If you’re like me, you use the tollways here in Collin County regularly — and while you probably pay your tolls, you definitely don’t enjoy it. According to the NTTA, about 92 percent of North Texans pay for their toll road use. That leaves roughly 8 percent who don’t. So what actually happens when you’re in that 8 percent?
I’ve been handling NTTA Failure to Pay Toll cases in Collin County for years. What surprises most people is how fast a handful of unpaid tolls can spiral into something much more serious — and how many people don’t find out they have a citation until a warrant has already been issued. For businesses or fleet operators facing NTTA civil lawsuits in district court — a separate and more serious enforcement track — .
How a Texas Failure to Pay Toll Citation Gets Issued
NTTA toll roads work two ways. Most people use a TollTag — a sticker on your windshield that automatically deducts from a prepaid account every time you pass through a toll point. If you don’t have a TollTag, NTTA offers ZipCash: high-speed cameras photograph your license plate and bill the registered owner by mail.
When those tolls go unpaid, here’s what happens — step by step:
- Invoice mailed to you. You have 25 days to pay the unpaid tolls. No fees added yet.
- 1st Notice of Nonpayment. Miss that deadline and NTTA sends a first notice with a $10 administrative fee. Another 25 days.
- 2nd Notice of Nonpayment. Still unpaid? A second notice goes out, adding another $25 administrative fee on top of the $10. Another 25 days.
- 3rd and Final Notice of Nonpayment. Same fees as the second notice, plus any third-party collection costs. One last 25-day window.
- Failure to Pay Toll citation issued by mail. If the third notice goes unanswered, NTTA issues a formal citation. Now it’s a criminal matter.
What a Failure to Pay Toll Actually Costs in Collin County
Under Texas Transportation Code §366.178, the registered owner of a vehicle who fails to pay tolls after receiving proper notice commits an offense and faces a fine of up to $250 — per toll. Failure to Pay Toll citations are filed in the Collin County Justice of the Peace Courts. And each unpaid toll is a separate offense.
Here’s a real example of how fast this adds up. A drive through Plano on the Dallas North Tollway passes through 6 toll points. Using ZipCash rates, that trip costs $4.32. Ignore the invoices and notices, and you’ll receive 6 separate citations. Six tolls × $250 per toll = $1,500 in potential fines — plus the original $4.32 in tolls, plus all the administrative fees from three rounds of notices for each of the 6 unpaid tolls. Total exposure: $1,984.32. For a $4.32 trip.
The Texas Department of Transportation publishes a list of the state’s top toll violators. The top offenders have racked up over $200,000 in unpaid tolls and fees. It doesn’t happen all at once. It happens the same way it probably happened in your situation: one ignored notice at a time.
Can You Get a Warrant for Unpaid Tolls in Texas?
Yes — but only if you receive a citation and then fail to appear in court by the deadline on the ticket. Failure to Pay Toll is a Class C Misdemeanor, punishable by fine only. Nobody goes to jail simply for not paying a toll. A warrant only enters the picture when someone gets a citation and ignores it — at that point the court issues a warrant to get that person back in front of a judge.
One of the most common calls I get goes like this: someone never actually received the toll citation in the mail, missed the court deadline, and now finds out there’s an active warrant. Through no fault of their own, they’re at risk of arrest every time they’re behind the wheel. I can get the warrant recalled by the court while your case is still pending — so you’re not walking around with an active warrant while we work on resolving the underlying tickets.
The Fines Aren’t the Only Problem
A Failure to Pay Toll citation carries a fine — but the fine is only part of what you’re up against. Depending on how many tolls are unpaid and how far the situation has progressed, you may also be facing:
- A vehicle registration block — Texas can prevent you from renewing your vehicle registration until the tolls are resolved.
- An order prohibiting you from operating any vehicle you own on NTTA toll roads — and if you violate that order, a separate fine of up to $500 per occurrence, on top of everything else.
- Vehicle impoundment — if you’ve received a prohibition order and continue driving on toll roads anyway, your vehicle can be impounded on the spot.
These consequences can pile on even while your citations are still pending. It’s one of the reasons it pays to get this handled early rather than waiting to see what happens next.
How I Defend Failure to Pay Toll Cases in Collin County
Resolving NTTA Failure to Pay Toll cases typically involves two phases, and I handle both.
The first is the underlying toll debt itself. Just because NTTA says you owe a certain amount doesn’t mean there’s no room to negotiate — especially when administrative fees have piled up through multiple rounds of notices. In many cases I can work directly with NTTA to reach a settlement on the actual toll amount and reduce or eliminate some of those added fees before the criminal citation even moves forward.
The second is the criminal citation. A Failure to Pay Toll citation is a Class C Misdemeanor handled in the Collin County Justice of the Peace Courts. Resolving it properly — and keeping it off your record — often means demonstrating to the court that the underlying tolls have been paid or are being addressed, and working toward a dismissal or non-conviction outcome. If there’s a warrant outstanding, I get that recalled first, so you’re not at risk of arrest while the rest of the case is being resolved.
Beyond those two phases, there are also specific statutory defenses worth knowing about:
- Your vehicle was stolen. Under Texas Transportation Code §366.178, if your vehicle was stolen before the toll was incurred and had not been recovered by the time of the missed toll, that is a defense — provided you reported the theft to law enforcement before the toll occurred or within eight hours of discovering the theft.
- You leased the vehicle. If you were the registered owner but the vehicle was under a lease agreement at the time, you can avoid liability by providing NTTA with a copy of the lease and the lessee’s contact information within 30 days of the invoice. The lessee then becomes the responsible party.
- You had already sold the vehicle. If you transferred ownership before the toll was incurred and properly notified TxDMV of the transfer, you may not be liable — provided you give NTTA the new owner’s information within 30 days of receiving the invoice.
I’ll be straight with you about where things stand and what your options are. Whether you’ve got one citation or a stack of them, reach out and we can talk through it.
Frequently Asked Questions About NTTA Toll Citations in Texas
What happens if I just pay the tolls — will the citation go away?
Paying the underlying tolls is an important part of resolving the case, but it doesn’t automatically dismiss the citation. The criminal citation is a separate matter handled in the Justice of the Peace Court. That said, demonstrating payment is usually central to negotiating a good outcome on the citation itself — it’s just not the whole picture.
Is Failure to Pay Toll a criminal offense in Texas?
Yes. Once NTTA issues a citation after three rounds of nonpayment notices, Failure to Pay Toll becomes a Class C Misdemeanor — the same classification as most traffic tickets. It’s punishable by fine only (up to $250 per toll), but it is a criminal offense and can show up on a background check if not handled correctly.
I never received the citation in the mail. Can I still have a warrant?
Yes, and this is more common than you’d think. Citations are mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle, and addresses on file with TxDMV aren’t always current. If the citation went to an old address and you missed the court deadline, a warrant can be issued without you ever knowing there was a ticket. If that’s your situation, the first move is getting the warrant recalled — which I can do.
Can a Failure to Pay Toll citation be dismissed?
Dismissal is possible, but it depends on the facts — how many citations are involved, whether the tolls have been paid or can be resolved with NTTA, and the specific circumstances of your case. I handle Failure to Pay Toll cases throughout Collin County and offer a free consultation. Call or text me at (972) 372-4054 and we can talk through your situation.
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