Posted on / Mar. 30, 2020 11:08:00 Long story short, you will need to go to the DMV and get what is called an SR-22 hardship license to allow you to drive while your license is suspended, which depending upon the circumstances of your OWI arrest and the charges will likely be one-year. More specifically, the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections requires the OMV to suspend a driver’s license if the person is arrested for suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, when the person driving has a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or greater, or when the person refuses a chemical test upon arrest. This administrative hearing is a separate process from the criminal action for the OWI, proceeds independently, and the outcome of which has no consequence in the criminal prosecution. What likely happened when you were arrested was the law enforcement officer seized your driver’s license and issued you a temporary paper license. This temporary license allows you the right to operate a motor vehicle for a period not to exceed 30 days from the date of arrest. The temporary should have also provided you with notice that you have 30 days from the date of arrest to make a written request to the DPSC for an administrative hearing. If that time passes and no request is made for the administrative law hearing, the license is suspended and the decision is pretty much final. On the other hand, if the administrative hearing is conducted and the suspension is upheld by the administrative law judge, the only other option to take is to petition the district court to appeal the decision. Both the administrative hearing and the appeal are extremely unlikely to allow you to keep your license as the only showing the state has to make to succeed is that there was probable cause to believe that you were operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Which is a very low bar. The length of the suspension of your license is dependent on a number of factors but typically is one year. All that said, this is not the end. You are still able to drive, but you will be required to go to the DMV and obtain what is called an SR-22 hardship license. This license will allow you to drive, but with restrictions on where you can go. Typically, you can go to work, school, church, the grocery store, but the main restriction is you will not be able to drive to a bar. With a hardship license, the DMV may also require that you install a breath interlock device in order to drive, which can be costly. This decision of the DMV is dependent on whether this is your first OWI, the level of intoxication which you may have been measured at, etc. If you are in need of an attorney to represent you in your OWI, please feel free to contact my office today at 337-237-0492 for an appointment so that we can discuss your case.