Suspensions from Administrative Alcohol Actions

§ 302.505 provides that the Department of Revenue shall suspend or revoke the license of any driver who has been found to have a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) that is equal to or exceeds .08% for persons 21 or older or .02% for persons under the age of 21. The arresting officer should serve the driver with the Notice of Suspension personally. In cases where the BAC test results are not known immediately such as with a blood or urine test or in cases where individuals are arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, the Department of Revenue will mail the Notice of Loss of Driving Privileges to the driver.

The Notice of Loss of Driving Privileges served on the driver provides for a temporary driving permit which lasts for fifteen days starting from the date of the driver's arrest or receipt of the notice if served by mail. Once the Notice of Loss of Driving Privileges is served on the driver, they will have fifteen days in which to request a hearing to challenge the driver's license suspension. The failure to timely request a hearing renders the notice final and precludes further review of the matter.[1]

When the driver requests either a telephone or in-person (live) hearing and if the driver otherwise has valid Missouri driving privileges, the Department of Revenue will issue a temporary driving permit, which will allow the driver full driving privileges during the pendency of the hearing process. As a practical matter, it is almost always advisable to request an in-person hearing versus a telephone hearing because normally during a telephone hearing you are limited to fifteen minutes to conduct the hearing and if counsel subpoenas the arresting officer or other witnesses to testify it will have to be coordinated through a teleconferencing system. The attorney and hearing officer will not have the ability to actually see the witness during questioning and if the attorney plans on obtaining a hearing transcript with a court reporter, it is much easier to coordinate the witness and court reporter in the same hearing room versus having them call in to a teleconference system.

The driver and counsel will be notified by mail of the upcoming hearing date. Once the hearing date has been set, the Department of Revenue will normally grant one continuance. The request for the continuance should be put in writing, should state the basis for the reason requesting the continuance and should be sent to the Department of Revenue no later than 6 days before the hearing date. If the Department of Revenue continues the hearing this will allow the driver to continue driving on the temporary permit until there has been a decision with the administrative case.

If the driver wins the administrative hearing the license suspension will be rescinded, and the driver will have their full driving privileges restored. The administrative alcohol enforcement contact[2] will be removed from the driver's driving record and the driver's license (if surrendered) will be returned to them. If the driver loses the administrative hearing they will receive notice that they lost the hearing and that their license will be suspended for either 30 days followed by a 60 day limited permit or will be revoked for a year, if the driver's driving record reflects an alcohol related enforcement contact in the proceeding 5 years.