So…

I was driving my husbands car and didn’t realize the tags were expired. Apparently, as explained by the officer that pulled me over and reviewed everything, when we paid the property taxes on the vehicle we paid them late and were issued a late fee, but because we paid the taxes online and the late fee was a DMV thing, the tags lapsed. A sticker never showed up in the mail and we apparently never thought to ourselves ‘hey, it’s been a while since I put a sticker on the car…’ and officer Not-So-Friendly saw me and stopped me and issued me a citation with a court date. He explained that I have the option to cure it and drop off a evidence of doing that to the magistrate and he would dismiss the charges, and I would not need to actually appear as long as I took care of it. There was no information on the ticket about paying a fine - although to be honest, I’m more than happy to pay the fine - I’m not exactly contesting that this happened…

No big deal, went to the DMV, paid the late fee same day that the ticket was issued and the next morning turned in the evidence to the magistrate. I asked the clerk for a copy of a receipt or any sort of record that I had done what was needed and she explained that they wouldn’t give the paperwork to the officer until the day of the trial so there was nothing she could give me. I also asked if I needed to appear and was told ‘no’.

I’m paranoid though. Like, I’m sure the clerk is good at her job, but she’s human. I can’t even find the court case in the online records yet, but what happens if I don’t appear and they lose this paper that I turned in? Would you appear?

Frankly, I feel like this is a terrible system. I am happy to fix the error and provide evidence, and pay any associated fines, but I don’t feel great about dropping off papers and not having any documentation that shows I did it…

And this is apparently my life of crime - I have no other tickets or any other criminal history…

So my vehicle was registered in Virginia. It expired this month but I now live in SC. Virginia and South Carolina have different laws and grace periods on newly expired registration for vehicles and I have no idea which I should listen to. I can’t get them renewed until next month. Should I go with Virginia’s laws because that’s who it was registered to or should I go with South Carolinas laws because I’m driving here?

This was in moncks corner near Charleston. I was pulled over by a state trooper (i believe) on the highway for expired tags. He gave me a ticket.

I got a new tag and I’m good now. My court date is later next week. I called the court house and the lady said they can’t do anything. I don’t know if I spoke to the best person.

Would it be advisable to call the cops agency and leave him a message? Or should I show up and try and speak with him before.

I’d really like to get it dismissed if possible

Hi,

Moving here from GA. I have not really driven my car since Covid for various reasons, but I have been unable to pass emissions test to get current registration for my car. It expired end of 2021.

I have been keeping my insurance up to date and my driver’s license is valid. No lien or anything on car.

What will I need to do to get valid SC license and registration? I do not want to risk driving my car back down to GA since my tag is expired (car has been stored in SC). Do I need current registration from GA to get what I need in SC?

Thank you for any help.