Governor Rick Snyder has approved a bill to allow people who owe driver’s fees for traffic offenses to pay off their debt with community service.
We have more from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta.
Shelli Weisberg of the American Civil Liberties Union says the fees were unfair in the first place because people convicted of traffic violations had already paid fines and court costs. She says the community service option will particularly help low-income people who need to drive to work.
“We had tons of clients who owed tens of thousands of dollars based on those fees and it really is double jeopardy,” she says. “I mean, they’re paying for the violation as well as this special assessment.”
Driver responsibility fees were adopted by the Legislature during the recession to help balance the budget. The fees, and therefore the community service option, will be phased out by the end of 2019.