Virginia’s much-maligned fees for drivers breaking the state’s traffic laws will face two significant challenges this week.

Tonight, the Front Royal Town Council will consider exempting itself from the law, which took effect July 1. Several members of the Shenandoah Valley town’s governing body believe they can prohibit its police officers from reporting violators to the state and triggering the financial penalties that can reach $3,000.

Drivers receiving tickets written by state troopers and sheriff’s deputies within town limits still would have to pay, as would drunken drivers regardless of which officer cited them.

Town Council Member Thomas Syre, who is sponsoring the proposal, believes the town has the authority to skirt state law, but Virginia’s Department of Justice has a different view.

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“We have not seen the specifics of what Front Royal is proposing to do, but I do not see how the town can avoid enforcing a state law,” said Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Attorney General Robert McDonnell.

Martin said the agency has not determined what steps it could take to force Front Royal to enforce the law if the council approves Syre’s proposal.

On Tuesday, Department of Justice lawyers will be in Henrico General District Court near Richmond defending the fees from a constitutional challenge. Two Richmond lawyers, Esther Windmueller and Craig Cooley, filed a petition Friday that asserts the fees are unconstitutional because they apply only to Virginia drivers. Legislators defending the fees, however, say they do not have the constitutional authority to impose a fee on motorists from other states.

The penalties are different from traffic fines and are considered fees for legal purposes. The penalties, which range from $750 to $3,000, are imposed in addition to existing fines for serious traffic offenses. Unlike traditional traffic fines, these fees must be paid annually for three years. The first payment will be sent to the court handling the case and the next two will go to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com