save your
driver's license

The Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles can suspend or revoke your Wisconsin driver's license if you refuse to submit to a sobriety test. The DMV proceeds with their actions against your driver's license separate and apart from the courts.

Attorney Chris Van Wagner and Attorney Tracey Wood represent people who have been arrested for drunk driving (or DUI related charges) in the state of Wisconsin.

10 day rule

If you refuse to submit to a breath or blood test after being arrested for drunk driving in the state of Wisconsin, you have 10 days (not counting legal holidays and weekend days) from the date on your ticket to demand a refusal hearing.

failure to demand an administrative hearing

If you fail to file a refusal hearing demand or an administrative suspension hearing demand within 10 days, you will lose your driver's license for at least one year, or up to three years if you have had prior drunk driving convictions anywhere in the United States.

If you refuse to submit to a sobriety test, you must file a refusal hearing demand within 10 days; if you submitted to a sobriety test, and your blood alcohol concentration level was in excess of the legal limit, you must file an administrative suspension hearing within 10 days.

If you ask an attorney at Van Wagner & Wood to represent you, and the attorney accepts your case and files a notice of retainer, you will not need to appear at the refusal hearing, administrative suspension hearing or court hearing, unless instructed to do so by the law offices of Van Wagner & Wood.

don't wait for your court date

The proceedings that will occur in a Wisconsin Circuit Court against you are separate and apart from the proceedings that will occur at an administrative hearing with the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles.

Both the administrative suspension hearing and the refusal hearing are held at the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles. A court hearing is held at a Wisconsin Circuit Court. The two are not the same, nor does one affect the other.

The date on which you will be instructed to go to court for a drunk driving offense will almost certainly be more than 10 days from the date of your arrest. If you wait to handle your driver's license until your court date, it may too late, and your driver's license may already be suspended or revoked.

ticket date

Your ticket date is the date in the upper right-hand corner of your ticket. The ticket date is usually the date on which you were arrested for drunk driving. In some situations, the ticket ticket may differ from your arrest date, such as if you were arrested at or near midnight.

Driver's License Suspension

If your driver's license is suspended, it can be reinstated after the period of suspension, provided that you have no other violations or conditions to the suspension, but only after you initiate the re-application process with the Department of Motor Vehicles. (Refer to the DMV's website - click here - for information about reinstating a suspended license and locations of DMV offices).

Driver's License Revocation

If your driver's license is revoked, it can be reinstated under most circumstances. (Visit the DMV's website for information about how to reinstate a driver's license that has been revoked and office locations).

Van Wagner & Wood Can Help

If you have been arrested for drunk driving, please call (1-888-663-8163 or 608-284-1200) or e-mail the attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood for a brief, but professional 'first-impression" analysis of your case.

Contact Van Wagner & Wood