The licence case
Licence suspension after a DUI arrest in California
The licence proceeding has its own deadlines. Check the applicable notice or order, not just the criminal court date.
Hearing-request deadline in California: Request the DMV hearing within 10 days after receiving the suspension or revocation notice to seek a hearing before the order takes effect.
Cal. Veh. Code § 13558 (opens in a new tab)The notice identifies your proceeding. Conditions below.
The window
- Deadline to request a hearing
- Request the DMV hearing within 10 days after receiving the suspension or revocation notice to seek a hearing before the order takes effect.
- This is the initial notice-based hearing right—not a renewed-hearing exception measured in years. The notice identifies the applicable order.
- Hearing procedure under the cited rule
- Request an administrative hearing from DMV using the suspension or revocation notice. For the pre-effective-date hearing, the request must be postmarked or received within 10 days after receipt of the notice.
- A request alone does not stay the suspension. Section 13558(e) addresses a stay when DMV cannot timely conduct and decide the hearing; the specific refusal rules in subsection (c)(1) must also be considered.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Ordinary APS test-failure suspension: four months without a qualifying prior event in 10 years; one year with a qualifying prior. Separate under-21 rules and restricted-license conditions apply.
- The order generally takes effect 30 days after service. That start date is not the suspension's length.
- Qualifying conviction-and-interlock restricted-license conditions can terminate the four-month or one-year APS period. The under-21 zero-tolerance/refusal provision requires at least one year.
- Suspension length after a refusal
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
What happens if the window closes
The effect of a missed hearing-request deadline depends on the proceeding and the applicable law. This page does not determine whether review is still available or whether a particular licence restriction applies. A defence lawyer can review the notice or order and explain the available procedures.
Whether California offers a restricted licence in that situation, and on what conditions, is a state-specific question:
- Hardship or restricted licence
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
- Ignition interlock, first offense
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
How the two cases relate
A licence restriction may arise from a test result, a refusal or a criminal conviction. Those are not interchangeable grounds. The source and conditions attached to each rule matter; this page does not predict how one proceeding will affect another in a particular case.
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
- Request the DMV hearing within 10 days after receiving the suspension or revocation notice to seek a hearing before the order takes effect.
- This is the initial notice-based hearing right—not a renewed-hearing exception measured in years. The notice identifies the applicable order.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Ordinary APS test-failure suspension: four months without a qualifying prior event in 10 years; one year with a qualifying prior. Separate under-21 rules and restricted-license conditions apply.
- The order generally takes effect 30 days after service. That start date is not the suspension's length.
- Qualifying conviction-and-interlock restricted-license conditions can terminate the four-month or one-year APS period. The under-21 zero-tolerance/refusal provision requires at least one year.
Criminal charge
The criminal case
- Forum
- A criminal court
- Clock
- Check court notices and orders; no case duration is predicted here
- Alcohol-concentration threshold
- 0.08%
- 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.