How a Plea in Court Affects the License Case

A DUI arrest can lead to a license case and a criminal court case. They ask different questions. The criminal case concerns whether an offense is proved in court. The license case concerns whether the state acts against the driving privilege, and its forum, trigger and procedure come from the law of the state involved.

Michigan's statute on chemical-test refusals, for example, sets out a license proceeding before the secretary of state. If a person who refused a chemical test under the provision the statute cross-references does not request a hearing within the period the statute sets after notice, the secretary of state imposes license sanctions. The statute treats noncommercial and commercial vehicles separately and addresses repeat refusals.

If a hearing is requested, the secretary of state holds it, and the hearing officer may administer oaths, issue subpoenas and grant a limited adjournment. The hearing covers only the issues the statute lists: whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person committed a crime described in a cross-referenced section, whether the person was placed under arrest for such a crime, whether a refusal was reasonable, and whether the person was advised of the rights described in another cross-referenced provision.

Michigan's refusal statute also addresses what follows the hearing. If the person who requested the hearing does not prevail, the secretary of state imposes the license sanctions the statute describes, and the person may petition the circuit court of the county where the arrest was made for review under a cross-referenced section. If the person prevails, the officer who filed the report may, with the prosecuting attorney's consent, petition that circuit court to review the hearing officer's determination. The hearing officer makes a record of the hearing.

Texas's statute on notice of the department's determination shows a different license-side step. If the department suspends a person's driver's license, it sends a notice of suspension by mail to the address in its records, or to the address in the peace officer's report if that address is different. If the department decides not to suspend, it notifies the person and rescinds any notice of suspension that was served.

Neither of these provisions, as described here, refers to a plea in a criminal case. They govern the license side.

New York's statute on operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol shows a license-side route that does not run through a criminal conviction. It applies to drivers below an age the statute sets, and it defines having consumed alcohol by reference to a chemical analysis made under another section of the same article.

Under that statute, a person who violates it and is not charged with a violation of a cross-referenced section of the article arising out of the same incident is referred to the department for action under a separate section of the article. The statute states that a finding of a violation is not a judgment of conviction for a crime or any other offense. Except as a cross-referenced provision otherwise provides, it does not apply to a person operating a commercial motor vehicle.

This describes New York's rule only. It shows that, in New York, a matter can be sent to the department for action without becoming a criminal conviction.

Ohio's statute on records of traffic violations, for example, requires every county court judge, mayor and clerk of a court of record to keep a full record of every case in which a person is charged with a violation of the provisions it lists, or of any other law or ordinance regulating the operation of vehicles, streetcars and trackless trolleys on highways.

Within a period the statute sets after a conviction or bail forfeiture on such a charge, that judge, mayor or clerk must prepare and immediately forward to the department of public safety a certified abstract of the court record. The abstract is made on a form the department approves and furnishes, and it must include the name and address of the person charged, the driver's or commercial driver's license number, the vehicle registration number, the nature of the offense, the date of hearing, the plea, the judgment or whether bail was forfeited, and the amount of the fine or forfeiture.

The statute makes an officer's failure, refusal or neglect to comply misconduct in office and a ground for removal, and it directs the department to keep the abstracts at its main office. Under this Ohio statute, the plea entered in court is part of the record the department receives.

Arizona's statute on prior convictions and license suspension, for example, ties a license action to the court's abstract. On receipt of the abstract of conviction for a violation of the DUI sections it names, the department must suspend the person's license for at least a minimum period the statute sets. That rule carries an exception: it does not apply if the license has been or is suspended under other provisions of Arizona law that the subsection identifies.

Arizona's statute on driving or actual physical control while under the extreme influence of intoxicating liquor adds department-side consequences of a conviction under that section. On receipt of the report of conviction, the department must require the person to equip any motor vehicle the person operates with a certified ignition interlock device, and the department must require the person to attend and successfully complete an approved traffic survival school course. For a later conviction of the kind the statute describes within the period it defines, the court reports the conviction to the department, which on receipt revokes the driving privilege and requires an ignition interlock device.

In these Arizona provisions, the license consequence follows the department's receipt of the court's report of conviction.

Ohio's statute on copies of judgments and convictions requires the clerk of every court of record and the mayor of every mayor's court to forward immediately to the registrar of motor vehicles a certified copy or transcript when a nonresident is convicted of an offense for which the court is required to impose a license suspension, or forfeits bail given on such a charge. A companion Ohio statute directs the registrar to send a certified copy of a nonresident's judgment, conviction or bail-forfeiture order to the licensing official of the state where the defendant resides.

North Carolina's statute on notification of traffic convictions requires the Division, within a period the statute sets after receiving a report, to notify the driver licensing authority of the licensing state or foreign jurisdiction electronically of certain convictions. It covers a nonresident holding a commercial driver license or commercial learner's permit, for a traffic-control violation other than parking committed in a motor vehicle, and a nonresident holding a drivers license, for such a violation committed in a commercial motor vehicle. It separately requires notice to the United States Department of State for licenses that department issued.

On the license side, Michigan's refusal statute requires written notice to the motor vehicle administrator of the state of residence, and of each state where the person holds a license, once it has been finally determined that a nonresident's privilege is suspended or denied.

Texas's statute on notice to the state in occupational driver's license proceedings requires the clerk, unless the petition is dismissed under a cross-referenced provision, to send the attorney representing the state a copy of the petition and notice of the hearing when the petitioner's license was suspended, revoked or canceled following a conviction for certain offenses the statute lists. The court may also notify the state's attorney of other hearings on such petitions, and a person who receives notice may attend and present evidence for or against granting the petition.

A related Texas statute requires the court to send the department a certified copy of the petition and the order setting out the judge's findings and restrictions. The person may use a copy of the order as a restricted license for a period the statute sets. On receipt of the copy, and after compliance with a separate chapter the statute names, the department issues an occupational driver's license that must refer on its face to the court order.

These Texas provisions show a court order and a department action operating together. Whether such a petition is available in a particular case is a question for a Texas lawyer.

Because the license case and the criminal case each follow state law, the effect of a plea on a license is a state-specific question. A lawyer licensed in the state where the case is pending can explain how that state's license case and criminal case relate, and how a particular plea is recorded and reported.

The examples in this guide come from Arizona, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. They describe those states' rules only and do not show what any other state provides. Questions a lawyer can address include:

• Which forum handles the license case in this state, and what triggers it?
• How is a plea recorded in the court's report, and which agency receives that report?
• Does a suspension already in place change what happens after a conviction is reported?
• Is a particular finding treated as a conviction, or sent to the licensing authority some other way?
• If the license was issued by another state, how does a conviction or license action reach that state?
• Is there a court or agency procedure for restricted driving during a suspension?

Deadlines, limits and penalty ranges are set by each state’s statutes, so this page does not state them. Each state page shows them with the official source and the date they were verified — or says plainly that a figure has not been confirmed yet.