California’s DMV amnesty program is no longer available. The statewide Traffic Amnesty Program ran from October 1, 2015 through March 31, 2017, and nothing has replaced it as a blanket discount on old traffic debt. The good news for most people searching for it: California has since stopped suspending driver’s licenses solely for unpaid traffic fines, and the courts now offer an ability-to-pay process that can reduce current fines by 50% to 90% for people who qualify.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 42008.8 – Traffic Amnesty Program2Judicial Branch of California. Online Infraction Adjudication and Ability-to-Pay Determinations
What the 2015–2017 Amnesty Program Did
The program was created by Vehicle Code section 42008.8 as part of the 2015–16 state budget. It let people with delinquent traffic and non-traffic infractions originally due on or before January 1, 2013 settle those debts at a discount and clear related license suspensions. People receiving public benefits or earning at or below 125% of the federal poverty level paid 20% of what they owed; everyone else paid 50%. Parking tickets, DMV registration debts, DUI and reckless driving cases, cases with outstanding victim restitution, and cases involving open misdemeanor or felony warrants were all excluded.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 42008.8 – Traffic Amnesty Program3Judicial Council of California. Traffic Tickets and Infraction Amnesty Program FAQs
Payment plans set up before the March 31, 2017 deadline remained valid after the program closed, but no new applications have been accepted since.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 42008.8 – Traffic Amnesty Program
California No Longer Suspends Licenses for Unpaid Fines
Most people looking for the amnesty program are really trying to get a suspended license back. The law changed on that front in 2017, when the legislature passed AB 103 and prohibited the DMV from suspending a driver’s license solely because someone failed to pay a traffic fine.4California State Senate. AB 1125 Senate Committee on Public Safety Analysis
If your license was suspended only for failing to pay a fine, that suspension should no longer be on your record. If it still shows up when you check with the DMV, contact the superior court that issued the original citation. The court may need to update its records and send a corrected notice to the DMV.
Failure to pay and failure to appear are not the same thing. The DMV still suspends licenses when a court reports that someone failed to appear or violated a court order to appear in a traffic case. That authority comes from Vehicle Code section 13365.5California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 13365
Ability-to-Pay: Today’s Substitute for Amnesty
The closest thing to the old amnesty program is the ability-to-pay process. Government Code section 68645.2 required every California superior court to offer an online ability-to-pay determination by June 30, 2024. The statewide tool is MyCitations, at mycitations.courts.ca.gov.6Judicial Branch of California. Online Traffic Adjudication
Through MyCitations you can ask a court to reduce your fine based on financial hardship. Courts have configured their systems to recommend reductions of 50% to 90% for people who receive public benefits or earn at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. For 2026, that income threshold is roughly $19,950 for a single person or $41,250 for a family of four.2Judicial Branch of California. Online Infraction Adjudication and Ability-to-Pay Determinations
In 2024, courts approved 77% of ability-to-pay requests, with an average reduction of 61%. Judges can also approve payment plans, extra time to pay, or community service in place of a fine, as laid out in California Rules of Court, Rule 4.335.2Judicial Branch of California. Online Infraction Adjudication and Ability-to-Pay Determinations7Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 4.335 – Ability-to-Pay Determinations for Infraction Offenses
Unlike the old amnesty program, ability-to-pay is not restricted to old debt. You can request a determination on any current infraction, including a ticket you just received.
Clearing an FTA Hold and Getting Your License Back
If your license is currently suspended because of a failure-to-appear hold, start with the court, not the DMV. Contact the traffic division of the superior court in the county where the citation was issued. You can usually resolve the FTA by appearing in court to address the underlying infraction, paying the fine, or requesting an ability-to-pay determination through MyCitations.
Once the court is satisfied, whether through payment, a payment plan, community service, or a reduced fine, it files a certificate with the DMV confirming the matter is resolved. The DMV then lifts the suspension hold.8California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 40509.5
Clearing the court side is not the last step. The DMV charges a $55 reissue fee to restore your driving privileges after a suspension, payable through the DMV’s online virtual office.9California DMV. Reissue Fees If you have holds from multiple counties, each court must clear its own hold before the DMV will fully reinstate your license.
The FTA Suspension Law Expires in 2027
Vehicle Code section 13365, the statute that lets the DMV suspend a license when a court reports a failure to appear, is set to be repealed on January 1, 2027. Unless the legislature extends it, the DMV will lose that authority on that date.5California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 13365
That is not a reason to ignore an FTA hold and wait it out. The underlying traffic case does not disappear when the suspension authority expires, and unresolved cases can still generate additional penalties and complications. But if you have an open FTA, the coming change is worth knowing about as you decide how to handle it.