Kansas City Driver’s License Reinstatement Lawyer
Missouri suspends, revokes, or denies drivers’ licenses for a number of reasons. Some, such as failing to appear in court for certain moving violations, are usually easy to rectify. Others, such as five or ten-year denials resulting from multiple alcohol-related traffic offenses or suspensions for falling behind on child support payments, present more challenging legal issues that are best handled by an experienced license reinstatement lawyer. If your license is suspended or revoked, you can contact me at talktoben@thejanssenlawoffice.com or 816-287-0172 for a free review of your case. It is likely that I can help restore your freedom to drive and, in some cases, I may be able to remove past violations from your driving record.
Five or Ten Year Denials
License denial is a more serious license sanction than suspension or revocation, which usually result from missing court or accumulaton of points from convictions for moving violations. The Director of Revenue is statutorily required to deny for ten years the driving privileges of drivers who have been convicted more than twice of violating the law relating to driving while intoxicated and to deny for five years the driving privileges to drivers who have been found guilty of causing the death of a person while driving while intoxicated and acting with criminal negligence or who have been convicted twice within a five year period of a law relating to driving while intoxicated. Upon completion of their denial, drivers who are subject to denial must petition the Court in the county where their last DWI conviction occurred an convince the judge that their habits and conduct since their convictions warrant the reinstatement of their drivers licenses. This is a somewhat involved process that requires naming the Director of Revenue as a defendant and properly serving the Department with legal process and submitting to a fingerpring background check. The process can be made far easier by a license reinstatement attorney.
Drivers subject to license denial may be eligible for a limited driving privilege, discussed below. However, because conviction of a felony within the previous five years disqualifies a driver from obtaining a limited driving privileges, and a third dwi conviction is often a felony, drivers subject to ten year denials are often unable to obtain any driving privileges for the first five years of their denial.
Point Suspension or Revocation
Unfortunately, many drivers pay tickets for what they think are inconsequential traffic violations only to be notified several days later that their licenses will be suspended or revoked as a result. Missouri will revoke your driving privilege for one year if you accumulate twelve points in twelve months, eighteen points in twenty four months, or twelve points in thirty six months. If you have a suspended or revoked drivers license, you’ll need to retake your full driving test in order to regain your freedom to drive. If you acquire eight points in eighteen months, Missouri will suspend your license. A first-time point suspension lasts thirty days. A second-time suspension lasts sixty days. A third or subsequent suspension lasts ninety days. Once you’ve been reinstated from either a point suspension or point revocation, you’ll need to carry Sr-22 insurance for two years in order to maintain your driver’s license.
Additional information regarding Missouri’s point system can be found on the Missouri Department of Revenue’s webpage. You can verify the number of points you’ll accrue for a given offense using Missouri Form 899.
Option I — Set Aside of Guilty Plea and Conviction
Often, in cases where a driver’s license is suspended for a recent conviction, it’s possible to withdraw the plea and have the conviction set aside, meaning the judge enters an order telling the Department of Revenue to pretend the conviction never occurred. This removes the points from the driver’s record and reinstates the driver’s license as if the suspension or revocation had never occurred, so the driver does not have to carry Sr-22 insurance or retake the driver’s test. The decision to set aside a driver’s conviction is solely a matter of the judge’s discretion, so there’s never a guarantee regarding what any given judge will do, but for many drivers, filing a motion to set aside a conviction is a fast and cost effective way to get reinstated.
Option II — Limited Driving Privilege
If you are unable to have points removed from your driving record and therefore unable to reinstate your license, it is still likely that you are eligible to obtain a limited driving privilege, sometimes called a “hardship license” which will allow you to legally drive from home to work, school, etc, and back. In order to obtain a limited driving privilege when you’re suspended or revoked due to points, you’ll need to submit a written application to the Missouri Department of Revenue. If the application is granted, you’ll need to carry Sr-22 insurance for two years from the date of your suspension.
If your license is subject to a five or ten year denial, you’ll need to file a petition with the Court in the County where you live or work asking the Court to grant you a limited driving privilege. This is a more complicated legal proceeding, and it’s a good idea to retain an attorney to assist you.
Some driver’s are ineligible for a limited driving privilege. Reasons a driver might be ineligible include:
(1) A felony involving a vehicle within the past five years.
(2) An active failure to appear suspension.
(3) A active administrative alcohol suspension.
(4) An active suspension for failure to pay child support.
(5) An active suspension for failure to satisfy an accident.
(6) An active suspension for failure to file an accident report or provide proof of mandatory insurance.
(7) A suspension from another state.