The Department of Licensing will reimburse local governments for refunds made to drivers who paid fines for cell phone and texting violations and some other traffic offenses.

On June 30, DOL discovered that municipal court judges in several jurisdictions were dismissing cell phone and texting tickets because the Model Traffic Ordinance had not been updated to reflect these violations.

This issue does not affect citations issued by the Washington State Patrol, other state police agencies and a number of city and county governments, including Tacoma, Lakewood Municipal Court, Thurston County, Lewis County District Court and Mason County.

It also does not affect any cell phone-related tickets issued on or after July 1, 2010, or those for any other affected laws after July 19, 2010, as the entire rulebook is now updated.

Individuals who were issued a citation and paid a fine should go to the court in the jurisdiction which issued the citation to request reimbursement. If local courts determine that a violation is subject to refund, DOL will reimburse them for the amount of the fine, which is typically $124.

The agency estimates that reimbursements could total up to $1.2 million statewide for tickets written during the past three years.

Click here for more information.