If you end up with an Implied Consent suspension for failing a breath or blood test, or for refusing a breath, blood, or urine test, there will be a mandatory wait period before you can apply for a hardship permit. This wait period will vary from between 30 days to as long as three years. After the mandatory wait period is over, you can fill out and send the DMV a completed hardship application. Depending on how it is written, this hardship permit can allow you to drive for work purposes, to seek work, to complete drug and alcohol treatment, or for medical treatment that is needed on a regular basis. Keep in mind that as part of the application process, you may need to file an SR-22 form with the DMV.

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If your Implied Consent suspension period is over and you are not facing any other type of driver’s license suspensions, you can simply go to any DMV branch at the end of your suspension period, pay a reinstatement fee, and have another license issued to you. You do not have to re-take the driver’s test or written test to get your license back after that type of suspension. With that said, if criminal charges were brought against you for a DUII or other traffic crimes, your driving privileges might be affected depending on the outcome of that case. Make sure you contact your attorney to clarify what your driving privileges are after your DMV Suspension is over if needed.

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If the officer gave you a ticket after your DUII arrest, the fine on the ticket is not necessarily what you will be facing as your DUI case progresses through the court system. A number of factors can affect this fine—and it is completely dependent on how you resolve your case. For example, if you enter the DUII Diversion program for the DUI, your court fee will be capped at $490. If you win at trial, you will not have a fine to pay for the DUII.

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Reckless Driving is a separate crime from the DUII. It, like a DUII, is a Class A Misdemeanor and has maximum sentence of a year in jail and a maximum fine of $6250.00. It also, if you plea guilty to the charge or lose at trial, has a mandatory 90 day license suspension. The Reckless Driving charge has to be resolved in a different manner than the DUII since there is not a diversion option for the charge typically. A lawyer however can help you negotiate this charge, and help you resolve it in the best possible manner.

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It is important to not resolve any of the citations that you were given the night of your DUII arrest until after you meet with a lawyer and understand all of the options you have. You don’t want to plea guilty to related traffic offenses to the DUII and possibly incriminate yourself before your DUII charge is resolved. As well, if the traffic tickets have you going to the same court as the DUII charge, very often your lawyer can negotiate with the state to dismiss the traffic citations based on how you resolve your DUII charge.

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Refusing a breath test is a Class A Violation in Oregon—meaning its maximum penalties are a fine, not jail time. It is important to meet with a lawyer and consolidate the Refusing a Breath Test violation with your DUII case so the two cases can be resolved together, if possible. Like the above discussion about traffic tickets, it is important to not just plea guilty to this citation and possibly implicate yourself.

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