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Yes. In Indiana, your driver’s license can be suspended before you are convicted of DUI/OVWI. A judge can trigger a pretrial suspension after finding probable cause. This license action is separate from whether you are ultimately convicted of the criminal charge. The statute allowing this pre-conviction suspension is Indiana Code 9-30-6-8.
You posted bond. You finally got home. Maybe you slept in and started thinking the worst part was behind you.
Then you looked at your paperwork.
Your license is suspended.
For most people, that creates an immediate problem. How do you get to work? How do you pick up your kids? How do you handle everything else that requires a car?
Indiana treats driving as a privilege. A DUI case can therefore threaten your ability to drive before guilt has been decided.
That surprises a lot of people.
The criminal charge and your driver’s license are related, but they are not the same legal issue.
Under Indiana Code 9-30-6-8, a judicial officer can determine whether probable cause exists for an Indiana OVWI offense. If the required finding is made, the court generally recommends an immediate suspension to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
That can happen at the beginning of the case.
You do not have to plead guilty first. You do not have to lose at trial first.
Indiana law permits the license consequences to begin while the criminal case is still pending.
That is why telling yourself, I haven’t been convicted, so they can’t take my license, can create problems.
They can.
Indiana’s legal alcohol limit for most adult drivers is .08.
When a chemical test provides the required evidence of intoxication, Indiana law provides for a pretrial license suspension. Under Indiana Code 9-30-6-9, a qualifying failed chemical test can result in a 180-day suspension.
That does not mean your criminal case is over.
It means you can be fighting two problems at the same time:
For a lot of people, the second problem becomes urgent very quickly.
Most Hoosiers cannot simply stop driving for months. Work still exists. Kids still need rides. Groceries do not magically appear in the refrigerator.
So the next question is usually pretty simple: How do I legally get back on the road?
Possibly.
Indiana law provides several ways a driver may be able to regain limited driving ability, depending on the suspension.
One possibility is specialized driving privileges. These privileges allow a court to stay certain suspensions and permit driving under court-ordered conditions.
Another possibility is an ignition interlock device.
Under Indiana Code 9-30-6-8, a court may order ignition interlock instead of the usual pretrial suspension in qualifying OVWI cases. The device prevents the vehicle from operating unless its requirements are satisfied.
The right solution depends on several things:
The bottom line is that there is no automatic guarantee that a judge will let you drive.
As a practical matter, yes.
Indiana statutes apply statewide, but judges still make decisions in individual cases. Local practices and judicial discretion can affect how these requests are handled.
In our experience, Marion County can sometimes provide a more workable path for a first-time DUI defendant seeking lawful driving privileges.
A first DUI is also very different from a fourth, fifth, or sixth DUI.
The more serious the driving history, the harder it may be to convince a court that continued driving is appropriate.
Other counties can be more restrictive.
For example, we have found requests in Hamilton County can be more challenging in some cases. Shelby County and Hancock County can be particularly difficult to obtain driving privileges while the underlying DUI remains unresolved.
That does not mean every judge will rule the same way.
It does mean the county, the judge, and your personal record can matter.
A chemical-test refusal creates a different problem.
Indiana’s implied-consent law applies to people who operate vehicles in the state. A qualifying refusal carries its own driver’s-license consequences.
Under Indiana Code 9-30-6-9, a refusal can result in a one-year suspension. If the driver has a previous OVWI conviction, the refusal suspension can be two years.
Refusal suspensions also have different rules for driving privileges.
Indiana Code 9-30-16-1 generally makes a refusal suspension ineligible for ordinary specialized driving privileges. However, a court may still use the ignition-interlock option available under Indiana Code 9-30-6-8.
That distinction matters.
It also raises another important question:
Did you actually refuse?
Sometimes the legal fight is not simply about intoxication. It is about whether what happened legally amounted to a refusal.
An attorney can review the video, reports, testing process, and other evidence surrounding that allegation.
Potentially.
One possible issue is the legal basis for the traffic stop.
Maybe your position is simple: I never should have been pulled over in the first place.
A defense attorney can examine whether law enforcement had a lawful basis to stop the vehicle. The attorney can also examine the facts supporting the probable-cause finding.
A refusal suspension presents different questions.
If police report that you refused a chemical test, the defense can examine whether the evidence supports that claim.
Every case is different.
Sometimes the goal is to challenge the suspension itself. Other times, the immediate goal is finding a lawful way to keep driving.
Either way, doing nothing is rarely a strategy.
You may.
An SR22 is proof of future financial responsibility filed with the Indiana BMV by an insurance provider. It is not a separate type of insurance policy.
Indiana Code 9-30-6-12 imposes future financial-responsibility requirements in qualifying DUI-related suspension situations. The BMV also requires an effective SR22 while certain specialized driving privileges are in place.
The exact requirement depends on why your license was suspended and what relief the court grants.
That is why you should not assume that receiving permission from a judge means you can immediately start driving.
You also need to satisfy the BMV’s requirements.
Do not look at the suspension paperwork and automatically assume you are finished driving for the next six months.
There may be options.
Depending on your situation, a lawyer may be able to:
The Indiana BMV recommends checking your official driver record to understand the exact suspension and reinstatement requirements.
This is especially important because an Indiana DUI can create two legal problems at once.
You have the criminal case.
You also have the driver’s-license problem.
Do not ignore one while waiting for the other to disappear.
If your license has been suspended and you have an Indiana DUI/OVWI case pending, contact the Marc Lopez Law Firm at 463-222-0896 to speak with a lawyer today.
And remember—always plead the Fifth.