Interviewer: Is there a difference between the Implied Consent Affidavit and a corrective action form?
Brian Sloan: The corrective action form, I believe, is the letter that comes from the Motor Vehicle Division and it will indicate that a person’s license is going to be suspended or revoked for one reason or another.
If an officer does not serve the person with that pink or yellow piece of paper called the Admin Per Se/Implied Consent Affidavit at the time of arrest, what they will usually do is personally fill in that document, while they wait to get blood test results back.
The Corrective Action Notice Informs the Driver That Their License Will Be Suspended
Once they get blood test results back, they will continue to fill in that document, turn it into the Motor Vehicle Division and the Motor Vehicle Division will send a letter to the person indicating, “We received word that you were suspected of driving under the influence. We are going to suspend your license from this date to this date.” And that notification is called the corrective action notice.
How Can You Avoid the Confusion of the Admin Per Se/Implied Consent Affidavit?
Interviewer: What have you observed about common mistakes that people make upon receiving a charge?
Brian Sloan: Unfortunately, there’s just sometimes a problem with how confusing the forms are. I have seen forms that will be dated, for example, January 1st, 2014 saying, “We received word that you were suspended or convicted of the DUI. Your license suspension starts January 5th, 2013 to April 5th, 2013.”
An Attorney Can Be Helpful in Sorting through the Sometimes Time Consuming and Confusing Process
You may think, “Wait a minute. How was I suspended back in time? How was I suspended a year ago and why are you now sending me a letter?” Sometimes, these things are just confusing, which is why people really need an attorney to help them figure all this out. Otherwise, you’re going to be doing a lot of leg work and staying on hold a long time with the Motor Vehicle Division.
Was Your Identity Stolen? On Occasion, the Suspension Is Issued in Error
Some people just ignore the letter on occasion and it’s rare, but it does happen where someone will receive a letter telling them that they have been suspected of DUI and that their license is going to be suspended for 90 days. And they know that they weren’t ever arrested. They would never pulled over for DUI.
So, they ignore the letter and what actually happened is sometimes, a sibling or a friend or true identity theft takes place and someone else uses their identification. They end up getting their license suspended when they truly didn’t do anything wrong.
Only Arizona Will Acknowledge the 15-Day Permission to Driver Notice; You Will Not Have a Valid License in another State
Let’s see. One other thing is that the pink or yellow piece of paper that the person is given, the Admin Per Se/Implied Consent Affidavit. It is a permission to allow them to drive only in the state of Arizona. Other states will not acknowledge that. It is also not a form of identification.
If someone were to be pulled over, they really need to have some other form of identification with them other than an old license, an old identification card or a passport. That puts people in the Catch-22 situation because most people think, “Well, since this is a form of identification, I need to go get a form of identification. Let me go to Motor Vehicle Division and try and get identification card.”
Do Not Attempt to Obtain a New License at the Motor Vehicle Division during This Process
The problem is that technically, under Arizona Law, if someone were to get an identification card, they are canceling out any driver’s license that they had. So, they decide, “Well, I need identification. I need to go to the bank. I need to go to the library. I need to go wherever I need ID, let me go get one.” And then they’ve also have ended their driving privileges under the Admin Per Se/Implied Consent Affidavit.
Some people try and go and get a new driver’s license and that can cause more problems on occasion. It looks like they’re trying to get around the system and they got their driver’s license taken away by the officer and all of a sudden, the next day, they’re in the Motor Vehicle Division getting a new one.
What Happens If You Hold an Out-of-State License?
We should discuss what happens with out-of-state license holders because Arizona can’t take any action directly on an out-of-state license.
So, for example, if someone from California comes over to Arizona and they are suspected of driving under the influence. They take a breath test and the breath test results show a reading above a point 08, but the driver is from California, they don’t much care if they’re not going to be in Arizona. They were just here on vacation.
Arizona Will Notify the Driver’s Home State
What is going to happen is that the person’s privilege to drive in Arizona is going to be suspended for 90 days for being suspected of DUI, but Arizona is going to notify California and tell the California Department of Motor Vehicles that, “One of your residents came over to Arizona and was suspected of DUI. Maybe you want to do something to their license.”
Your Home State May Misinterpret the Charge Notification as a Conviction Notification and Issue a Suspension
Unfortunately, there’s something lost in translation because California is going to interpret it that, “One of your residents came over here and was convicted of a DUI.”
So, what California is going to do to that person’s California driver’s license is suspend it for six months for being convicted of DUI even though, Arizona would have suspended it for 90 days for being suspected. And then to add injury to insult, the following will happen if that person from California ends up getting a conviction for DUI.
Because they went to trial and they lost—California’s then going to be notified again that, “One of your people came to Arizona and was convicted of DUI.” All of a sudden, California is going to interpret it that the resident received two convictions in a short amount of time out of Arizona and they may try to suspend someone’s license for an even longer period.
Are You Spending Most of Your Time in Arizona? It Is Advisable to Obtain an Arizona Driver’s License
If my out-of-state clients are going to stay in Arizona—I absolutely recommend that they get an Arizona license. It’s just going to make things go so much smoother because despite how conservative and harsh Arizona is on their DUI laws, they’re actually pretty good with the license suspension aspect because Arizona will only suspend the person’s license to drive for 90 days for a first offense DUI.
What Should You Do If You Misplace the Paperwork Given to You by the Arresting Officer?
Interviewer: What if the driver lost the affidavit that they signed and they don’t know any of the information. What should they do?
Do Not Drive If You Do Not Have the Form Issued by the Police Officer
Brian Sloan: That pink or yellow piece of paper serves as their temporary driver’s license. If they don’t have that, they’re not allowed to drive. And if they don’t have that, they’re not going to know how to ask for a hearing and it is going to make it harder for the attorney to figure out how to ask for a hearing.
