DUI Answers

When you are arrested for DUI, the arresting office takes your driver's license and issues you a temporary license that lasts for 30 days. This temporary license also contains information for requesting a DMV hearing, which must be done within 10 days of your arrest. If you do not request this hearing, your license will automatically be suspended after the temporary license expires. If you request a hearing, the provisional license remains in effect (and you can continue driving beyond the 30-day period if the hearing takes longer than 30 days) until the hearing can be held.

If you successfully argue your case before the DMV at the administrative hearing, the suspension may be set aside and your license returned to you. If you lose the hearing, however, your license will be suspended. The length of suspension depends on (1) whether you have any prior convictions or prior admin per se suspensions and, (2) if the suspension is for having a blood alcohol level above .08% or if it is for a refusal. For example:

• A first time offender with a .08% or above will receive a suspension of 4 months.
  
• A second time or multiple offender will receive a suspension of one year. A restricted license is not available for multiple offenders.
  
• An offender under the age of 21 arrested for driving with any measurable amount of alcohol in his or her system will receive a license suspension for one year. No restricted license will be issued.

If you are convicted of a first time DUI, the court clerk sends notice of the conviction to the DMV. Upon receipt, DMV will send you a notice of suspension that is separate from the admin per se suspension. This new suspension is for six months, but it can be converted into a three-month restricted license. The same proof of enrollment in the DMV alcohol school is used for the admin per se suspension and the same SR-22 form. The restriction is added on to the length of any admin per se suspension you already face. This usually results in roughly eight months of restricted driving privileges following the initial 30-day suspension. The court may order the restrictions to run consecutively, but the DMV may override the judge's instructions. The timing of the two restrictions will sometimes allow you to pay only the $125.00 fee for license reinstatement (i.e., if you can apply for both restrictions at the same time).

• For a second DUI conviction, the suspension is for two years. You may apply for a restricted license after the first year of the suspension and the one-year admin per se suspension has run. The first year of the two suspensions will run concurrently, so if you time it right, you can get a restricted license after one year.
• A third DUI conviction is similar to the second, except the suspension is for three years and the restricted license is not available until two years of the suspension has run.

In second and subsequent DUI convictions, in order to qualify for a restricted license, you must be enrolled in an 18-month DMV alcohol education program. Before your full driving privileges are reinstated, you must complete the course.

If you are facing your second or subsequent DUI case, you need a competent DUI lawyer, regardless of the facts of your case.