Driven by Debt

For almost 30 years, the Failure to Appear/Pay (FTAP) Program has negatively impacted tens of thousands of Texans. This program allows participating municipalities and justice of the peace (JP) courts to place a hold on someone’s ability to renew their driver’s license for the nonpayment of fines and fees primarily associated with traffic tickets. Once a hold is placed, a driver cannot renew their license until all court debt is resolved — a practice commonly known as a debt-based driving restriction. 

Proponents of this program claim that 1) FTAP holds ensure compliance (i.e., they are effective in getting individuals to appear or pay their fines/fees) and 2) FTAP holds serve as an alternative to issuing warrants for one’s arrest — whether that be a capias pro fine warrant or a Class C warrant. In a study of more than 1,200 local courts — municipal and JP — Texas Appleseed has found no empirical support for either of these claims.

In testing differences between holds and warrants issued and revenue collected per criminal case, the data shows no significant difference in the fines/fees collected by courts that issue FTAP holds and those that do not. There is also a significant difference between capias pro fine warrants and Class C warrants issued by municipal courts participating in the program at a rate of 3.9 and 3.8 times higher than those not participating. These findings indicate no statistical association between the use of the FTAP program and collections by the court and highlight a critical matter regarding duplicity and a heavy reliance on arrests and detention to address one’s financial inabilities. 
    
Continuing to rely on an inefficient and harmful approach to unpaid fines and fees results in a cycle of debt and justice system involvement for those who do not have the means to pay.