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clEVEland municiPal court

PartnErs With thE cmBa

to hElP clEVElandErs With

licEnsE rEinstatEmEnt fEEs

Earlier in the year, the Cleveland Municipal Court partnered with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA) and
developed an outreach effort to help the thousands of unlicensed drivers burdened by license reinstatement fees.

the problem has been an issue in the State of ohio for years, so lawmakers lead by State Representative John Barnes Jr., finally agreed to
do something about it in the last session. the BMV Reinstatement Fee Amnesty initiative went into effect January 31, creating a six-month
program for driver license reinstatement fee reduction and waiver for offenders whose
driver licenses have been suspended for specific violations. it’s estimated over 400,000
ohio drivers will qualify for the program with almost 40,000 of them in Cleveland.

“this is an economic issue. Many unlicensed drivers have paid their fines or have
done community service, but still owed the Bureau of Motor Vehicles thousands
of dollars, so when the legislation passed, we needed to act,” said Judge Suzan
Sweeney, who along with Judge Emanuella Groves assembled a team to maximize
the community impact. “to avoid unmanageable lines of people, we decided on
a three phase process. First train attorneys and volunteers, take calls to explain
the amnesty process and develop a website, then one-on-one consultations.
the Court also temporarily released license blocks to allow applicants the
opportunity to maximize the full benefit of the initiative,” said Judge Groves.

Phase 1: Training and Promotion Phase 3: On-Site Help
in preparation for servicing the community, On March 1, those who needed more attention on their cases were asked
the CMBA sponsored a Continuing legal Education (ClE) to attend a community engagement event at the Glenville
workshop, which trained 70 people, 40 of them attorneys to Recreation Center on Saturday, March 23. For the 121 people
prepare them on license suspension law. Attorneys received who showed up, BMV Regional Representative Darlene Jones
2.5 CLe’s in anticipation of volunteering to help those on the reported a total of $54,408.50 in reinstatement fees were
phone and in the community. eliminated and three attendees left the building totally valid.

Phase 2: Phone Banking Over two dozen attorneys and law students helped those who
On March 15, sixteen telephone lines were set up at the Court attended, including Marlon Primes, President of the Cleveland
where interested parties called a special hotline set up from 9 a.m. Metropolitan Bar Association. “We’re so pleased to be involved
to 6 p.m. When it was all over, a total of 2,345 calls were answered. in efforts like this to give people a second chance because it’s
more than just about us, it’s about helping the community,” said
“the response clearly exceeded our expectations and better Primes. the Court is planning events in the community from
yet, we were prepared to manage it,” said Judge Groves, noting now to the end of July to inform the public about the program.
that the longest wait time was 10 minutes and that occurred in
the first hour.

Details on the program can be found at HelpGetMyLicenseBack.com.

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