Testing and evidence
Implied consent and refusal in Arizona
The test requested, legal grounds and applicable statute matter.
Under the cited refusal rule in Arizona: 12 months for a first refusal; 2 years for a second or subsequent refusal within 84 months. The conditions below identify its scope. A roadside screening request, an evidential test and a warrant are not interchangeable legal grounds.
What a refusal does in Arizona
- Suspension length after a refusal
- 12 months for a first refusal; 2 years for a second or subsequent refusal within 84 months
- This is a separate test-refusal proceeding. ADOT must receive the hearing request within 30 days after the date of the notice. For mailed notice under subsection F(2), the period runs after the notice is sent.
- A timely hearing request stays the suspension until the hearing. Issuance of a special ignition-interlock restricted driver license under subsection Q waives the administrative hearing right.
- Other consequences of refusing
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.Whether a refusal is separately chargeable, and whether it can be used as evidence, varies by state.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- At least 90 consecutive days under the general rule. Qualifying drivers instead receive at least 30 days suspended and at least 60 additional days restricted; a qualifying ignition-interlock alternative is also available
- The restricted-driving route requires the conditions in subsection I, including no death or serious physical injury to another person, the specified prior-conviction limits, and completed screening. Subsection J provides an interlock alternative for qualifying applicants.
Roadside tests and chemical tests are different things
Identify what was requested: a field sobriety exercise, a roadside screening test, or a chemical test of breath, blood or urine. Do not assume the same refusal rule applies to all of them. The relevant statute, any warrant, and the circumstances of the request determine the legal question for a lawyer to review.
The two legal questions
The criminal charge and driving privileges can involve different proceedings. The notice, order and cited rule identify the applicable process.
Driving privileges
The licence case
- Forum
- The agency or court identified by the applicable licence proceeding
- Clock
- Check the applicable notice or order for the deadline and its starting event
- Deadline to request a hearing
- 30 days after the date of the notice. ADOT must receive the hearing request within that period (administrative-per-se suspension)
- A timely hearing request stays the suspension until the hearing. This page does not calculate a personal deadline.
- Issuance of a special ignition-interlock restricted driver license under subsection K waives the administrative hearing right.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- At least 90 consecutive days under the general rule. Qualifying drivers instead receive at least 30 days suspended and at least 60 additional days restricted; a qualifying ignition-interlock alternative is also available
- The restricted-driving route requires the conditions in subsection I, including no death or serious physical injury to another person, the specified prior-conviction limits, and completed screening. Subsection J provides an interlock alternative for qualifying applicants.
- After a refusal
- 12 months for a first refusal; 2 years for a second or subsequent refusal within 84 months
- This is a separate test-refusal proceeding. ADOT must receive the hearing request within 30 days after the date of the notice. For mailed notice under subsection F(2), the period runs after the notice is sent.
- A timely hearing request stays the suspension until the hearing. Issuance of a special ignition-interlock restricted driver license under subsection Q waives the administrative hearing right.
Criminal charge
The criminal case
- Forum
- A criminal court
- Clock
- Check court notices and orders; no case duration is predicted here
- Alcohol-concentration threshold
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
- First-offense penalty rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.The cited rule may describe a range or a minimum with conditions, not a predicted sentence.