion No. KP-0341

Re: Whether a political subdivision may require the Department of Public Safety to lift driver license renewal holds requested under Transportation Code chapter 706 if the political subdivision has not met the requirements for sending a clearance notice under section 706.005 or has not collected the reimbursement fee under section 706.006 (RQ-0379-KP)

Dear Mr. McCraw:

You ask whether a political subdivision that contracted with the Department of Public Safety ("the Department") pursuant to section 706.002 of the Transportation Code may require the Department to lift driver license renewal holds in certain circumstances.¹

Chapter 706 of the Transportation Code creates what you refer to as the "Failure to Appear Program." Request Letter at 1; see TEX. TRANSP. CODE §§ 706.001–.012. That chapter authorizes a contract between a municipality or county and the Department, whereby the municipality or county provides information to the Department about a person's failure to appear for a complaint or citation or failure to pay or satisfy a judgment. TEX. TRANSP. CODE § 706.002(a); see also id. § 706.001(7) (defining "political subdivision" as a municipality or county). Upon receipt of that information, the Department may deny the person's driver's license renewal. Id. § 706.004(a). With limited exceptions, a person whose failure to appear or make payment has been reported to the Department "shall be required to pay a reimbursement fee of $10 for each complaint or citation reported." Id. § 706.006(a) (emphasis added). The Department may continue to deny the driver's license renewal until it receives notice from the political subdivision that certain events occurred that warrant lifting the denial. See id. § 706.005. For example, the political subdivision must notify the Department if the person paid the required reimbursement fee and paid the fine and cost owed on an outstanding judgment that served as the basis for the original denial. See id. § 706.005(a)(4). Once the Department receives notice from the political subdivision that specific events occurred to warrant lifting the denial, the Department "may not continue to deny the renewal of the person's driver's license." Id. § 706.005(b)(1).

You explain that Harris County entered into an agreement with the Department to participate in the Failure to Appear Program but terminated that agreement earlier this year. Request Letter at 2. You also explain that Harris County requested that the Department lift all holds issued in connection with the agreement, "regardless of whether the person who failed to appear for a complaint or citation for an offense has paid a reimbursement fee." Id. You question whether a political subdivision such as Harris County may require the Department to lift those holds "if the political subdivision has not met the requirements for sending a clearance notice under section 706.005 or has not collected the reimbursement fee required by section 706.006." Id. at 1.

Subsection 706.006(a) generally requires a political subdivision to collect a reimbursement fee from "a person who fails to appear for a complaint or citation for an offense" any time the complaint or citation has been reported to the Department. TEX. TRANSP. CODE § 706.006(a). That subsection lists four specified reasons why a person is excused from paying the fee:

(1) the person is acquitted of the charges for which the person failed to appear;

(2) the charges on which the person failed to appear were dismissed with prejudice by motion of the appropriate prosecuting attorney for lack of evidence;

(3) the failure to appear report was sent to the department in error; or

(4) the case regarding the complaint or citation is closed and the failure to appear report has been destroyed in accordance with the applicable political subdivision's records retention policy.

Id. Additionally, the person may not be required to pay a reimbursement fee if a court makes a finding that the person is indigent. Id. § 706.006(d). Unless a person qualifies for a statutory exception to payment of the fee, the Department "may deny renewal of the driver's license of a person who does not pay a reimbursement fee due . . . until the fee is paid." Id. § 706.006(c). Cancellation of the contract between the Department and a political subdivision does not release the individual's obligation to pay and the political subdivision's obligation to collect the fee if the failure to appear has already been reported to the Department.

Also relevant to your question, subsection 706.005(b) establishes circumstances under which the Department must lift a hold on renewal of the driver's license:

The department may not continue to deny the renewal of the person's driver's license under this chapter after the department receives notice:

(1) under Subsection (a);

(2) that the person was acquitted of the charge on which the person failed to appear;

(3) that the charge on which the person failed to appear was dismissed with prejudice by motion of the appropriate prosecuting attorney for lack of evidence; or

(4) from the political subdivision that the failure to appear report or court order to pay a fine or cost relating to the person:

(A) was sent to the department in error; or

(B) has been destroyed in accordance with the political subdivision's records retention policy.

Id. § 706.005(b). Nothing in the language of chapter 706 authorizes a political subdivision to require the Department to lift the previously-requested holds for reasons other than those articulated in subsection 706.005(b). Id. Furthermore, specific to your request, subsection 706.005(b) does not authorize a political subdivision to require the Department to lift driver's license renewal holds that the political subdivision previously requested simply because the political subdivision no longer chooses to participate in the program.

S U M M A R Y

Chapter 706 of the Transportation Code authorizes a contract between a municipality or county and the Department of Public Safety, whereby the municipality or county provides information to the Department about a person's failure to appear for a complaint or citation or failure to pay or satisfy a judgment, and the Department denies the renewal of the person's driver's license until certain requirements are met.

Subsection 706.006(a) generally requires a political subdivision to collect a reimbursement fee from a person who fails to appear for a complaint or citation or fails to pay or satisfy a judgment that has been reported to the Department. The Department may deny renewal of the driver's license of a person who does not pay a reimbursement fee due under section 706.006 until the fee is paid.

Nothing in the language of chapter 706 of the Transportation Code authorizes a political subdivision to require the Department to lift previously-requested holds for reasons other than those articulated in subsection 706.005(b).

Very truly yours,

KEN PAXTON
Attorney General of Texas

BRENT E. WEBSTER
First Assistant Attorney General

LESLEY FRENCH
General Counsel

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER
Chair, Opinion Committee