DMV License Suspension

Here in California, and especially San Diego County, it’s difficult to get around without being able to drive a car. The Law Office of Joshua R. Bourne can help you with your driver’s license problems. You don’t want to lose your job because you can’t drive to work. Your family may be depending on you. After your arrest, you will have ten days to contact the DMV about your license and set up an administrative hearing. Otherwise, your license may be automatically suspended. The temporary driver’s license that you received from the police officer who arrested you is only good for 30 days. However, if we set up a hearing in time, this temporary license may be extended until a decision on your hearing. During this hearing, the DMV will determine what happens to your license.

The Law Office of Joshua R. Bourne has experience helping clients through the complicated DMV process. The DMV hearing officer must have evidence of:

1. Who was driving the vehicle
2. If the officer that arrested you had probable cause to stop you
3. If you had a BAC of .08 or higher

If the evidence is unclear, or if the police made mistakes in procedure and in the reports, it may be possible to help you keep your license.

Even if we do not prevail at the initial hearing, the Law Office of Joshua R. Bourne can help you obtain a “restricted license” allowing you to drive to and from work.

More About the License Suspension Procedure

Your license may be taken from you even if you are not convicted of a crime. When a California driver is arrested for driving 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 “Notice of Suspension” acts to (1) formally suspend the license, (2) provide a temporary driving privilege for 30 days, and (3) explain some aspects of the applicable law. There is a right to an administrative hearing to contest the suspension and force the DMV to return the license. This can only occur if the licensee or his DUI attorney contacts the DMV’s local Driver Safety Office 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. It is crucial that you obtain the help of a competent DUI attorney as soon as possible after you are arrested.

This immediate suspension is for either:

• having .08% or higher blood-alcohol (.01% for drivers under 21)
• providing a blood or urine sample when the officer believes the eventual analysis will be .08% or higher
• or, refusing to take a chemical test

This is referred to as an administrative suspension or sometimes “DUI administrative per se license suspension” or “APS” suspension.

Out of State Driver’s License

If the licensee is from another state, the officer does not have the right to physically take the license, as the document is the property of another state. California has no jurisdiction to suspend a driver’s license issued by another state. The officer can still issue a “Notice of Suspension” identical to that given California license holders. This “Notice of Suspension” acts only as a suspension of the right to drive after 30 days within the State of California. If there is a conviction, California, as a member of the Interstate Driver’s License Compact, will notify the home state of that fact. The home state of the licensee will then usually suspend the license in the same way as if the person had been convicted in the home state.