DMV License Hearing Lawyers in Colorado Springs

When an officer arrests you for DUI with a test result of 0.08 or more, or records that you refused a test, the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles opens its own case to revoke your license. It is separate from the criminal case. It has a different decision-maker and its own deadline, and it goes ahead whatever happens in court.

Seven days to request a hearing

The officer usually serves the notice of revocation at the arrest and takes a Colorado license. You then have seven days from receiving the notice to request a hearing in writing. If the DMV doesn’t receive the request in time, the right to a hearing is gone and the revocation becomes final on the paperwork alone.

This is the most expensive deadline in a DUI case to miss. If you were arrested in the last week, call now.

What the hearing decides

A hearing officer, not a judge, decides whether the grounds for revocation are proved: that you drove with 0.08 or more, or refused a test. The decision rests on the officer’s affidavit and whatever evidence and testimony you put on, and it is made independently of the court case. The hearing must be held within 60 days of your request, though it can be rescheduled. You can have a lawyer. If you ask for it when you request the hearing, the officer must appear and can be questioned.

The hearing is also an early chance to question the arresting officer under oath, months before any trial in the criminal case.

How long the revocation lasts

For a first revocation based on a test result of 0.08 or more, the revocation is nine months. For a first refusal, it is one year. Periods are longer for second and later revocations. Drivers under 21 face revocations at lower alcohol levels.

A result of 0.15 or more, or a refusal, also makes you a persistent drunk driver under Colorado law. The DMV then requires level II alcohol and drug education and treatment, and an ignition interlock when your license comes back.

Driving again sooner

Many drivers can apply for early reinstatement with an interlock-restricted license, which lets you drive a vehicle fitted with an ignition interlock during the revocation. Eligibility and timing depend on the kind of revocation, your age, and your record, and the rules differ for commercial drivers. We check which option applies to you.

How we handle DMV hearings

We request the hearing within the seven days, get the officer’s affidavit and the test records, and decide whether to require the officer to appear. We prepare for the hearing as a real contest, and we use what the officer says there in the criminal case. Where the revocation is likely to stand, we work on getting you back on the road legally as early as the law allows. See DUI defense for the criminal case.