In Washington State, the Department of Licensing is authorized to administratively suspend, revoke or otherwise deny an individual’s driver’s license for potentially up to - under certain specific circumstances - four years if arrested for DUI/ Physical Control. This is true even if the criminal case related to the incident giving rise to the administrative hearing is dismissed or even if a person goes to trial and is acquitted on the DUI/ Physical Control charge.
An individual arrested for DUI/ Physical Control is entitled to an administrative licensing hearing. There are four issues that can be raised at the administrative hearing: (1) whether the person was driving, operating or in physical control of a motor vehicle, (2) whether the person was lawfully arrested; (3) whether the person was properly advised of his/her implied consent warnings; and (4) whether the person refused a breath/ blood test, or had a breath/blood test reading over .08, if an adult, or .02, if a minor. Effective October 1, 2012, the fee for requesting a Washington State Department of Licensing Administrative Hearing after a DUI arrest will increase from $200.00 to $375.00. It will be interesting to see the impact this fee increase will have on the number of hearing requests made by people facing license suspensions/ revocations, especially in light of the fact that those folks who do have their license suspended/ revoked can usually drive after applying for and receiving an ignition interlock license.
Because of the very real and very significant driver’s licensing ramifications associated with DUI/ Physical Control cases, it is absolutely imperative that an individual arrested for DUI/ Physical Control obtain quality professional legal representation from a Seattle DUI attorney. SQ Attorneys is a team of quality professionals. The Seattle DUI lawyers at SQ Attorneys have an abundance of knowledge and expertise in dealing with not only DUI/ Physical Control criminal charges, but also the associated Department of Licensing administrative hearings which arise out of a DUI/ Physical Control arrest. These attributes are of paramount importance when a person’s Washington State driving privileges are at stake.