A week from today the first Northern Virginia challenge to the state’s controversial and costly bad-driving fees will be heard in Arlington General District Court.

Although the judge’s ruling will only be valid in Arlington County, the lawyer who filed the constitutional challenge thinks the case will affect judges throughout the state.

“I am not saying we are special up here, but Northern Virginia has a very sophisticated bar,” defense attorney Kyle Courtnall said. “We have a lot of lawyers in Northern Virginia and a lot of brain power. It is significant that this is the first challenge to come from Northern Virginia. I think it will be an influential decision.”

Courtnall is representing Charles Mason, a Navy reservist and Centreville resident who is facing a $1,050 fee for allegedly driving 75 mph in a 55 mph zone near the Pentagon.

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Legislators and Gov. Tim Kaine agreed on the fees in April to raise $65 million annually for road maintenance. The fees, which range from $750 to $3,000, are considered civil penalties and are not the traditional traffic fines. Virginia’s constitution specifies revenue from criminal traffic fines must be deposited into the state’s Literary Fund, which supports school construction and textbook purchases.

Lawmakers exempted out-of-state drivers from the expensive sanctions because they did not think they could force non-Virginians to pay a civil penalty.

General District Court judges in Henrico and Richmond already have declared the fees unconstitutional because the penalties apply only to Virginia drivers, but their decisions are valid only in those jurisdictions.

“There is a chance that I may raise some additional issues, the No. 1 issue is the out-of-state drivers,” Courtnall said.

For the fees to be nullified statewide, a court several steps above the General District level will have to rule the penalties unconstitutional. Even if the judges wipe out of the penalties, General Assembly leaders and Kaine have promised to enact legislation to apply the fees to all drivers, which would satisfy constitutional concerns raised so far.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com