Military Members and DUI

A DUI arrest by state or local police is handled under the law of the state where it happened. Virginia's statute, for example, makes it unlawful for any person to drive or operate a motor vehicle, engine or train while under the influence of alcohol, or under any of the other alternatives the statute lists. The statute applies to "any person" and does not set out a separate rule for service members.

Military service can change the surrounding picture. It can affect which state issued the driver's license, which records may follow a person after a transfer, and whether a separate military process runs alongside the civilian case.

On the civilian side, a license case and a criminal court case can proceed separately, under different rules and in different forums. The license case is described first here because its trigger and procedure differ from the court case, and each state names its own forum.

The license case is separate from any criminal charge. Its trigger and forum come from the law of the state involved.

In Michigan, MCL 257.625e provides that if a person refuses to submit to a chemical test as described in the statute, the peace officer must immediately give the person written notice that a hearing may be requested within a period that runs from the date of the notice. The notice must state that failing to request a hearing within that period will result in suspension of the person's license or permit. It must also state that counsel is not required for the hearing but is permitted to represent the person.

Georgia's Department of Driver Services describes an Administrative License Suspension that results from a DUI arrest when a state-administered test indicates the driver is under the influence or when the driver refuses a state-administered test. Its guidance states that a licensed driver's hearing request must be fully completed and submitted, and the appropriate fees paid, within the required appeal period. Otherwise the request will be rejected and the right to appeal waived. That agency page does not itself state the length of the period.

It can. Pennsylvania offers an example. PennDOT's Driver's Manual, which is agency guidance rather than a statute, explains that when a driving privilege is going to be suspended, revoked or disqualified, a written notice is mailed listing the date the sanction will begin. The guidance states that the sanction starts on that effective date regardless of when the license is surrendered.

According to the same guidance, the sanction may be appealed in the Court of Common Pleas (Civil Division) in the driver's county of residence. The appeal must be filed within a period measured from the mailing date of the Department's notice. The guidance also states that, in addition to serving the sanction, restoration requirements must be satisfied before the driving privilege is restored.

For a service member, the county of residence and the state that issued the license may not match the state of the duty station. How those facts bear on a particular license case is a question for a lawyer in the state involved.

The criminal case is the court proceeding on the DUI charge itself, and it is separate from the license case. Its elements come from the state statute charged. Virginia's statute, for example, lists several alternatives. These include driving while under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of a drug to a degree that impairs the ability to drive safely. The statute provides that a charge alleging a violation of the section supports a conviction under any of its listed clauses.

Texas law addresses the question of intent directly. Tex. Penal Code § 49.11 provides that proof of a culpable mental state is not required for conviction of an offense under that chapter, except for an offense under a separate section the statute names.

Sentencing consequences come from the criminal side as well. Arizona's statute, for example, requires the judge to order a person convicted of the DUI offenses it lists to complete alcohol or other drug screening. The screening must come from a facility approved by the department of health services, the United States department of veterans affairs or a probation department, in addition to any other penalties prescribed by law.

An arrest on a military installation can raise the question of which court system hears the case. Ohio's statute shows how a federal court's action can reach a driver's license. Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.06 addresses a United States district court whose jurisdiction lies within Ohio that suspends or cancels a person's driver's or commercial driver's license, permit or nonresident operating privileges pursuant to the Assimilative Crimes Act. In that situation, the suspension or cancellation is deemed to have the same effect throughout Ohio as if it were imposed under Ohio law.

The same section adds a procedural provision. If the federal court observes the procedures prescribed by the Ohio Revised Code and uses the forms prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles makes the appropriate notation or record and takes any other action the Revised Code prescribes or permits.

The Assimilative Crimes Act is a federal law, and the Ohio excerpt does not explain when it applies. A lawyer familiar with both the federal system and the surrounding state's law can address whether a particular installation is covered, how that state's rules come into play, and which court hears the case.

Transfers between duty stations can mean that an earlier case in one state matters in another. Texas law, for example, defines an "offense relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated" to include an offense under the laws of another state that prohibit operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Tex. Penal Code § 49.09 uses prior convictions of that kind to raise the level of a later offense.

Arizona's statutes also address other jurisdictions. A.R.S. § 28-1387 addresses the allegation of a prior conviction, including an act in another jurisdiction that would violate the listed Arizona DUI sections if committed in Arizona. Under A.R.S. § 28-3304, the department must revoke a license on receipt of a record of a final conviction in listed circumstances. These include a DUI conviction where the driver has an earlier conviction, within a period the statute sets, for an offense in another jurisdiction that would be a violation in Arizona.

How a prior record is counted, and whether a particular out-of-state case qualifies, turns on the exact statute and the record itself. A lawyer in the state where the new case is pending can answer those questions.

A civilian DUI case can sit alongside a separate military process, such as command review or administrative action affecting a career. Those consequences fall outside the scope of DUI.law and are not covered here. Nothing in the state law described above answers how a command will respond to an arrest or a conviction, and nothing here predicts any outcome.

What the civilian law does show is that the license case and the criminal court case each have their own rules, forums and procedures. A lawyer in the state involved can explain those, and a lawyer familiar with military matters can address the service side. Questions that a lawyer can help answer include:

• How the license case and the criminal court case relate to each other in the state involved.
• Which forum hears the license case and what event starts its filing period.
• Whether an arrest on an installation raises federal court questions.
• How a record from another state could be counted in a new case.
• How the civilian case and any military process may affect each other.

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.