Comprehensive Arizona DUI Information
Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) License Suspensions Related To DUI Cases
TREAD CAREFULLY, YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE IS AT RISK FROM SEVERAL POTENTIAL SUSPENSIONS
ADMINISTRATIVE LICENSE SUSPENSIONS: There are two basic types of administrative license suspensions common in Arizona DUI cases. These suspensions have nothing to do with your ultimate innocence or guilt in the criminal case. If you refused a breath, blood or urine test (or couldn't complete one), you may face a minimum of a year license revocation. If you take a chemical body-alcohol test and fail it, you may face a minimum of a 90-day license suspension.
POINTS SUSPENSIONS: A DUI carries 8-points on your Arizona driving privileges. It doesn't matter what state your license is from. Any time you accumulate between 8 and 12 points, your license will be suspended unless you are eligible for and attend traffic survival school. Follow this link to learn more about Arizona MVD points. Beware if you are charged with civil traffic offenses in addition to a DUI.
Suspension by a conviction: When a person is convicted of a DUI in Arizona , the court in which the conviction took place will send an abstract to the MVD . once the motor vehicle division gets word of the DUI conviction , their policies will dictate what happens next . If the drunk driving conviction was a first offense in a five year time frame, the MVD will not take action because of the conviction if an administrative license suspension has already been issued.
DON'T MISS THE 15-DAY ARIZONA MVD DEADLINE TO REQUEST AN ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING
Any person who drives a motor vehicle in Arizona gives consent to a
test or tests of their blood, breath, urine or other bodily substances
so law enforcement can determine alcohol concentration or drug content
if the person is arrested for DUI.
Under Arizona Law, the Police Officer chooses the type of test, and
administered at his/her direction, so long as the officer has reasonable
grounds to believe that the person was driving or in actual physical
control of a motor vehicle either:
While under the influence of alcohol or drugs; or
If the person is under age 21 with alcohol in the person's body.
Following an arrest, the officer should request the subject to submit to
and successfully complete any test mentioned above that the officer
designates. If the subject refuses to submit to the test, or does not
successfully complete the test, his/her license will be suspended for 12
months for a first refusal, or for 2 years for a second or subsequent
refusal within a period of 60 months.
Any failure by the person arrested for DUI to expressly agree to the
test, or to successfully complete the test is deemed a refusal.
Prior to the test, the suspect must be informed that if the test shows a
blood or breath alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or more if the
arrest involved a personal vehicle, or 0.04 or more if a commercial
vehicle was involved, the person's license will be suspended for at
least 90 consecutive days.
Any person who is dead, unconscious or otherwise incapable of refusing
to submit to a test is deemed not to have withdrawn consent for the
test, and a test can be administered (usually a blood test).
IF YOU REFUSE THE TEST
If you exercise your right to refuse under Arizona's implied consent
law, the following will happen:
A. The test will not be given (unless the officer obtains a search
warrant, in which case he/she can immobilize you and forcibly draw your
blood);
B. The officer will file a certified report with the department of motor
vehicles;
C. The officer will serve you with an order of suspension that is
effective 15 days after the date the order is served;
D. You will be required to immediately surrender your license or permit
if it is in your control;
E. If your license is surrendered, the officer will issue a temporary
permit that is good for 15 days;
When the department receives the certified report from the officer, the
department will enter the suspension into its records on the effective
date unless a written request for a hearing is made by you.
THE HEARING
The MVD hearing is a civil proceeding, which is different from the
criminal case. It is common knowledge that in order to find a defendant
guilty of a crime, it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil
proceedings the standard of proof is much less difficult for the State.
In the criminal DUI case in Arizona, you have a right to a jury trial.
In the civil case you do not. An Administrative Law Judge decides both
the law and the facts when it comes to your MVD hearing.
You must request your hearing within 15 days. If you don't, your license
will automatically go into suspension, and you will not be able to fight
it. If you have retained our office to represent you, we have signed the
retainer agreement and received your retainer deposit before the
expiration of the 15 day period, we will be happy to make the hearing
request on your behalf. Please note that we will not make the request
for you unless we officially represent you, as we have not been
authorized to act on your behalf.
In Arizona, when you are arrested for DUI, the civil license suspension
case can, and usually does, precede the criminal case.
Forget all you've heard about double jeopardy. You can be tried twice
for the same crime! If you have been arrested for DUI, you must face
prosecution in court, as well as license suspension proceedings with the
Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles.
Think of the two cases as separate... except for one critical factor.
They both arise out of the same action on your part. So you were pulled
over for drunk driving.
To get help fighting MVD suspension, contact us today.