Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
In the previous article about Driver’s License Restoration eligibility, we learned that 2 DUI’s within 7 years requires a License Revocation of at least 1 year, and that 3 within 10 years results in a License Revocation of at least 5 years. In this article, we’ll examine how picking up any Driving convictions, including Driving While License Suspended/Revoked/Denied (DWLS/DWLR), will extend that period of Revocation, and for how long.
Many years ago, The Michigan Secretary of State used to impose what was then called a “Mandatory like additional” period of Suspension or Revocation if someone was caught driving during a period of valid Suspension or Revocation. Since those days are long gone, and the lingering cases from that period growing fewer, we won’t waste a lot of time revisiting ancient history. The major upshot of the Laws that existed prior to 1999 was that a person who got caught driving during a period of Revocation due to multiple DUI’s would get another identical period of Revocation slapped upon them.
This meant that a person with 3 DUI’s within 10 years, whose License was Revoked for a minimum of 5 years, and who got caught driving during that period would have another 5 years of Revocation imposed upon them.
If they wound up with 10 years to wait before they could apply for a License Appeal, and got caught driving during that time, then they’d get another 10 years of Revocation added. If, after that, they got caught driving during that 20 year Revocation period, they’d get another 20 years.
Recently, I received a Driving Record from someone who, because of those old Laws, is Revoked until the year 2034.
The good news for this shrinking class of people is that they can go to Court and have those pre-1999 Revocations set aside and become eligible to file a License Appeal. There are, of course, certain requirements and conditions that must be met in order to do this, but if they’ve not been caught driving within the last 5 years of so, then the way can be cleared in order to file a License Appeal.
More common, however, is the situation where a person has been Revoked for a 2nd, 3rd or subsequent DUI after 1999, and then gets caught driving during that 1 or 5 year Revocation period.
By law, if a person is under a 1 year minimum Revocation for a 2nd DUI within 7 years, or even if that 1 year period has passed, but they haven’t had their License Restored, and they get caught driving, then they’ll have to face another 1 year Revocation period before they become eligible to file a License Appeal.
This action is mandatory, and IS NOT limited to DWLS/DWLR convictions. If the Secretary of State receives any notice of any moving violation, then the person will have to deal with the additional, mandatory Revocation. This often becomes relevant when a person, during a period of Revocation (or after the minimum period, if they haven’t gotten their License Restored), gets charged with DWLS/DWLR. They’ll go to Court, and get a Plea-Bargain to reduce the charge to Failure to Display a Valid License (“No-Ops“), and learn that there are no Points added to their Driving Record, and no Driver Responsibility Fees. They’ll then mistakenly conclude that they avoided any further License Sanctions.
However, the Secretary of State will impose a mandatory additional Revocation if it receives any notice of any driving offense. In other words, the Secretary of State basically says “whatever break you got on your DWLS/DWLR charge, we know you were driving, so you have to face another year (or 5) of Revocation.”
The same thing holds true for those people dealing with a minimum 5 year Revocation for 3 DUI’s within 10 years. The difference, of course, is that any driving offense reported for a person under a 5 year Revocation, or who had a 5 year Revocation but thereafter did not have their License Restored, will result in another 5 year mandatory additional Revocation period.
What’s more, there is no way to get out of these mandatory additional Revocations. By Law, no Court can do anything about them. The only thing a person can do is wait it out, and NOT get caught driving again.
If there’s good news, it’s that after 1999, a person caught driving during (or after, without having had their License Restored) a 1 or 5 year period of Revocation only faces another 1 or 5 years added on from the date of the reporting of that last conviction. This avoids those crazy 10, 20, 30 and 40 year License Revocations.
Beyond all of this, having any driving offenses during a period of DUI Revocation makes the License Appeal process more complicated. It’s best to avoid these problems, but at least a person who has to deal with them can take some comfort in the fact that while they complicate a subsequent License Appeal, they no longer render such Appeals impossible.