A coalition to end debt-related driver's license suspensions in Ohio.

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HB29 Updates
Get Updates & Alerts
Steps to Get Your License Back
Share Your Story
Partners

Drive to Justice is a coalition of community-based organizations (Neighborhood Connections, Policy Matters Ohio, Building Freedom Ohio, and Towards Employment) advocating to end debt-related driver’s license suspensions in Ohio.

Drive to Justice provides education and support to mobilize and empower community members around the issue of debt-related driver’s license suspensions, ensuring public policy is informed by the views of Ohioans most affected by these policies.

HB29 Updates

Successful passage of House Bill 29 in December puts thousands of Ohioans back on the road and back to work.

Passed with the support of Drive to Justice (Neighborhood Connections, Policy Matters, Building Freedom Ohio and Towards Employment) and countless other advocacy groups, such as the Ohio Poverty Law Center, and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, this legislation means:

Licenses can no longer be suspended due to failure to pay a court fee or fine. The legislation is retroactive: it applies to past suspensions for failure to pay court fines and fees. There is no reinstatement fee for restoring licenses suspended for that reason.
Drug Abuse Offenses can no longer be punished by a suspended driver’s license, unless the offense is associated with dangerous driving.
HB 29 reduces the lookback period for driving without insurance offenses to be considered repeat offenses from five years to one year.
School truancy is no longer a reason for license suspension or denial. 
Those whose licenses were suspended for failure to pay child support can now file a motion with the courts for limited driving privileges.

Resources:

Need More Information?

Questions?

See the explainer by The Marshall Project: License Suspended? Help Is Coming in April | The Marshall Project
New Ohio law ends driver’s license suspensions for unpaid court fines or fees – Legal Aid Society of Cleveland

Steps to Get Your License Back

Drive to Justice is committed to ensuring HB29 accomplishes its primary goal: getting Ohioans back on the road. We are working with local and statewide policy and advocacy partners to monitor effective implementation and will provide updates on this website.

In the next month (April 9 – May 9) the state will be mailing letters that include details of the driver’s license suspensions being removed and the steps drivers need to follow to restore their licenses.

But today, you can do two things to prepare:

Make sure your address is correct in the BMY system
Check your driver’s license suspensions in the system so you can compare with the letter you receive.

See detailed instructions to check address and license suspensions here.

Check Address & License Suspensions

Log onto https://bmvonline.dps.ohio.gov/

1. Scroll to My BMV profile

2. Guest log-in / log in as a guest

Need: license/state ID number, DOB, first letter of last name, last 4 digits of SSN

3. Or, you can opt to give personal information

Last name, first name, middle name/initial, suffix, DOB, last 4 digits of SSN (0000 if you don’t have an SSN)

4. To change address:

Scroll to “View other BMV services”
Then scroll down a lot, pass Vehicle Registration, Driver License & ID Card, Title services, under "Other BMV Services” -- change of address
The BMV service you selected is not available with your current log-in type. Please login using one of the options below.
1. !! Have to log in with OH ID, not guest log-in !!
2. Create account for OHID (or put in username and password)
  1. Sends a pin to your email
  2. Fill in personal info
  3. Select a username
  4. Choose a password
  5. Enter mobile number
3. Enter pin that was sent to mobile number
  1. Agree to terms, pass security test
    1. Ex: what is forty-six thousand and fifty-eight as a number?
  2. Create account
4. Log in with your new account!
  1. Add 2 verification methods
  2. Phone number and email
5. Begin identity confirmation
  1. Need SSN, residential address, mobile phone
  2. It texts you another one-time pin
6. Log in AGAIN with driver's license number
7. Enter new address (for mailing purposes)

To see suspended license info

Log in as a guest
Click “view other BMV services”
Under the “Driver License & ID Card” tab
1. “Reinstatement requirements & fees”

Share Your Story

If you’d like to contribute to our advocacy work, please use the prompts at right to share your experience and a member of our team will follow up to receive more details. Your story may be shared through a variety of channels, including newsletters, social media, our website, legislative testimony, and more. We will never use your story without your explicit permission. You will be guided through a consent process following submission of your story.

Partners

Building Freedom Ohio

Building Freedom Ohio's mission is to develop the leadership capacity of people with the wisdom of their lived experiences in the criminal justice system, to build and wield power in the grassroots driven BFO chapters throughout Ohio.

Visit Building Freedom Ohio's Website

Policy Matters Ohio

Policy Matters Ohio, a non-profit policy research institute, creates a more vibrant, equitable, sustainable and inclusive Ohio through research, strategic communications, coalition building and policy advocacy.

Visit Policy Matters Ohio's Website

Neighborhood Connections

Established in 2003 by the Cleveland Foundation, Neighborhood Connections is a nationally recognized community-building program. Its mission is to fuel the power of neighbors to create, together, an extraordinary world right where they live. Its small grants program is the largest in the country and is guided by a grantmaking committee of Cleveland and East Cleveland residents. The committee reviews and approves all grants. Since 2003, Neighborhood Connections has awarded more than 2,600 grants totaling more than $8.3 million.

Visit Neighborhood Connection's Website

Towards Employment

Towards Employment promotes economic mobility, focusing on those most impacted by systemic racism. We educate and advocate for a more equitable workforce system where racial income gaps have been eliminated and everyone has access to family sustaining wages and quality jobs.

Visit Toward Employment's Website