Kansas City Driver's License Hearings

Understanding Hardship Licenses in Missouri

Having an experienced Kansas City DUI attorney represent you at the hearing allows your rights to be properly defended and increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome. Your attorney can examine the circumstances under which you were stopped for suspicion of DWI and review whether or not the police officer did, in fact, have due cause for his or her actions.

Requesting a Hearing After License Suspension: Key Timeframes

When you blow over the legal limit or you refuse to blow, the police officer takes your driver's license and issues you a 14-day permit in Kansas or a 15-day permit in Missouri with instructions on how to apply for a hearing. You must request a hearing within the 14 or 15-day period or your license will automatically be suspended or revoked. A timely request for a hearing will automatically extend your permit until the case is over.

If your license is in danger of being suspended, contact a Kansas City DUI lawyer to help you fight for justice at your hearing.

Will I Regain My License After the Hearing?

The issues at the hearing include whether the police had reasonable grounds to arrest you for DUI and whether you either tested above the legal limit or refused the test. If you win, you get your license back. If you lose, your license will be suspended or revoked.

Suspension periods for breath test failures range from 30 days to one year, while revocations for breath test refusals are for one year. Both suspensions and revocations may be followed by a period of ignition interlock lasting from months to years.

Steps to Obtain a Hardship License in Missouri

You may be eligible to receive a hardship license, also referred to as "Limited Driving Privileges," after 30 days to drive to work, school, medical care and alcohol classes. You may also be eligible for an "immediate ignition interlock restriction" without waiting 30 days, for the additional purpose of groceries, child care, child visitation, church, bank, etc.

How to Secure a Hardship License in Kansas

You may be eligible for an ignition-interlock restricted driving privilege during the suspension followed by an additional interlock period as a condition of reinstatement.

Eligibility Criteria for Hardship Licenses in Missouri

You may be ineligible for an LDP (limited driving privilege) due to some of the following reasons:

• MO driving privilege is eligible to be reinstated, but not all requirements have been met
• In the last 5 years, you have faced a felony conviction involving a vehicle
• Your commercial vehicle driving privileges have been revoked
• You have a suspension due to failure to pay a ticket
• You have a license suspension due to DUI conviction
• You are not a Missouri resident and do not attend school in MO

How a Kansas City DUI Attorney Can Assist Your Hearing

Our Kansas City DUI Attorneys can analyze all aspects of your breath and blood tests and any field sobriety tests to determine if they were correctly administered and interpreted. These factors can all be addressed in the hearing in fighting for your right to retain your driving privileges.