OJW – Outstanding Judgment Warrant
OJW – Outstanding Judgment Warrant In Jefferson And Arapahoe Counties – A Lawyer’s Explanation
On occasion, you may be informed that your driver’s license has a hold on it, or an Outstanding Judgment Warrant (OJW). This means that your Colorado driver’s license is suspended. In order to fix this problem, you must provide the Department of Motor Vehicles with a clearance letter from the court that issued the OJW. Next, you must pay a reinstatement fee.
OJW – Outstanding Judgment Warrant In Douglas County: Where Do They Come From?
Any time you have a traffic ticket in Douglas County, Colorado or in another state, and you don’t complete the requirements from the court, your license will have a hold placed on it. We can use the word “hold” or “warrant” or “suspension”, among other names. They all mean the same thing: your license is not in good standing. Since we all need to drive, the government leverages your driver’s license against their desire for you to pay court fines and resolve traffic matters.
Out-Of-State Traffic Tickets And The OJW In Denver
Even if you have a traffic ticket from another state, such as Arkansas, your failure to resolve a traffic ticket there can impact your Colorado driver’s license. Colorado and other states have joined forces to enforce each other’s traffic laws, through an interstate compact, called the driver’s license compact. This state law essentially says that a hold will be placed on your Colorado driver’s license if you do not resolve a Colorado or other state’s traffic citation.
The Driver License Compact – What Is It And How Does It Work In Adams County
Today, 46 states are members of an agreement to enforce one another’s traffic violations and laws. The states that do not belong is a small list: Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Since it is impractically expensive to extradite people for their failure to appear on a traffic ticket, states have agreed to not allow you to legally hold a license in their state if one of the member states has an unresolved traffic matter with you. The theme of the compact is one driver, one license, one record. A home state, like Colorado, agrees it will treat an out-of-state offense as if it had been committed at home. Examples of action taken include points assessed on speeding and other traffic violations, suspension of a license, or suspensions for major traffic violations crimes such as DWAI/DUI.
OJW Colorado Driver License Compact Member States
The following states are members of the driver license compact and can issue OJW’s which will be honored among the member states:
| Alabama OJW in Colorado | Montana OJW in Colorado |
| Alaska OJW in Colorado | Nebraska OJW in Colorado |
| Arizona OJW in Colorado | Nevada OJW in Colorado |
| Arkansas OJW in Colorado | New Hampshire OJW in Colorado |
| California OJW in Colorado | New Jersey OJW in Colorado |
| Colorado OJW | New Mexico OJW in Colorado |
| Connecticut OJW in Colorado | New York OJW in Colorado |
| District of Columbia OJW in Colorado | North Carolina OJW in Colorado |
| Delaware OJW in Colorado | North Dakota OJW in Colorado |
| Florida OJW in Colorado | Ohio OJW in Colorado |
| Hawaii OJW in Colorado | Oklahoma OJW in Colorado |
| Idaho OJW in Colorado | Oregon OJW in Colorado |
| Illinois OJW in Colorado | Pennsylvania OJW in Colorado |
| Indiana OJW in Colorado | Rhode Island OJW in Colorado |
| Iowa OJW in Colorado | South Carolina OJW in Colorado |
| Kansas OJW in Colorado | South Dakota OJW in Colorado |
| Kentucky OJW in Colorado | Texas OJW in Colorado |
| Louisiana OJW in Colorado | Utah OJW in Colorado |
| Maryland OJW in Colorado | Vermont OJW in Colorado |
| Massachusetts OJW in Colorado | Virginia OJW in Colorado |
| Minnesota OJW in Colorado | Washington OJW in Colorado |
| Mississippi OJW in Colorado | West Virginia OJW in Colorado |
| Missouri OJW in Colorado | Wyoming OJW in Colorado |
OJW – Bench Warrant In Adams And El Paso Counties
Within the state of Colorado, if you fail to pay a fine, FTA in Court (Failure to Appear) or don’t complete other terms of your sentence, the judge will typically issue a bench warrant for your arrest. But what happens if you are too far away from the court – such as an out-of-state court? The driver’s license compact will put an OJW, or “hold” on your license. This will make it impossible for you to renew your driver’s license and may cause you to commit the offense of driving on a suspended or revoked license.
OJW Reinstatement Of A Driver’s License In Denver And All Of Colorado
Once you want to reinstate your driver’s license from an active OJW, you must get a clearance letter from the issuing state. The out-of-state clearance letter will include information on the OJW, that you completed all the requirements of that state’s violation, and will require you to pay a reinstatement fee here in Colorado. For unresolved traffic offenses here, Colorado can place an OJW against your license in addition to a bench warrant. Getting the clearance letter may require you to travel to the state where the violation occurred, risk being arrested on your FTA – Failure to Appear, pay late fees, complete community service, serve a jail sentence and pay fines and court costs. It can get pretty expensive after taking off work, traveling and paying fines. Once this is all completed, the state will issue your clearance letter which you can take to the Colorado DMW and get your license reinstated.
OJW stands for Outstanding Judgment Warrant. If an OJW is issued by a Colorado court or another state’s court, a fee and other requirements are owed to the court on your traffic ticket (citation). The OJW must be resolved or your license may be cancelled and denied. Call Denver’s best traffic lawyers at 303-731-0719 to begin the reinstatement process. We can work with Colorado courts to help in-state or out-of-state driver’s license issues. Together, we can protect your future.
