A DWI is a serious charge that carries serious consequences. But what’s more disruptive than losing your driving privileges? For most people, the ability to drive isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Getting your license reinstated can make all the difference in maintaining your daily life.
You should reach out to a Little Rock DWI defense attorney for legal guidance. Whether you hold a commercial driver’s license or standard driving privileges, we’re here to help. Let’s discuss the license suspension process that comes with a DWI charge. This is one of the most confusing elements for people who contact our firm.
Two Different Proceedings
When facing a DWI charge, you’re dealing with two separate proceedings simultaneously. The criminal court process determines guilt or innocence—that’s where I work to win your case, negotiate the best possible outcome, and keep you out of jail. At the same time, your driving privileges are being addressed through Driver Control in a parallel administrative process.
We typically allow clients to handle the Driver Control portion themselves. After losing access to your vehicle, getting your license back becomes a priority. Here’s how Arkansas handles this: your license suspension process with Driver Control begins immediately upon your DWI arrest.
You’ll need to visit Driver Control to arrange a temporary permit with an ignition interlock device and complete other requirements. For a first DWI offense, the license suspension period is six months. Subsequent offenses carry a two-year suspension.
How Our Skilled Little Rock DWI Defense Lawyers Help
Due to the complexity of a criminal case, you must contact a skilled criminal attorney with the resources, expertise, and abilities to support you in pursuing the desired outcomes.
Defending Your Case In Court
We understand you have a suspended license, but we are trying to win your case over here on the court’s side.
In most situations, resolving your criminal case takes longer than the six-month license suspension period, or comes very close to it. That’s why we advise clients to address the Driver Control requirements separately—obtain your temporary permit, install the ignition interlock device, and complete those necessary steps.
On the criminal court side, if we achieve an early victory, the Driver Control requirements disappear. If we can’t win outright and need to negotiate to minimize jail time, you’ll already be three or four months into the process. This means you’re nearly finished with Driver Control requirements, or you’ve completed them entirely by the time your court case concludes.
A DWI creates two separate proceedings happening simultaneously. We recommend handling the Driver Control portion yourself because, based on our experience, there’s limited value we can provide in that administrative process.
It’s managed by a state agency that provides clear instructions on requirements. While our legal team at Lemley DWI & Criminal Defense Lawyers can handle it for an additional fee if you prefer, we don’t believe it’s the best use of your resources.
The Appeal Hearing May Not Be Worth Your Time
This is our advice on the six-month suspension period.
Losing your driving privileges is inconvenient, to say the least. Some people would do whatever they could to get their licenses reinstated. The suspension notice is a literal thorn in their sides and a mark on their driving record. There is an appeal hearing you can do in front of driver control.
From what we’ve seen, it rarely works. The standard is ridiculous. The hearing officer is favored. Vehicle owners are asked, “Did you have any reasonable basis whatsoever to pull you over?” We’ve done a few for free to see if it’ll work, but we’ve never seen one work.
Occasionally, you’ll hear from somebody saying the other they won their appeal. And every now and then, a judge will grant one.
But even when we’ve watched other lawyers to see what happens with their filings—they lose it. We have also observed one lawyer who teaches a class how to beat it and perused his filings.
They were rejected. Our advice to people is to get ready to deal with that six-month driver’s license suspension and understand that you have that going on. That’s something for you to take care of while we’re taking care of the court proceeding and trying to win the case.
We aren’t pessimistic. We are just being realistic about your likelihood of reinstatement.
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration is very concerned about public safety and insists that you bear some financial responsibility. Oh, and be prepared to pay a license reinstatement fee when the suspension period is over. You can pay reinstatement fees online. If caught driving during this suspension period, you risk even more consequences.
Skilled DWI Defense Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas
In addition to dealing with your suspended license, check out some of our practice areas:
Due to the complexity of a criminal case, you must contact a skilled criminal attorney with the resources, expertise, and abilities to support you in pursuing the desired outcomes.