Vehicle Code § 40509.5 VC – Hold on a Driver’s License (repealed as of 2023)

The now repealed statute Vehicle Code § 40509.5 VC allowed the State to put a hold on your driver’s license. Officers sometimes wrote this section as “405095 VC.” Under this statute, the DMV put a hold on your driver’s license if you failed to appear in traffic court for a ticket or citation.

A hold on your driver’s license often resulted in the suspension of your driving privileges and remained in place until you appeared in court or paid the applicable fine.

Some examples of permissible acts under VC 405095 included:

• After Beth ignores a mandatory court appearance for running a red light, per Vehicle Code 21453, the traffic court judge gives notice of the same to the DMV and a hold is put on Beth’s driver’s license.
• The DMV places a hold on Pedro’s license after he ignores a ticket for driving on the wrong side of the road, per VC 21651(b).
• Zari does not attend traffic court for the infraction of unsafe passing, under Vehicle Code 21750, and as a result, a hold is put on her driver’s license.

Defenses

There were several legal defenses that you could have raised to challenge a hold on your driver’s license. These included showing that you:

• Did not receive proper notice of the hold;
• Failed to appear in traffic court out of necessity; and/or,
• The clerk of the court made a mistake.

Penalties

Failing to appear in traffic court, per California Vehicle Code 40508, is a crime that could be charged as a California misdemeanor (as opposed to a felony).

Further, once a hold was put on your driver’s license, the DMV could suspend your driving privileges under Vehicle Code 13365.2 VC.

If caught driving on a suspended license, you can face:

• Imprisonment in the county jail for up to six months; and/or,
• A fine of up to $1,000.

Our California criminal defense attorneys will highlight the following in this article:

• 1. What is the legal definition of a “hold” on a California driver’s license?
• 2. What were the legal defenses to challenge a hold?
  • 2.1 No proper notice
  • 2.2 Necessity
  • 2.3 Mistake
• 3. What are the penalties, punishment, and sentencing?
• 4. Related offenses
  • 4.1 Failure to appear – VC 40508
  • 4.2 Driving without a license – VC 12500
  • 4.3 Failure to present a driver’s license – VC 12951

1. What is the legal definition of a “hold” on a California Driver’s License?

Upon getting a traffic ticket in California, you must sign a written promise to appear in traffic court. You promise to appear in court at a certain time and date.

Under the now-repealed California Vehicle Code 40509.5 VC, if you violated your written promise to appear (and failed to show up), the traffic court judge, or the clerk of the court, notified the DMV. The DMV then placed a hold on your driver’s license.¹

This hold remained on your driver’s license until you appeared in court and satisfied any accompanying demands.²

Under some circumstances, Vehicle Code 40509.5 said that an arrest warrant could be issued once a hold was placed on your driver’s license.³ Examples of these circumstances include:

• When the underlying offense was a misdemeanor or a felony; and,
• You did not have a valid California driver’s license.⁴

Please note that if a hold was placed on your license, the court must have mailed you a notice of the hold, per VC 40509.5(c).⁵

Note that while you could have lost driving privileges for failing to appear in court, the state could not suspend your driver’s license merely for having unpaid traffic tickets.

2. What were the legal defenses to challenge a hold?

You could have tried to challenge a hold if one was placed on your license under the now-repealed VC 40509.5.

Three common ways to challenge a hold were by means of the following defenses:

1. No proper notice;
2. Necessity; and/or,
3. Mistake.

2.1. No Proper Notice

Recall that VC 40509.5(c) mandated the court to notify you if a hold got put on your license. Therefore, you could have challenged a hold by showing that you were never sent this requisite notice. After all, if no notice, you could have no knowledge that you had to appear in traffic court or pay a fine associated with a ticket.

2.2. Necessity

Under a necessity defense, you essentially try to avoid guilt by showing that you had a sufficiently good reason to commit an offense. People sometimes refer to this defense as “guilty with an explanation.” In the context of VC 40509.5, you could have attempted to show that you did not appear in traffic court because you had no other choice (for example, you had to take care of an emergency).

2.3. Mistake

You can have always challenged a driver’s license hold by saying the court made a mistake. You would have wanted to show that you did, in fact, appear in court in response to a ticket. If this defense was raised, it was important for you to have had some type of evidence corroborating your court appearance (for example, witnesses or documents).

3. What are the penalties, punishment, and sentencing?

Failure to appear in California traffic court, per Vehicle Code 40508, remains a crime that can be charged as a California misdemeanor.⁶

Further, once a hold is put on your driver’s license under the now-repealed VC 40509.5, the DMV can suspend your driving privileges under Vehicle Code 13365.2 (until it gets repealed in 2027).⁷

It is a criminal offense if you are caught driving on a suspended license. The offense is punishable by:

• Imprisonment in the county jail for up to six months; and/or,
• A fine of up to $1,000.⁸

4. Related offenses

There are three California laws related to the now-repealed Vehicle Code 40509.5 VC. These are:

1. Failure to appear – VC 40508;
2. Driving without a license – VC 12500; and,
3. Failure to present a driver’s license – VC 12951.

4.1. Failure to appear – VC 40508

As stated above, it is a criminal offense if you fail to appear in traffic court.

Under Vehicle Code 40508, you fail to appear when you are willingly a no-show. It is not a defense if you did not intend to break the law.⁹

It also does not matter whether you are guilty or innocent of the underlying traffic citation.¹⁰ You violate Vehicle Code 40508 just by breaking a promise to:

• Appear in court,
• Appear to pay bail,
• Pay bail in installments,
• Pay a fine within the time authorized, or
• Comply with any condition of the court.¹¹

Violation of Vehicle Code 40508 VC is a misdemeanor. The penalties are:

• Up to six months in county jail, and/or
• A fine of up to $1,000.¹²

4.2. Driving without a license – VC 12500

Vehicle Code 12500 VC makes it unlawful to drive in California without a valid driver’s license.

VC 12500 is typically charged when you are driving and you:

• Have failed to renew your driver’s license, or
• Never obtained a license in the first place, or
• Became a California resident and failed to get a new driver’s license within 10 days.

Driving without a valid license is a California “wobblette” offense. This means it can be charged as either a California misdemeanor or as an infraction.¹³

A first offense is usually an infraction. Subsequent offenses under VC 12500 are more likely to be charged as misdemeanors.

As an infraction, driving without a license carries a potential fine of up to $250.¹⁴

But if charged as a misdemeanor, VC 12500 can be punished by:

• Up to six months in county jail, and/or
• A fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000).¹⁵

4.3. Failure to present a driver’s license – VC 12951

Vehicle Code 12951 VC makes it unlawful for you to fail to present a driver’s license.

There are two ways to violate VC 12951.

The first, set forth in Vehicle Code 12951(a) VC, is to drive a motor vehicle on a highway without the valid driver’s license issued to you in your possession.¹⁶

The second way to violate this law, under Vehicle Code 12951(b), is for you to refuse to present a license to an officer when stopped.¹⁷

The penalties for failing to present a driver’s license depend on whether you violate VC 12951(a) or VC 12951(b).

If a VC 12951(a) violation, then the offense is an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $250.¹⁸

If a VC 12951(b) violation, then the offense is a misdemeanor, punishable by:

• Up to six months in county jail; and/or
• A fine of up to $1,000.¹⁹

Was a hold placed on your California driver’s license? Call us for help…

If you or someone you know received a hold on a driver’s license, we invite you to contact us for a consultation. We can be reached 24/7 at 855-LAWFIRM.

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