License Suspensions for Driving Under the Influence in Connecticut

June, 2015

By: Cody N. Guarnieri, Esq.

When a driver is arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, two different processes start. First, the driver will be given a court date to appear at the Superior Court and face criminal prosecution. Second, the driver will receive a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles indicating that their driver’s license has been suspended for a certain period of time and beginning on a date certain in the near future.

With regard to the criminal process, if a defendant is convicted of Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol or other substances (“DUI”) in violation of Connecticut General Statutes Section 14-227a, he or she will face a suspension of their driver’s license. This suspension “overrides” or takes precedence over that of the DMV,¹ discussed below. Also, this suspension is wholly reliant on if the defendant has been convicted of a DUI before and if so, how many times. Additionally, since January of 2012, the license suspension for an DUI conviction entails both a suspension period as well as a period of time that a driver will need to have an Ignition Interlock Device (“IID”)² installed on any motor vehicle the person owns or operates for some length of time.

Pursuant to statute,³ these are the applicable license suspensions for OUI convictions:

However, many individuals arrested for a DUI may not be convicted, particularly if it is their first arrest and they are eligible for the pretrial diversionary program, the Alcohol Education Program (which ultimately results in a dismissal of the case if successful). In these instances, the only license suspension is entirely administrative through the Department of Motor Vehicles. This suspension is triggered by a person’s arrest (not conviction) for operating under the influence (communicated to the DMV through the arresting officer’s A-44 report transmission).

While the suspension can be challenged through the administrative process at the DMV, it will upheld if it can be shown at a hearing that it is more likely than not that (1) the police officer had probable cause to arrest the person for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both, (2) the person was arrested, (3) the person refused to submit or submitted to a chemical alcohol test and the results indicated an elevated blood alcohol level⁴ and (4) the person was operating a motor vehicle.

Assuming that the suspension is valid or otherwise upheld, the duration of the suspension will depend on a number of considerations, including whether the arrest was before or after July 1^st of 2015:

For arrests occurring prior to July 1, 2015:

For arrests occurring on or after July 1, 2015

The applicable suspension is the longer of that which the driver would face if he or she was convicted, as addressed in the first table above, or as follows:

¹ See Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 53a-227a(i).

² “Ignition interlock device” means a device installed in a motor vehicle that measures the blood alcohol content of the operator and disallows the mechanical operation of such motor vehicle until the blood alcohol content of such operator is less than twenty-five thousandths of one per cent. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227j(1).

³ Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227(g).

⁴ An elevated blood alcohol level is that which is over .08% or, if operating a commercial motor vehicle, .04%. Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 14-227a(a). For individuals under the age of 21, Connecticut is a “zero tolerance” state and the minor will be deemed to have an elevated blood alcohol level if over .02%. Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 14-227g.