Administrative License Suspension In Columbus
The ALS is one of the most often misunderstood parts of a DUI charge. At Suhre & Associates, LLC, our knowledge of the differing aspects of an ALS will benefit you when dealing with an ALS.
When you are arrested for DUI, the police often request you to submit to some chemical test to determine the level of drugs or alcohol in your system. If you refuse to submit to any of the requested test, your license will be immediately suspended.
This suspension is referred to as the Administrative License Suspension.
This suspension comes not from the courts, but from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). As an agent of the BMV, the arresting officer will impose the suspension on behalf of the BMV. Ohio does not consider driving a right of an individual, but rather a privilege.
By accepting your Ohio driver’s license, you agree to submit to a chemical test at the request of a police officer if there is probable cause to believe that you were operating a vehicle under the influence. Refusing the test results in a ALS.
It is important to keep in mind that the officer selects which test will be administered. You do not have the right to pick which test you will submit to. Refusing to take any test will be considered a refusal, even if you had already submitted to other tests.
A suspect is afforded the right to have an independent test performed at his or her own expense. However, the police are not required to provide an independent test for you. The inability to actually have the test performed is not grounds to suppress any test results.
The term of each ALS can differed depending on the outcome of the testing process. If you refuse to provide a sample requested by the police, your ALS is for one year. If you submit to the requested test, and the results are over the legal limit, your ALS is for 90 days.
The ALS is separate from any court-imposed license suspension. For example, a conviction for a first in time DUI can result in a license suspension of six months to three years. This suspension is considered a judicial license suspension and is handed down by the presiding judge, not the BMV.
Prior to the administering of any test, the police are required to inform you of the consequences of both taking and refusing a test. The required information can be located on the back of Form 2255 and are often referred to as implied consent provisions. These provisions relate to an ALS, not the suspension that comes from a DUI conviction.
The two factors determining the length of an ALS are:1) did the suspect refuse or test over the legal limit; and 2) how many previous refusals had the suspect had in the last six years. Please reference the following charts:
Refusal
| Prior refusals in 6 years | Length of ALS |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 year |
| 1 | 2 years |
| 2 | 3 years |
| 3 | 4 years |
| 4 | 5 years |
Failed Chemical Test
| Prior refusals in 6 years | Length of ALS |
|---|---|
| 0 | 90 days |
| 1 | 1 year |
| 2 | 2 years |
| 3 | 3 years |
A judge may set aside an ALS for the following reasons: 1) the police did not have probable cause to arrest the suspect; 2) failure to inform the suspect of the implied consent provisions; 3) no refusal; or 4) suspect did not test over the legal limit. In order to contest the ALS, an appeal must be filed on behalf of the defendant within 30 of their arraignment. Otherwise, their right will be considered waived.
The ALS may also be set aside if the completion of form 2255 is defective, such as not sending a notarized copy of the form to the BMV. These defects should be brought to the attention of the court through a motion to set aside the ALS as being void “ab initio” or from the beginning.
Other circumstances may lead to the termination of the ALS. If a test could not properly be conducted through no fault of the suspect, the ALS can be terminated. For example, if a breath test is requested, but the suspect is so asthmatic that he cannot produce a sufficient amount of air for the breathalyzer, the ALS will not be upheld.
Important points to consider regarding an ALS are the length of the suspension and how the suspension terminates. If you are convicted of a DUI, your ALS will automatically terminate. However, if you are acquitted of the DUI charge or plead guilty to some reduced charge, the ALS will not terminate.
For example, if you are charged with a DUI and you refuse the test, your ALS is for one year. If you are found not guilty or plead to a reckless operation, you may not receive any license suspension from the judge, but the one year ALS will still be in effect.
Conversely, if you plead guilty to the DUI charge and receive a six month license suspension from the judge, your one year ALS will automatically terminate, and you will be able to obtain your license after six months.
By testing over the legal limit, your ALS will be 90 days. If your case is still pending after 90 days, the ALS will terminate and any limited driving privileges granted by the judge will also terminate. To obtain a valid license after the ALS, you will need to comply with BMV requirements for reinstatement.
A $475 reinstatement fee will need to be paid to the BMV along with proof of insurance in order to obtain a valid license. Keep in mind that while your license will be valid while your case is pending, if you are convicted, your license will be once again suspended, this time by the judge.
Any time served from the ALS will be credited toward the judicial license suspension. After the judicial license suspension had run, you can reinstate your license without having to pay the $475 reinstatement fee again.
