The licence case
Licence suspension after a DUI arrest in the District of Columbia
The licence proceeding has its own deadlines. Check the applicable notice or order, not just the criminal court date.
Hearing-request deadline in the District of Columbia: D.C. residents have 10 calendar days to request a hearing; people who live outside D.C. have 15.
DC DMV, Major Moving Violations (opens in a new tab)The notice identifies your proceeding. Conditions below.
The window
- Deadline to request a hearing
- D.C. residents have 10 calendar days to request a hearing; people who live outside D.C. have 15.
- Count from when you are served with the Official Notice of Proposed Revocation. This is the DMV hearing about your license or driving privileges, not your criminal court date.
- DMV says your request must be received within that period. If you mail it, the postmark alone is not enough.
- Check the deadline on your notice and request the hearing promptly. This answer does not establish that you may keep driving while you wait.
- Hearing procedure under the cited rule
- Ask D.C. DMV for a “show cause” hearing about the proposed revocation. DMV offers online and in-person requests.
- Use the Zendesk link on DMV’s Virtual Hearings page, or visit DMV Adjudication Services. DMV says you may choose a virtual or in-person hearing.
- DMV’s Major Moving Violations page also describes requests by mail to the Driver Improvement Office, PO Box 90120, Washington, DC 20090. The request must arrive within 10 calendar days after service of the notice for D.C. residents, or 15 for nonresidents.
- DMV asks you to present or include your driver license, the Order of Proposed Revocation, court disposition, and other relevant court documents. This licensing hearing is separate from the criminal case; attending court is not a substitute for requesting it.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
- 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 the District of Columbia 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
- D.C. residents have 10 calendar days to request a hearing; people who live outside D.C. have 15.
- Count from when you are served with the Official Notice of Proposed Revocation. This is the DMV hearing about your license or driving privileges, not your criminal court date.
- DMV says your request must be received within that period. If you mail it, the postmark alone is not enough.
- Check the deadline on your notice and request the hearing promptly. This answer does not establish that you may keep driving while you wait.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
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.