What Happens to Your Driver’s License with a DUI Charge

If you have been charged with or arrested for a DUI, one of your first questions is probably what happens to your driver’s license. In Oklahoma, you may be able to keep your license with restrictions, but you must take action very quickly after you first have contact with the police. Read on to learn more about the effect of a DUI on your driving privileges.

First, if you are 21 or older and your breath or blood test shows a 0.08 alcohol concentration or higher, the law enforcement officer arresting you will seize your driver’s license. The same is true if you are under 21 and the test shows any measurable alcohol concentration or if you refuse to take the breath or blood test. 47 O.S. § 67-754. The officer will give you a receipt for the license, which will also give you notice that your driver’s license will be revoked effective 30 days from the notice date. This receipt acts as a driver’s license and is recognized in Oklahoma, allowing you to drive for 30 days.

You can take action to try to keep your license after the 30 days is up, but you must make a written request for a hearing to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety within 15 days from the notice date (usually 15 days after your arrest). A timely hearing request stops the clock ticking on the 30 days before revocation, until you have had your hearing. 47 O.S. § 67-754. Keep in mind, your driver’s license must be valid, unrestricted, and unexpired for this to be the case, and drivers with commercial driver’s licenses will face different procedures and penalties than those for the average driver described here.

At the hearing, evidence of the breath or blood test and the arresting officer’s report can be introduced against you. The hearing’s scope is limited to these issues:

• Did the officer have reasonable grounds to believe you were operating or were in control of a vehicle on public roads while under the influence of alcohol and/or any other intoxicating substance?
• Were you placed under arrest?
• Were you given a breath or blood test?
• Was the breath or blood specimen obtained from you within 2 hours of your arrest?
• If you are under 21, were you told that driving privileges would be revoked or denied if the test result showed any measurable amount of alcohol?

 

• If you are over 21, were you told that driving privileges would be revoked or denied if the test result showed an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more?
• Did the test result in fact show this alcohol concentration?
• If the license revocation or denial is based upon your refusal to submit to a breath or blood test as shown in law enforcement officer’s report, did you refuse to submit to the test, and were you informed that driving privileges would be revoked or denied if you refused to submit to the test?

47 O.S. § 67-754.

If you have a hearing, but the hearing officer orders that your license is still revoked or denied, or if you do not have a hearing, your license will expire after the 30 days from date of notice end. You have some appeal rights after the hearing, but again, the time to exercise them is short.

However, some people have no other way to get around than by driving. When “no other adequate means of transportation exists,” the Department of Public Safety may permit you to have an ignition interlock device installed on vehicles you drive. You will be charged a fee for this modification of your license privileges. 47 O.S. § 754.1.

Depending on the offense for which you were arrested, you may not be able to get your regular license back for quite some time. The Department of Public Safety may revoke or suspend your driving privileges for anywhere from months to years, and if you have prior convictions a longer revocation or suspension is more likely. See 47 O.S. § 761; 47 O.S. § 6-205.1; 47 O.S. § 6-107.1.

Have you been charged with a DUI in Oklahoma, and are you wondering about your license privileges? Seek out the attorney who knows the system. Clint Patterson, Esq., of Patterson Law Firm, a former Tulsa prosecutor now using his trial experience and expert-level knowledge of DUI science to defend drivers, has the experience and the insight to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your case. To schedule a case evaluation, visit Patterson Law Firm online or call Clint’s office at (918) 550-9175.