13yo erroneous FTP, Dept/Revenue collection. Can I dispute? (LONG POST)

[barbi130]

What is the name of your state? CA
In the 1990's I had a number of FTA's on speeding tickets...eventually license was suspended, warrants were issued and I continued to drive until I finally got arrested. The FTA amounts had accumulated to almost $20,000... I was bailed out by my mom & prcoceeded to attend each & every court date (with mom ) and pay EVERY fine.
I had to before I could get my license back and because it was a stipulation of the bail bondsman (I had to provide him with copies of all the abstracts before he released the bond).
I had screwed up, had gotten caught, paid my "dues" - and groveled to mother for years! It was all over in 1999- got my license back and have been law abiding since.
Until last September (2005)... I received a notice from the Department of Revenue stating I owed $342 and giving a case number. I called and was informed the bill was from an unpaid traffic fine from 1993, they gave me the citation number and said I would have to contact the court to obtain details. I immediately emailed the traffic division @ the Santa Clara County Courts. They replied by informing me it was a Palo Alto court case and they forwarded the email...No reply ever from PA... I researched all the papers I still have in my possession-- I can find a few papers referencing the citation # (including paper from when I had been arrested) But I could not find the abstract with that citation number on it.
I finally went to the courthouse and was informed I could no longer go to "court" to contest the situation (too much time had passed--yet it was ok for them to send a bill 13 years later!) I was also told I could not dispute the fine to the Dept of Revenue...
My questions: I would NOT have been able to obtain a driver's license if I still had an outstanding ticket- correct??
Is there a way to contest this situation with the Dept. of Revenue?? They said I had to deal with the court, the court says it is too late to go to court!
Lastly, Would it be worthwhile to obtain my DMV record-- aren't all violations listed? How far back do DMV records go?
Thank you in advance to anyone who actually read this entire post and is willing to provide any advice

[CdwJava]

DMV records will only go back 7 years, so they wouldn't have it.

And, there is no CA "Department of Revenue" ... could you be a little more specific as to which agency is trying to collect this from you? It sounds like it might be a collection agency for a city.

In any event, if the court no longer has a record of the citation you can always try to obtain a notice from them stating that there is no outstanding citation from that court and see if the collection agency will accept that.

- Carl