Failure to Pay Forfeitures

The alternative or back-end sentence for failure to pay is provided on the Defendant's Notice of Judgment. The Defendant’s Notice of Judgment was given to you at your initial appearance, or mailed to you after your pretrial conference, or given to you at trial. This notice is also mailed to you if you failed to appear for your initial appearance with our default letter. If you fail to pay the forfeiture assessed against you, the court may impose jail time and/or may suspend your driving privileges up to 1 year.

If there is a suspension of your driver's license and/or ability to obtain a driver's license, you first pay the forfeiture. After the forfeiture is paid, the court will notify the DMV to lift the suspension. Within 24 hours you will be allowed to reinstate your driver’s license. You will not be valid until you pay the reinstatement fee of $60.00.

You can reinstate your driver’s license by either going to your local DMV center in person or online at:
http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/online-srvcs/external/dmv.aspx

If you fail to pay your forfeiture and jail is the alternative sentence, you will receive a Summons by mail to appear at a Non-Compliance Hearing. If you appear at this hearing, you may be placed on a payment plan. This is where the partial payments are important. If you fail to appear at this hearing, a Writ of Commitment will be issued for your arrest.

In addition to enforcing the alternative or back-end sentence, we will also attempt to tax intercept the money owed to us from your State taxes via the Tax Refund Intercept Program (TRIP) and/or SDC (State Debt Collection) program. These programs allow us to certify your debt with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The debt will remain certified to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue until it is paid in full.