CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Thousands of people in Montgomery County have had their driver’s licenses revoked this week after they were accused of not paying court costs and litigation taxes.

According to Circuit Court Clerk Cheryl Castle, a Tennessee law that went into effect in 2011 states that anyone who is one year delinquent in paying their fines, court costs, and litigation taxes on criminal cases will have their driver’s license suspended.

Over 14,000 cases were processed this week alone. The cases date back to 2012.

“Because it was the first run, we felt it was necessary to verify all the cases. It took us until three weeks ago to manually check them in order to verify the balances due prior to releasing it,” Castle said.

A new automated system allows officials to track delinquent cases.

Castle said driver’s licenses have always been cancelled for non-payment of moving traffic violations, but this was a new procedure for criminal cases that are not traffic-related.

“We have been cancelling the driver’s licenses since the 2011 law went into effect, but prior to bringing the new system live, the process was very slow and tedious as it was a manual process,” she said.

From this point forward, reports will be generated on a monthly basis. Defendants are able to petition the court to get reinstated to a payment plan, but should they default, their driver’s license will once again be suspended.

Christina Kovalik, a full-time student, told ClarksvilleNow.com that she has been making small payments since October 2014. Her last payment was April 1, 2016. However, she claims she has received a revocation notice dated April 25, despite making payments continuously.

“I went to the court clerk, but was told I went two months without a payment. I explained to them I don’t make that much money and paid what I could,” she said.

Kovalik said after her payment schedule was complete, she was required to pay $140 to get her license back, plus a $30 fee to have it printed.

“This makes absolutely no sense to me, but that is how the law works,” Kovalik said. “Go after the people who care about their records because in the end we are the ones paying the massive court bills of everyone else who has never made a single payment nor ever will make a single payment.”

Kovalik said she spent about six hours at the courthouse Tuesday.