The licence case
Licence suspension after a DUI arrest in Montana
The licence proceeding has its own deadlines. Check the applicable notice or order, not just the criminal court date.
Hearing-request deadline in Montana: For the implied-consent refusal challenge, file a district-court petition within 30 days after the officer gives notice of the right to a hearing.
Mont. Code Ann. § 61-8-1017 (opens in a new tab)The notice identifies your proceeding. Conditions below.
The window
- Deadline to request a hearing
- For the implied-consent refusal challenge, file a district-court petition within 30 days after the officer gives notice of the right to a hearing.
- File in the county where the arrest occurred. This section does not create an appeal to state court from a tribal-law suspension or revocation.
- Hearing procedure under the cited rule
- File the petition in the district court for the county of arrest within 30 days after the officer's hearing-rights notice.
- The court may stay the suspension or revocation if the petitioner requests it; filing alone is not an automatic stay.
- The statutory hearing concerns the officer's basis for requesting a test and whether the person refused.
- 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 Montana 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
- For the implied-consent refusal challenge, file a district-court petition within 30 days after the officer gives notice of the right to a hearing.
- File in the county where the arrest occurred. This section does not create an appeal to state court from a tribal-law suspension or revocation.
- 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
- 0.08% or more while driving or in actual physical control of a noncommercial vehicle on a public way.
- 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.