JONATHAN BURGE

Attorney at Law

We live in a mobile society.  The driver's license is probably one of the most important things an adult can possess.  Without it, you cannot legally drive.

Administrative License Revocation Office (ADLRO)

The Administrative Drivers License Revocation Office (ADLRO) came into being in 1992.  It was supposed to be a quick and easy way to determine if there were sufficient facts to revoke your license for DUI.  In reality, it is a process which has lowered the State’s burden to find against you, is complicated by highly technical rules and time deadlines, and you have to subpoena your own witnesses, including the officers who arrested you, to have any meaningful hearing.  You also are not entitled to a public defender for this hearing.

Notice of Revocation & Hearing Request

Mr. Burge has represented hundreds of clients at the ADLRO.  The revocation hearing will usually occur prior to your arraignment on the separate criminal charges.  About one week after your arrest you will get a letter saying that the findings have been sustained and the length of the revocation.  You will have 6 days from the date on that letter to respond for a hearing in order to get into the ADLRO prior to your license going into revocation 30 days after your arrest. 

That means if it took four days to get to you, you only have two days to respond.  The ADLRO has even had this modified by the legislature so that your response must be in their office within 6 days, no just postmarked by that time.  If you respond in time, you will get a hearing within 25 days of your arrest (you can still get a hearing if you miss the 6 day deadline, but it will be at least 30 days after your arrest).  That is because the temporary license given to you (or which should have been given to you) by the police is only good for 30 days.

By sending in the card provided by the revocation office, you will receive another letter that tells the date of your hearing. 

 The Hearing

What you aren't told is that unless you subpoena the officers, you won’t have much of a hearing. 

At the police station the police probably gave you another form and told you to send it into the revocation office within 3 days.  It is Mr. Burge's opinion that that form is useless and only provides them with more information to use against you.  He has never came across a case where the form has changed the outcome of a revocation.  Therefore, don’t send it in.

If this is your first DUI, or the first within 5 years, you will most likely be able to obtain a temporary work permit, even if you lose the hearing.  This means that instead of losing your license for 90 days you only lose it for 30 days absolutely, and can drive to and from, and maybe even during work, for the last 60 days of the revocation.

To find against you, the hearing officer needs to find you are guilty by a preponderance of evidence (just over 50%).  If you lose your license at the administrative process, the license is destroyed, and you have to be re-licensed at the end of the revocation period.  That means you will have to go through the written and driving test to get your license back.

Although the technical rules can be disadvantageous to you, if you know them well enough they can also be used to your advantage.  For instance, if you respond on time, and don’t get a hearing within 25 days, you win. 

If you hire our office, we will take care of setting up your hearing for you.  We will send in all of the notices on your behalf and make sure the proper subpoenas are served.  All you have to do is show up to the first hearing.  We will explain your role at the hearing before that time.  In most cases, your license is extended beyond the original 30 days because the witnesses aren’t ready at the first hearing.  Even if you win this hearing, you still have to deal with the DUI at criminal court.

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