What an expired-registration ticket costs in Delaware

Delaware gives no grace period: under 21 Del. C. §2109(a), a registration expires at midnight on the last day of the period it was bought for, and the vehicle may not be driven on the highways after that until it is reregistered. Driving on it is charged under §2115(1), which makes it unlawful to operate a vehicle that does not display an unexpired registration plate (Delaware's term for the validation plate or sticker showing the registration period). The fine is set statewide by statute, not by a county schedule: §2116(b)(1) sets a first-offense fine of $50 to $200. (Delaware charge tables label §2115(1) "Expired registration"; the Town of Elsmere's traffic ordinance, for example, lists it that way. If a ticket instead cites §2101, operating an unregistered vehicle, the statute's terms put it under the chapter's general penalty in §2116(a), a $10 to $100 fine, so the total would be lower.) An expired-tag ticket can be settled by voluntary assessment, Delaware's pay-without-court process, if the officer marks it that way: §709(e) makes every Title 21 offense eligible except a short list that does not include §2115 and a catch-all for offenses deemed not appropriate, the officer decides, and a ticket with no dollar amount on it is a mandatory court appearance. On a voluntary assessment, §709(g) fixes the fine at the statutory minimum, $50, and for a ticket paid through the Justice of the Peace Court's Voluntary Assessment Center, the court's published explanation of fines, costs and assessments adds the rest: $20 in voluntary assessment court costs (J.P. Ct. Crim. R. 58), a $25 Transportation Trust Fund surcharge (50% of the fine, 11 Del. C. §4101(g)), $10 for the Victims' Compensation Fund (18% of the fine or $10, whichever is greater, 11 Del. C. §9016), $15 for the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes (§4101(h)), $10 for the Volunteer Ambulance Company Fund (§4101(j)), $10 for court security (10 Del. C. §8505) and $1 for the Videophone Fund (§4101(d)). That is $91 on top of the fine, about $141 in total, plus a 50-cent technology surcharge if you pay electronically. The total is our estimate from those published rates, applied the way the court's own worked voluntary-assessment speeding example applies them; the court publishes no line item for this charge. Some tickets are payable instead to a town Alderman's Court (the ticket says which), and the Justice of the Peace Court's cost rule does not govern that court, so the total there can differ. The officer must note the fine and whether it can be paid by voluntary assessment on the summons (§712(b)), so the figures on your ticket control. Payment is due within 30 days of the ticket. If you go before a judge instead, the judge sets the fine anywhere from $50 to $200, the court's guide says fines are typically suspendable in whole or in part, court costs rise to $35, the Transportation Trust Fund surcharge stays at 50% of whatever fine is imposed, and the flat assessments still apply. Renewing late also adds a $20 DMV late fee under §2151(6).