License Suspensions
By Attorney Craig Cahoon

Merely by being accused of a DUI will probably cause the Department of Licensing (DOL) to try and take your license from you.  The length of license suspension depends on a couple of factors, but even for your first time, you can loose your license for 90 days. See the DUI Penalties chart for the range suspension lengths.

This Administrative Suspension is independent from the suspension you may get from a criminal conviction.  In other words, to keep your license you must prevail both in criminal court and in the Department of Licensing administrative hearing.

When you are stopped for DUI, the police officer is supposed to give you a hearing request form that details how you request a hearing at DOL.  If you did not get a form click here for an application.  The police will typically punch a hole in your license.  Tear off the bottom portion of the hearing request form and wrap it around your license.  That way if you get stopped again, the police will understand why you have a hole in your license.

Is my license still good if it has a hole in it?

Your license status remains unchanged after your arrest for DUI.  So, if it was good before then its good now and stays that way for sixty days after the stop.  On the sixty-first day, however, your license will be suspended - unless within the first thirty days after the stop you have sent in your hearing request form and requested a hearing.  There is also a fee that must be included with the request form - otherwise DOL will not schedule you a hearing.

You and your lawyer can talk about ways to prepare for the hearing that will give you the best chance of winning.