How to Stop License Suspension After a DUI in Arizona

Your DUI Creates Two Separate Cases

An Arizona DUI arrest sets two independent processes in motion. The criminal DUI case plays out in court and can end in fines, jail, and a conviction. The administrative case is run by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) through the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD), and it targets only your driver’s license. The ADOT hearing is your one chance to fight that administrative suspension, and it often happens weeks before the criminal case is resolved. Winning or losing one does not automatically decide the other.

The Two Types of ADOT Suspension

Which suspension you face — and what the hearing is about — depends on what happened at the arrest.

• Admin per se suspension — A.R.S. § 28-1385. If a breath or blood test showed a BAC of 0.08 or higher (0.04 commercial, or any amount of an illegal drug), the officer serves an order suspending your license for 90 days. For a first offense with no prior within 84 months, you may drive on a restricted permit after the first 30 days — to and from work, school, treatment, and required screening — or apply for an ignition interlock restricted license.
• Refusal / implied consent suspension — A.R.S. § 28-1321. By driving in Arizona you give implied consent to a chemical test. If you refuse, ADOT suspends your license for 12 months — or 24 months if you refused within the previous 84 months. A refusal suspension is far longer than the admin per se suspension, which is why refusing the test is rarely the shortcut people expect.

You Have 15 Days to Request the Hearing

At the arrest, the officer usually serves an “Admin Per Se / Implied Consent Affidavit and Order of Suspension.” That document matters: it doubles as a temporary driving permit and it starts a clock. You have 15 days to request an ADOT hearing. Request it in time and the suspension is stayed until the hearing is decided, so you keep driving. Do nothing and the suspension takes effect automatically — typically on the 30th day after service — with no hearing at all.

How to Request an ADOT Hearing

The request must be made in writing to ADOT’s Executive Hearing Office (the MVD’s hearing unit) within the 15-day window. Because the deadline is short and unforgiving, most people have a DUI attorney file the request immediately — it preserves your right to drive and locks in the officer’s obligation to appear and testify.

What to Expect at the Hearing

An ADOT hearing is a civil administrative proceeding, not a criminal trial. It is usually held by telephone before an administrative law judge from ADOT’s hearing office. The arresting officer is generally the state’s only witness — and if the officer fails to appear, the suspension is frequently set aside. Through your attorney you can cross-examine the officer, challenge the stop and the testing, and present your own evidence. The judge applies a lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard, and the scope is narrow: only the specific issues the statute lists.

What the Judge Decides

The issues are limited by statute:

• Admin per se (§ 28-1385): whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe you were driving with a BAC of 0.08 or more, whether you were placed under arrest, whether the test confirmed 0.08 or more, and whether the testing was performed properly by qualified personnel.
• Refusal (§ 28-1321): whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe you were driving under the influence, whether you were arrested, whether you actually refused the test, and whether you were warned that refusing would suspend your license.

If the state cannot prove each element, the judge sets the suspension aside.

Possible Outcomes — and Getting Back on the Road

The judge either upholds or sets aside the suspension. Even if it is upheld, you may not be off the road entirely: after the first 30 days of an admin per se suspension a first-time driver can often obtain a restricted permit, and many drivers qualify for a Special Ignition Interlock Restricted Driver License (SIIRDL) that allows driving with an ignition interlock device. A later conviction in the criminal case can still affect your license separately.

Why Requesting the Hearing Is Worth It

Even when the odds look tough, requesting the ADOT hearing has real advantages. It keeps you driving while the case is pending, it forces the officer to testify under oath — creating sworn testimony your defense can use later in the criminal DUI case — and it sometimes ends in the suspension being set aside when the officer does not appear or the evidence does not hold up. The one thing you cannot undo is missing the 15-day deadline.

If you have been arrested for a DUI anywhere in the Valley, including a DUI in Goodyear, Tamou Law Group can request your ADOT hearing before the deadline and handle the license case and the criminal charge together. Call us 24/7 for a free, confidential case review.