Refusing a chemical test

The statutes summarized here frame refusal in their own words. New Jersey's N.J. Stat. § 39:4-50.4a asks whether the person refused to submit to the test upon request of the officer. Montana's Mont. Code Ann. § 61-8-1017 asks whether the person refused to submit to tests designated by the peace officer. Michigan's MCL 257.625f directs a hearing officer to consider, if the person refused the test upon the officer's request, whether the refusal was reasonable.

The tests named also differ. The Arkansas subsection that sets refusal periods, within A.C.A. § 5-65-205, refers to a chemical test of breath, saliva or urine. Nebraska's Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-498.02 refers to a refusal to submit to a chemical test of blood, breath or urine.

Arkansas's A.C.A. § 5-65-205 provides that the Office of Driver Services shall suspend or revoke the driving privilege of an arrested person who refuses to submit to a chemical test under that subchapter. For a refusal of a breath, saliva or urine test, the statute sets a suspension for a first offense and longer suspensions or revocations for second, third and fourth offenses occurring within a stated period of the first.

For a first offense, the office may issue an ignition interlock restricted license immediately, but only when the arrest was for operating or being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle or motorboat while intoxicated by alcohol. The statute's restricted driving permit provision does not apply to a first-offense suspension.

In enhancing what the statute calls the administrative penalty, the office counts as a previous offense a refusal conviction, or a refusal-based suspension or revocation where the person was not later acquitted of the criminal charge, within a stated period before the current offense. A resident who violates the section without a license or permit is denied one for a set period.

Michigan's MCL 257.625f provides that if a person who refuses a chemical test does not request a hearing within the period the statute sets after notice, the Secretary of State imposes license sanctions. For a person operating a vehicle other than a commercial motor vehicle, the sanction is suspension or denial of the license, permit or nonresident operating privilege, with a longer period for a second or subsequent refusal within the statute's window; a resident without a license or permit is not issued one. The statute sets distinct sanctions on vehicle group designations for a person who was operating a commercial motor vehicle.

If a hearing is requested, it covers only whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person committed a listed crime, whether the person was arrested for it, whether a refusal upon the officer's request was reasonable, and whether the person was advised of rights the statute cross-references. If the person does not prevail, the Secretary of State imposes the sanctions, and the person may petition the circuit court of the county of arrest for review. If the person prevails, the officer may, with the prosecutor's consent, petition that court for review.

Nebraska's Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-498.02 directs the director to revoke the operator's license of a person arrested for refusal to submit to a chemical test of blood, breath or urine. The revocation follows either the expiration of a stated period after the arrest or a hearing at which the director finds the license should be revoked.

The same subsection treats a person who submits to a test disclosing an alcohol concentration specified in a cross-referenced section under a separate branch with its own revocation period. For that test-result branch, a different period applies if the person's driving record abstract shows prior administrative license revocations with final orders during the preceding period the statute names. Except as another cross-referenced section provides, a new license is not issued until the revocation period has elapsed. For a nonresident, the director revokes only the nonresident's operating privilege and forwards the license and order to the person's state of residence.

Montana's Mont. Code Ann. § 61-8-1017 allows a person, within a stated period after a peace officer gives notice of the right to a hearing, to file a petition challenging the license suspension or revocation in the district court of the county where the arrest was made. The court decides no issues other than whether the officer had a basis for requesting a test under a cross-referenced section and whether the person refused to submit to tests the officer designated.

On the petitioner's request, the court may issue a stay of the suspension or revocation pending the hearing; the statute makes this discretionary. The section does not grant a right of appeal to a state court where a license is suspended or revoked under a tribal law or regulation requiring testing.

New Jersey's N.J. Stat. § 39:4-50.4a provides that the municipal court determines by a preponderance of the evidence whether the officer had probable cause to believe the person drove or was in actual physical control of a motor vehicle on public highways or quasi-public areas while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a listed drug, marijuana or cannabis item; whether the person was arrested, if appropriate; and whether the person refused the test upon the officer's request. If these elements are not established, no conviction issues.

Louisiana's RS 14:98.7 is titled "Unlawful refusal to submit to chemical tests; arrests for driving while impaired." Its subsection A addresses a person under arrest for a violation of an impaired-driving law or ordinance named in the subsection, and a chemical test requested by a law enforcement officer. The subsection's prohibition on refusing is conditioned on the person's record of earlier, separate refusals as the subsection defines it, so it is not a rule that every refusal is prohibited. The exact condition appears in the subsection itself, which this page does not restate; readers can consult the linked Louisiana source for it.

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.