With the passage of House Bill 153, effective September 28, 2011 changes were made to the license suspension statute under Ohio Revised Code Section 3123.55. The updated statute requires that the following occur prior to suspension:
The CSE must wait until at least 90 days after there has been a final and enforceable determination of default before it can issue a pre-suspension notice.
The pre-suspension notice may only be issued to the obligor if the CSE determines that, in the 90 day period preceding a decision to issue a pre-suspension notice, the obligor has paid less than 50% of the total monthly ordered obligation due for that 90 day period, excluding any state or federal tax offset amounts received during that 90 day period.
Once a case qualifies, a notice to suspend may be sent to every licensing board that has authority to issue or has issued the individual a license. The Board/Registrar will be prohibited from issuing or renewing any license to the individual and will not reinstate a suspended license until receipt of a notice from the Child Support Agency releasing the suspension. The licenses subject to this regulation are:
- Driver’s license, including motorcycle operator’s license, commercial driver’s license, and temporary permit
- Professional license - a license that authorizes an individual to engage in an occupation or profession
- Recreational license issued by the Division of Wildlife
If your license has been suspended as a result of failure to comply with a court order, you may contact our office at (513) 732-7248 to make arrangements to pay your support, and obtain reinstatement of your license. We have professional staff available to assist you in your efforts to make restitution and to comply with the requirements of this office. Our goal is to collect child support and not to prevent anyone from obtaining or otherwise holding a license.
Once the child support office has released the suspension of your driver’s license, you will need to apply for reinstatement with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). There is a $25.00 reinstatement fee charged by the BMV. If you are trying to renew a non Ohio driver’s license, you must first contact the Ohio BMV.
Information on payment of fee obtained from www.bmv.ohio.gov (BMV website):
The fee may be paid at one of the seven BMV locations in Ohio. See www.bmv.ohio.gov / Office Locations by County/ Reinstatement Centers for locations and driving directions.
If you have a checking account, the fee may be paid on-line at www.bmv.ohio.gov / BMV On-Line Services/ Pay Reinstatement Fee. Checking account number and routing number is needed.
If you have a checking account, the fee may be paid by phone at 866-675-2837. Checking account number and routing number is needed.
Payment may be mailed to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, P.O. Box 16520, Columbus, OH 43216-6520. The payment must be a personal check or money order. The payment must include your Social Security Number and Driver’s License Number.
If you have questions regarding payment of the reinstatement fee, you can contact the BMV at 614-752-7600.
Finally, with the new statute, the CSEA will have the ability to request that the registrar of the BMV eliminate from the abstract any reference to a past license suspension. The state Office of Child Support is working with the BMV to determine the procedure and will provide the county CSEAs with a new rule which will inform us under what circumstances such an elimination from the abstract can occur. We are still awaiting these procedural and rule changes.