When a client hires me to work on their DUI case, and there’s an implied consent issue, we always discuss the backup plan of a circuit court appeal for a hardship license. Many times, the circuit court appeal stands a better chance at saving my client’s license than winning at the implied consent hearing.
The circuit court appeal happens after a decision is made on the implied consent hearing; this must happen within 63 days after the order of suspension is entered. The time can go beyond this with showing of good cause (up to 182 days).
The petition must be made in the circuit court of the county of arrest, and you’re only eligible on your first implied consent refusal. The standard to receive a hardship license is “hardship”. The petitioner must show why not having the ability to drive is impacting their job, school or other obligations. There cannot be an alternative option, hence the hardship, such as someone else to drive you.
I will have a client put together a comprehensive work or school schedule with maps and directions. We will research bus routes, cab fares and Uber fares. The goal is to show that driving to work is the only option, and there is no family member, friend or co-worker to assist. It would be a financial hardship and/or a huge time hardship to take cabs or public transportation.
Along with showing the hardship, my clients are already in counseling, going to AA, alcohol and drug testing and participating in community service. We need to show that if a judge is going to restore driving privileges that you’re not a threat on the road, and you have everything under control.
The first step is filing the petition with supporting evidence of the above proactive steps and transportation documentation. We then attend the court hearing where the Secretary of State can send a representative.
If handled directly, I can usually sit down with the Secretary of State person and stipulate to granting the hardship license. This means we no longer need to convince the judge, and most judges will defer to the two parties. Every time, but one time I was able to convince the Secretary of State representative to sign off on an order before the hearing. The one time that didn’t happen, the representative did not show and the judge granted it anyway.
From there we file the order with the Secretary of State and the new restricted license is granted and arrives in the mail soon after. This is how you win when it comes to hardship licenses in Michigan.
Jonathan Andrew Paul
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Jonathan Andrew Paul
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