Driver License Suspension

When a driver is arrested for drunk under the influence of alcohol, his driver's license is immediately confiscated by the police and he is served with the DMV's "Notice of Suspension". This one-page document (fine print on both sides) serves to:

(1) formally have the driver license undergo suspension,

(2) provide a temporary driving privilege for 30 days, and

(3) explain some aspects of the applicable law.

Buried in this fine print on the back side is the most important legal provision for driver license suspension: there is a right to an administrative hearing to contest the suspension and force the DMV to return the license — but only if the individual or his attorney contacts the DMV's local Drivers Safety Office (DSO) and formally demands a hearing WITHIN 10 CALENDAR DAYS of the arrest. If the call is not made, on the eleventh day the right to contest the suspension is lost and it will begin 30 days from the arrest regardless of any possible defenses.

This immediate driver license suspension is for either:

(1) having .08% or higher blood-alcohol (.01% for drivers under 21);

(2) providing a blood or urine sample when the officer believes the eventual analysis will be .08% or higher; or

(3) refusing to take a chemical test. This is referred to as an administrative suspension (or sometimes "admin per se" or "APS" suspension), and is to be distinguished form a license suspension or restriction which may (and probably will) later occur in the criminal court records— in addition to the administrative suspension.

Although this may seem to constitute "double jeopardy" or multiple punishment with a driver license suspension, the courts in their infinite wisdom have decided that the first suspension is only an "administrative sanction", as opposed to the second suspension in court which is a true "punishment".

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