When You Cannot Pay
Va. Code 19.2-354 — fines, costs and penalties payable in deferred payments or installments
Deferred or installment payment. A defendant sentenced to pay a fine, restitution, forfeiture or penalty for a traffic infraction or a criminal violation may pay it, with costs, in deferred payments or installments.
The clerk's agreements. The court authorizes the clerk to establish and approve individual deferred or installment payment agreements. Money collected goes first to any court-ordered restitution.
A change of address. Each agreement requires the defendant to promptly inform the court of any change of mailing address during its term.
Restitution to a victim, license holds for unpaid fines, and the constitutional rule against jailing someone only for being poor are not set out on this page. What a court will do in a particular case is a question for a licensed Virginia attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Va. Code 19.2-354 — Deferred and installment payment of fines and costs
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Virginia attorney.