The officer does not have the authority to take away an out-of-state license. With Arizona drivers, the officer can take away the license and provide this pink and/or yellow piece of paper called the Admin Per Se/Implied Consent Affidavit. Or he can choose to hold off in doing so and later a person would get a letter in the mail from the Motor Vehicle Division.
This is sent once the Motor Vehicle Division is notified that someone had a blood alcohol level at are above the legal limit or that there was the presence of drugs from medications that the officer believe impaired the person.
If the person is served the pink and/or yellow piece of paper at the time of the stop then their license, pursuant to this pink or yellow piece of paper, will be valid for the next 15 days. Then it is suspended for 90 days unless they ask for hearing.
90-Day Suspension: Arizona Drivers May be Eligible for a Restricted License after 30 Days
If the 90 day suspension takes effect, a person may be eligible to get a restricted license for the last 60 of the 90 days, at the discretion of the Motor Vehicle Division. Usually, a person will be eligible for getting that restricted license if they had an Arizona license, driver’s license and if they were not previously arrested for the DUI within the last couple of years. Also, if there was no accident involved with the DUI and if their license was otherwise valid at the time of the charge.
If a person refuses the blood, breath, urine test, they will be served with holding Implied Consent Affidavit using that pink and/or yellow piece of paper except that there’s a different box that is check-marked.
Refusing Chemical Testing Results in a One Year Suspension, Beginning 15 Days after the Charge
Under the Implied Consent Affidavit that the officer will take away the person’s Arizona license, give them that piece of paper. If the driver refuses, their license will be taken away and they will be given an Implied Consent Affidavit. This suspends their license for one year starting 15 days from the date that it’s been served.
And I would absolutely recommend that someone ask for a hearing whether they’re being represented by an attorney or not. There’s no harm in asking for hearing on that and a person would be allowed to continue to drive until they get that hearing.
Refusals May Also Be Eligible for a Restricted after 90 Days
If for some reason, they don’t request that hearing or if they do request that hearing and end up having the one year license suspension upheld, they potentially can get a restricted license after doing the first 90 days with no driving.
And then the next nine months, they may be eligible to get a restricted license to be able to drive to and from home and work and school with the installation of an ignition interlock device and Sr22 high risk insurance.
Oftentimes when someone is arrested for DUI and as long as they consent to the blood, breath, or urine test requested by the officer, their license will be suspended for 90 days for being suspected of DUI. But if they are convicted of a first time DUI offense, very likely, their license is going to be suspended for 90 days and it is the same 90 days that the person may or may not have already done for being suspected of DUI.
There Is a 90-Day Suspension Imposed for a DUI Conviction but It Is Concurrently Served with the Original 90-Day Suspension That Goes into Effect with the DUI Charge
So, there’s no additional 90-day suspension for being convicted of DUI. This means that very likely, it is going to be inevitable that someone who is arrested for DUI is going to have to deal with a 90-day suspension.
Even if the DUI case end up getting dismissed or even if the DUI is reduced down to something like reckless driving, a person may still have to deal with a 90-day suspension for being suspected of DUI. That’s why it’s important to have an attorney that understands the consequences, understands when to fight the case, when to agree to the suspension, and how to go about doing it.
The Driver Has 15 Days in Which to Request a Hearing; it Is Recommended to Request It within 13 Days
Interviewer: So, how many days does one have in order to request a hearing?
Brian Sloan: Basically, 15 days. I do recommend doing it within 13 days of actually being charged. A hearing can be requested by mail. It can be requested online. As an attorney, I do request it online. At least, that way, you get confirmation that it was actually received.
Why Should You Retain an Attorney to Handle the Hearing? An Attorney has the Experience and Knowledge to Resolve Common Issues That Can Arise after a DUI Charge
Now, there is a problem in the system, which is why sometimes even if you are trying to do everything that you’re supposed to do, you could still end up facing problems. As I mentioned, the officer provides you the pink or yellow piece of paper that indicates, “Your license is going to be suspended for 90 days starting 15 days after you’ve been arrested/served.”
If the officer has not turned in the paperwork, the Motor Vehicle Division does not know anything about the arrest and a person might have started their suspension and none of it counts. So, they may have stopped driving a vehicle, but none of it counts because the Motor Vehicle Division wasn’t even aware that the person was arrested. And that can cause some other issues.
Also, what I think is confusing to some people is when someone refuses to give the blood, breath, or urine sample and their license is suspended for one year. If they later decide to enter into a pre-agreement or if they are later found guilty of a DUI and their license is suspended for 90 days of being convicted of that DUI, the 90 days does not supersede the one year.
Refusals Can Be Subject to both the 90-Day Suspension and the One Year Suspension
You cannot negotiate away from that one year pre-agreement. There is the one year suspension through the Motor Vehicle Division for refusing and then there is the 90-day suspension for being convicted of DUI. It’s not something that the courts can overrule.
Refusals May Still Face the One-Year Suspension Even though They Were Later Found Not to Be Impaired
Another issue is that if a person is suspected of DUI and they are asked to consent to a blood, breath or urine sample but they refuse, ultimately, a warrant is retrieved.
The person’s blood is taken by force if necessary and it turns out that there is not substantial evidence that a person is guilty of DUI. For example, the blood alcohol level comes back very low and that case is never brought against them; they are never charged with the DUI. The person still has to deal with the consequences of the one-year license suspension for refusing even though the evidence is not there.
Because the only issue in contention is that the officer has reasonable suspicion to stop a person and they had probable cause to arrest the person. The person was given the opportunity to consent to which they refused.
This is opposed to if you did consent to the blood draw as requested by the officer and you want to challenge that at a hearing. Then the only issue in contention is whether the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle, probable cause to arrest and whether the person truly had a blood alcohol level at or above point eight. Or that they were impaired by prescription medications or were impaired by drugs.
