Testing and evidence
Implied consent and refusal in Michigan
The test requested, legal grounds and applicable statute matter.
Under the cited refusal rule in Michigan: For a noncommercial vehicle, a chemical-test refusal carries a 1-year suspension; a second or subsequent refusal within 7 years carries 2 years.. The conditions below identify its scope. A roadside screening request, an evidential test and a warrant are not interchangeable legal grounds.
What a refusal does in Michigan
- Suspension length after a refusal
- For a noncommercial vehicle, a chemical-test refusal carries a 1-year suspension; a second or subsequent refusal within 7 years carries 2 years.
- These are the sanctions when no timely hearing is requested or the refusal is sustained. Commercial-vehicle group designations have separate sanctions.
- Other consequences of refusing
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.Whether a refusal is separately chargeable, and whether it can be used as evidence, varies by state.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
Roadside tests and chemical tests are different things
Identify what was requested: a field sobriety exercise, a roadside screening test, or a chemical test of breath, blood or urine. Do not assume the same refusal rule applies to all of them. The relevant statute, any warrant, and the circumstances of the request determine the legal question for a lawyer to review.
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
- For a chemical-test refusal, request the implied-consent hearing within 14 days of the date of the officer's written notice.
- This deadline concerns the refusal suspension, not every licensing action after an OWI arrest.
- Suspension under the cited rule
- Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
- After a refusal
- For a noncommercial vehicle, a chemical-test refusal carries a 1-year suspension; a second or subsequent refusal within 7 years carries 2 years.
- These are the sanctions when no timely hearing is requested or the refusal is sustained. Commercial-vehicle group designations have separate sanctions.
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.