What is a civil revocation?

Driving While Impaired cases cause stress and confusion for our clients, especially in the first few days. At the beginning of a case, our DWI lawyers address problems that come up when clients lose their driver’s license for 30 days. Our Greensboro DWI attorneys may need to file an appeal for an invalid revocation, ask the court for special permission for the client to drive or simply guide our client through the 30 days and help them get their license back at the end.

This license revocation is called a Civil Revocation and has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of the driver. It is automatically triggered by the DMV any time a North Carolina driver provides a blood or breath sample with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher, refuses to provide a breath or blood sample, is driving a commercial vehicle with a BAC of .04 or higher or is under the age of 21. N.C.G.S. 20-16.5(b)  states:

Revocations for Persons Who Refuse Chemical Analyses or Who Are Charged With Certain Implied-Consent Offenses. - A person's driver's license is subject to revocation under this section if:

(1)    A law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person has committed an offense subject to the implied-consent provisions of G.S. 20-16.2;

(2)    The person is charged with that offense as provided in G.S. 20-16.2(a);

(3)    The law enforcement officer and the chemical analyst comply with the procedures of G.S. 20-16.2 and G.S. 20-139.1 in requiring the person's submission to or procuring a chemical analysis; and

(4)    The person:

a.     Willfully refuses to submit to the chemical analysis;

b.     Has an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more within a relevant time after the driving;

c.     Has an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more at any relevant time after the driving of a commercial motor vehicle; or

d.     Has any alcohol concentration at any relevant time after the driving and the person is under 21 years of age.

Just because you lose your license for the first 30 days does not indicate anything about the strength or weakness of your case. It is simply a standard procedure when these criteria are met.  

That doesn't mean you have no options. First we will assess your paperwork and talk to you about what happened during the traffic stop to discover which option is right for you. The first possibility is to appeal and fight against the revocation of your license. This is an option that is only useful in specific situations and unfortunately, not used in every case. However, if the situation is just right, our DWI attorneys will fight in court for you to get a judge to overturn your 30 day revocation. 

The second tool that our DWI lawyers have available is a limited driving privilege. Available in many more cases, this privilege can have you legally driving within 10 days of your arrest. For many clients, this limited privilege prevents them from losing their jobs. 

The third option is to simply wait for the 30 days and then help you get your license back. Once the time has passed, we take our clients’ $100 payment to the Clerk of Superior Court to clear the revocation and get your license back. 

The first two options for our DUI attorneys are time specific. That means that it is very important for you to talk with one of our lawyers as quickly as possible. If you wait until two weeks have passed, we have fewer possibilities available for this issue. The faster we are contacted, the more options we have to fight for you.