Driver’s License Restoration for DUI’s

By Jeffrey Randa

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Driver’s License Restoration

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Published on Aug 13, 2023

The very term “driver’s license restoration” can cause confusion. but in the vast majority of cases, it means restoring the driving privileges for someone whose license has been revoked for multiple alcohol-related (DUI) convictions.

This is a lot different that a driver’s license that has merely been suspended.

As Michigan driver’s license restoration lawyers, my team and I concentrate in winning privileges back for people how have lost them as a result of multiple DUI convictions.

Often enough, people who hare having any kind problem with their driver’s license will see the phrase “Michigan driver’s license restoration” and figure we’re the law firm to fix it..

Not quite.

Michigan driver’s license restoration and clearance cases always involve something directly related to appealing the revocation of a Michigan driver’s license and that always involves DUI convictions.

The same appeal process applies if a person is appealing to clear a Michigan “hold” that prevents them from obtaining a driver’s license outside of the state of Michigan.

In these cases, instead of a restoration of his or her Michigan license, a person will request the clearance of the Michigan hold (revocation) on his or her driving record.

Driver’s license restoration and clearance appeals are filed with the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office of Administrative Hearings and Oversight (OHAO), and are ultimately decided by one of the state’s OHAO hearing officers.

As the title “hearing officer” suggests, most license appeals are decided after an actual hearing.

In a Michigan driver’s license reinstatement (or clearance) appeal, a person has to prove, by what the law defines as clear and convincing evidence, 2 specific things:

1. That his or her alcohol problem is under control, and,
2. That it is likely to remain under control.

None of this can be done in court, and must be handled through the Secretary of State.

In contrast to the restoration of a driver’s license after multiple DUI’s, there are 2 specific situations where a lawyer can get a suspended license back by going to court:

1. In DUI cases, when a person has refused the chemical breath (breathalyzer) test and has his or her license suspended, or
2. When a person has had his or her license suspended by a Judge after a conviction for a drug possession offense.

That’s pretty much the limit for fixing suspended licenses.

It’s important to know that a DUI or drug possession suspension is very different from a revocation for multiple DUI convictions. The key difference turns upon the status of the driver’s license, and that depends precisely upon whether the license has been “suspended” or “revoked.”

The specific term is important here:

• A license is suspended for a certain, fixed period of time. This means it’s taken away from a certain date, and can or will be returned on a certain, later date, or upon the payment of a specified sum of money to a court or the state.
• A revoked license is one that has been taken away for good. There is no “return date” because there is no license to give back. In order to ever get back on the road, or, in out-of-state cases, obtain a clearance that will remove the Michigan “hold” upon a driving record, a person has go through a full license appeal before the Secretary of State’s OAHO.

It’s easy to think of a suspended license in the same way that a student is suspended from school for a certain, specific period of time (like 5 days), whereas a revoked license is similar to a student having been completely expelled from school, and is not allowed to ever return.

No lawyer can get your license back if it has been suspended because you owe money. The only thing that can be done is for you to pay up.

While the frustration someone feels if their license is being held up because they owe money (you probably have no idea how many times I’ve heard something like “how do they expect me to get to work?”), is understandable, there is no legal maneuver around just paying off what’s owed.

Therefore, being Michigan driver’s license restoration attorneys means that my team and I win license appeals for people who have had their Michigan driver’s license revoked as a result of multiple DUI’s.

If you’ve had at least 2 DUI convictions within 7 years, or 3 within 10 years, and you’ve quit drinking, then we’re your firm.

As far as that goes, it doesn’t matter how bad you might think your record looks. A few of years ago, we had a Client with 13 DUI’s on his driving record and won his case the first time around.

We fully expect to do that every time. As long as you’ve quit drinking, if we take your case, we’ll get you back on the road – guaranteed.