If your license was taken away from you upon your arrest for DUI/DWI, you were most likely issued a “Temporary Driver’s License”. This white piece of paper authorizes you to continue driving for 45 days. After the 45th day, your license will be suspended, unless you timely request a hearing (10 days to guarantee the extension or 30 days to guarantee a hearing, but possibly not an extension of your temporary license*) and the MVA sends you a notice extending your temporary license. If you would like to continue driving to work, school, and/or alcohol education or treatment after the 45th day, you will need to speak with an attorney to determine whether or not you should request an administrative hearing to extend your driving privilege, as there are times when a hearing is not in your best interest, particularly when the driver refused the breath/blood test and in situations when the breath test result was 0.15 or higher or if it is the driver’s second offense within 5 years, in which case an ignition interlock device, discussed below, should be considered.
*The administrative hearing request (with payment) must be postmarked within 10 days of your arrest to ensure uninterrupted driving privileges until your hearing date. If the hearing request is postmarked more than 10 days after arrest the applicable suspension may begin to run if the hearing is scheduled more than 45 days after arrest. If the hearing request is postmarked more than 30 days after arrest, it is unlikely that you will get a hearing.*
If you do not want to drive around with the paper “Temporary Driver’s License”, you can obtain a DUPLICATE DRIVER’S LICENSE FROM THE MVA.
