Got a summons for an expired vehicle registration sticker. Thought about contesting it so put off payment of the fine. I decided not to contest it, but didn't realize I had to pay by 3:30pm on the day before the court date. Now I can't prepay. So my question is, is it worth showing up to court just to say I plead guilty? In other words, what kind of late fee tacked on to the fine or other penalty might I expect by not showing up?

To be clear, the court date is tomorrow, but it is no 6pm so I can no longer prepay but would rather not have to appear in court tomorrow.

They will give you 15 days to pay the new fine, court costs included or they suspend your license and you have to pay the ticket AND $145 in DMV fees to get your license back.

So go ahead and pay it- you can still pay online even after the court date w/ a credit card thru courts.state.va.us, they just add like 4% to the final bill for processing fees online.

I forgot to pay a following too close ticket. It went from $95 to almost $400. They send you a notice and give you 12 days to pay. If you don't, they suspend your license.

If you renewed your registration, show up and tell the judge you did and you probably won't have to pay anything at all.

>If you renewed your registration, show up and tell the judge you did and you probably won't have to pay anything at all.

That sounds too lenient. If that was the case it would almost encourage people to not bother updating their registration, unless they got caught. But I guess I'll find out. I'm not going to pay several hundred dollars in a missed court date fine if what KristaD says is accurate.

Ahh, but that's the thing, if it was expired for a month or two and you took care of it before the court date they see it as you fixed the problem, understood, etc.

If it was expired for 2 years and you renew it just because you finally got a ticket, they may still make you pay the ticket. But they will drop alot of simple tickets like that if you took care of the problem, same with dead inspection, if it was recently expired and fixed before court, it's usually dropped.

You also have the option of calling and requesting a continuance or up to 10 days to appeal

Then you'll be in a holding cell with me tossin' your salad! I'm Lovin' It!! I'll be the one in the Allman Brothers T-shirt and pink thong... See ya'!

Then you better open your bum hole real wide because the big boys in the booty house are gonna make you grab your ankles.

Just go to court and pay it. if anything hell drop the court fees and itll be cheaper if ur honest and say u forgot to renew/didnt notice.

They drag your ass to jail is what happens.
And they should too for being a dumbass for:
a. Letting your registration expire
b. Not paying your fine
c. Not going to court if you were going to fight the fine
d. Asking stupid question on this forum

Life ain't like elementary school. Saying you forgot or
the dog ate your homework doesn't work.

So go pay it, take your punishment (most likely a higher fine) and move on.

If you slip up by a few days you can probably still pay the tickets off long before the bureaucracy figures out that you even missed the due date. If you hold out longer they will likely send you dunning letters with increased penalties, and they will tie up your driver's license and car registration. Perhaps they will try to seize your income tax refund. Eventually they may get around to sending someone out after you, but even then it is more likely to be a guy in a brown shirt telling you you need to show up in court on a certain day or else, rather than a guy in a blue shirt hauling you down to the lovely Fairfax Adult Detention.

If it was the kind of ticket they would send you to jail for missing court, it is most likely the kind of ticket they wouldn't give you a prepayment option.