Traffic Ticket: Legal Question?

I live in Tyler, TX. My husband received a speeding ticket and decided to fight it in court. He got the ticket back in June. They gave him 2 court dates which he could not meet due to work (ARMY), so he notified the courts before each date and they rescheduled.

Without paying the ticket, his license would expire Dec 28th. The court would not give him another trial date before his birthday. He had to pay the ticket to keep his license valid. So he headed to court to just pay the fine, and they told him he owed $728 or jail time. The ticket was only $160.

The other charges were for the 2 times he didn't show up to court. However, he rescheduled both times and was waiting for a new trial date (but couldn't get one before his birthday/license expiration date). Were they legally allowed to charge him those massive fines? It's not like he just didn't show up. He communicated with them and everything.

They only hold trials twice a year. When my husband made an appointment to talk to the judge, she told him they had nothing to discuss and that he needed to leave. The receptionist told him "Well you're the only person who's even done this. Everyone else just pays their ticket."

I feel like something is wrong here. Can anybody tell me what? I also feel helpless... What could we possibly do to fix this?!