By Attorney James Czarnecki|Czarnecki & Taylor PLLC|NOV 4, 2022
“How do I reinstate my suspended Michigan driver’s license?”
Michigan drivers ask us this question every day. To reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license means understanding the reason your license was suspended or revoked and what you must do to fix it.
The reinstatement procedure varies depending on what type of violation occurred. For reinstating your driving privileges after an OWI/DUI, you will need to reinstate your license through the Secretary of State (or SOS), while reinstatement after a traffic violation or failure to pay a ticket is completed through the court. Be aware that reinstating your driver’s license can be complicated, expensive, and time-consuming – especially with multiple violations on your record.
Suspensions vs Revocations
Many people confuse suspensions and revocations. It is important to understand the difference because the process to reinstate your license is different depending on whether your license is revoked or suspended.
If your license is revoked, then you have lost your license indefinitely. To restore a revoked license, you have to attend a hearing at the SOS. On the other hand, if your driver’s license is suspended, then you can just wait until the suspension expires and your license will be reinstated after payment of a fee.
We go into the differences in this in-depth article.
2021 law reinstated 73,000 Michigan driver’s licenses
A new law took effect that eliminated driver’s license suspensions for approximately 73,000 Michigan residents who failed to pay tickets, court fines, or failed to appear in court for certain non-moving and other violations. The Secretary of State will automatically reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license if you qualify. The 73,000 people affected by this law will be able to use their existing license or have a new one immediately issued by the Secretary of State.
If you have additional suspensions on your record you must resolve those matters before reinstatement of your suspended Michigan driver’s license will take place. If you are a driver with additional infractions on your record, including additional suspensions or revocations, you will need to address those issues before you will be able to reinstate your suspended Michigan license.
If you qualified to reinstate of your suspended Michigan driver’s license, you should have received a letter in the first couple of weeks of October. The letter will explain if you need to take additional action before you the SOS can reinstate your license. It is advised that you purchase a copy of your Michigan driving record from the SOS website. You can find additional information at Michigan.gov/SOSCleanSlate.
Reinstatement of your suspended Michigan driver’s license applies to suspensions occurring for the failure to comply with a judgment by failing to pay a ticket or the failure to appear in court. If you owe fees for your violations, you will still be responsible for paying the fees. However, your suspension based on these reasons will no longer be in effect. Note that the suspension will still appear on your driving record.
Here is a list of the Michigan reinstatement fees.
License suspension resulting from unpaid tickets.
If you want to reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license because of unpaid tickets and fines, you need to pay the outstanding fees. The easiest way to do this is by paying the amount due online. However, if you cannot access the internet or have difficulty with managing an electronic transaction, contact the court that issued your ticket and ask about other payment options. Once you have paid your tickets and fines in full, after you pay a reinstatement fee, your license will be reinstated.
If you have unresolved tickets, you need to arrange a court if you have not defaulted. You will definitely need a court date if you have a bench warrant issued for your failure to respond to the ticket. In a default situation, you may be able to file a motion to reopen the traffic ticket depending on how much time has elapsed. You will need an attorney to help with that process.
License suspension resulting from a Michigan drug conviction.
Many people do not realize that Michigan law requires driver’s license suspensions for drug convictions, even if you were not driving. For example, if you are charged with a possession offense while walking down the street, your license will be suspended.
If you do not have any prior drug violations, your license will be suspended for six months. However, you can request a restricted license after 30 days. If you have another drug conviction within seven years, your driver’s license will be suspended for one year. In that situation, you will not be able to request a restricted license until 60 days have elapsed.
To reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license resulting from a drug conviction, you will need to file a motion in the court where the conviction occurred.
Reinstate your revoked driver’s license after 2 or more OWI offenses.
According to Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.303, if you have a combination of operating under the influence convictions, the presumption is that you are a “habitual offender.” The law states that the Secretary of State must revoke your driver’s license. To reinstate your Michigan suspended driver’s license you must meet certain conditions.
Two operating under the influence convictions within 7 years, or 3 within 10 years, leads to the presumption that you are a habitual offender. A two within seven scenario results in a one-year revocation. A three within 10-year situation results in a 5-year revocation.
After the revocation period had expired, you are eligible to apply for a hearing with the Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight to reinstate your driver’s license.
At the hearing, you must prove the following:
- Your substance abuse problems are under control and likely to remain that way
- You are a low or minimal risk of repeating the offenses regarding alcohol or drugs.
- You are motivated to drive safely within the law.
- You have been abstinent for a minimum of 12 months.
Regarding your abstinence, you must prove that you completely abstained from the use of alcohol and drugs. If you need to appeal to the Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight, you will have a minimum of two hearings. You can read additional information here. Also, we discuss the key to reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license.
At the first hearing, the hearing officer will do one of two things. The hearing officer will either deny your license reinstatement or issue a restricted license with a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID). BAIID information. You cannot remove the BAIID without another hearing. You cannot a car without a BAIID device. You will need to drive your car with the device for one year when you will be eligible for the removal of the BAIID device.
If you do not prevail at the first hearing, or even the second, you can appeal the denial to the circuit court in the county where you live. Read more about appealing a denial to the circuit court.
Reinstating your license after a breathalyzer refusal – implied consent law
Refusing a Breath or Blood Test — When you are arrested for an Operating While Intoxicated offense, an officer will ask you to take a breathalyzer test to determine your blood alcohol level (BAC). When Michigan granted you a driver’s license, you implicitly agreed to take a breath test if requested by a police officer. This is called the Implied Consent law.
There are serious consequences if you refuse this test. If you refuse, six points will be added to your driving record and your license will be suspended for one year.
An implied consent revocation for a Michigan resident, and even non-resident operating privilege, is automatic if you refuse to take the breath test. The implied consent suspension is a civil matter and is completely separate from the consequences of an operating while intoxicated offense.
You can appeal the implied consent suspension to the Administrative Hearings Section of the Secretary of State. However, there are strict deadlines that must be met. Your request for a hearing on the implied consent issue must be mailed within 14 days of the date of arrest or your license will be automatically suspended one year. You are not required to have an attorney at this hearing, but an attorney is a must if you want to have any chance of winning this hearing.
If you miss the 14-day request for a hearing deadline or lose the implied consent hearing at the SOS, you may be eligible to get a restricted license and avoid the one-year suspension. To have the one-year suspension set aside, a motion for a first-time implied consent restricted license must be filed in the circuit court. Attached to the motion must be a substance abuse evaluation report. If you prevail at the circuit court, the court will reinstate your driving privileges, sometimes with an interlock device.
Review your driving record.
If your driver’s license is suspended or revoked, you must take steps to reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license. The first action you must take is to get a copy of your driving record. Your driving record will show any outstanding issues. For example, if you have the previously discussed 2 within 7 or 3 within 10 issue, it will show when you are eligible to request a SOS hearing.
You cannot reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license without first knowing why it was suspended in the first place, so reading the information on your record will help keep you from wasting time and money.
Usually, the most important section is at the end of the record. It is called the “End of Record History.” This entry will contain information showing all of the things that you will need to resolve before you can reinstate your suspended or revoked Michigan driver’s license.
The information in the record will include dates, court jurisdictions, and specific infractions. It will also include suspension dates and whether they have been lifted. After you get the record, look at everything contained in the “End of Record History.” The information in that section shows all of the outstanding issues that you need to take care of before you can reinstate your suspended Michigan driver’s license. The information will include dates, court jurisdictions, and infractions.
You could have multiple ongoing suspensions on your record. You need to look at each of them to know what you need to do in order to reinstate your suspended license.
Contact Czarnecki & Taylor
As this article shows, driver’s license suspensions can be more complex than one would think. You can call Czarnecki & Taylor with your questions and we would be happy to answer them for you.
Do you have a question regarding your suspended Michigan driver’s license? We’ve got an answer. Czarnecki & Taylor’s experienced attorneys will handle your case with care and help you through every step of the process. For a free consultation, call us today at (586) 718-2345 or online for a prompt response. We are available 24/7 and have weekend and evening appointments.