New Bill Would Get Rid Of Car Registration Holds For Unpaid Toll Fees

A bill has been filed that will allow people to pay their registration regardless of whether they owe toll money.

Under current law, if a person owes toll money, they can't renew their car registration until they pay their toll. 

According to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, there were 178,000 people with registration holds in 2022. 

If you want to be in good standing with the state, you must be in good standing with the Turnpike Authority. Representative Annie Menz says the current law is an inconvenience.

"So they then have to say sorry, not only can you not pay the toll that you owe here, you can't get your vehicle renewed registration renewed either," said Representative Annie Menz.

But OTA says it's an easy fix that most drivers should know about before they renew their tags.

"Once they have made a payment over the phone, we immediately release that registration because all we're after is the payment of the toll,” Lisa Shearer-Salim with OTA said. “Before a registration hold is placed on an account, we send a certified letter through the mail to the registered owner of that vehicle that's associated with the license plate that we have seen use our toll system." 

Representative Menz says the current system needs a change. That's why she filed HB 2968, aimed at getting rid of registration holds because of unpaid tolls.

"It doesn't have anything to do with OTA statute or that entity. It's really just about Service Oklahoma and freeing up the ability for folks to be able to go get their registration renewed without having roadblocks in their way," said Menz.

OTA argues that no matter the law, there needs to be accountability.

"We have to have some sort of mechanism in order to collect the tolls which we are required by our Enabling Act to collect," said Shearer-Salim.

OTA says registration holds have increased because of the switch to cashless tolls.

The legislative session starts on February 5.