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:

1. Driver’s license, including motorcycle operator’s license, commercial driver’s license, and temporary permit
2. Professional license – a license that authorizes an individual to engage in an occupation or profession
3. 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 are now 179 BMV Deputy Registrar locations accepting payment of reinstatement fees.  Previously, reinstatement fees were only accepted in person at seven Regional Service Centers statewide.

Any documentation required for reinstatement of driving privileges can also be provided at the Deputy Registrar location. These documents will be forwarded to a Reinstatement Office for processing. There is an additional service fee of $10.00 along with the $25.00 fee for reinstatement at these locations.

Customers should not expect to be reinstated immediately after paying the reinstatement fees at a Deputy Registrar location. Additional processing may need to take place before driving privileges are reinstated.

Available methods of payment can be viewed on the BMV internet site at: http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/susp-fees-payment.aspx.

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.

If you are trying to renew a non-Ohio driver’s license, you must first contact the Ohio BMV.

If you have questions regarding payment of the reinstatement fee, you can contact the BMV at 614-752-7600.