What happens if you get a DUI:

What happens after a DUI arrest in Minnesota?

If you are arrested for a DUI in the State of Minnesota, you may be charged by: citation; tab charge when being booked into jail; and/or complaint subsequent to the arrest.

In some instances, you may not be criminally charged for several weeks or even months following the incident. This is because the police and/or prosecutor’s office may be waiting for the results of your chemical testing.

Driver’s License Revocation

Following an arrest for DUI, your driver’s license may be revoked or cancelled by the Minnesota Department of Motor Vehicles. In some instances, you may receive notice of the revocation or cancellation from the DMV before you are criminally charged.

You have a right to have a judicial review of your driver’s license revocation. However, you must file a petition with the court and serve notice on the proper government agencies within 30 days of receiving the notice of revocation. There is no grace period. After the petition is filed with the court, a court date will be assigned to you.

Once your license has been revoked for an implied consent violation or DUI conviction, you may be eligible for a limited license to drive (work permit). A limited driver’s license allows you to drive:

To and from a job, or for a job
To chemical dependency treatment
To a postsecondary school
To provide for family necessities including education, medical care and/or food.

Waiting periods before you can apply for a limited license:

1st Offense:
If under .20 or refusal – 15 days
If over .20 – 30 days

2nd Offense:
If under .20 – 90 days
If over .20 or refusal – 180 days

If under 18 years of age, please contact our office or find further information at MN Traffic Laws For Teen Drivers.

To reinstate your driving privileges, you must:

Pay a $680.00 reinstatement fee;
Pass a written test with DUI related questions;
Fill out a license reinstatement application and pay an $18.50 reapplication fee; and
Complete any other requirements deemed necessary by the Department of Public Safety.

Court appearances

Arraignment/First Appearance – If you are charged with misdemeanor DUI, you can avoid appearing for the first court date by hiring an experienced defense attorney. However, if you are charged with a gross misdemeanor or felony DUI you will be required to appear at the first appearance. At this first hearing, you will be given notice of subsequent court appearances.

Pretrial Hearing/Omnibus Hearing – The second appearance for a misdemeanor charge is called a pretrial hearing. If it is a felony charge, an Omnibus hearing is held. At this second court appearance, your defense attorney will negotiate with the prosecuting attorney in order to obtain the best possible outcome for you. If the case is not resolved at this court appearance, it may be rescheduled for another pretrial hearing in an attempt to find a resolution, or it may proceed to trial.

Trial – On the date of the trial, another effort will be made by an experienced attorney to resolve the matter. If it cannot be resolved, your case will proceed to trial. A trial will usually begin with the jury selection (voir dire). The prosecutor and your defense attorney will have the opportunity to ask the potential jurors a series of questions in an attempt to reveal strong biases that may help or hinder the case against you.

Following jury selection, the prosecutor and your defense attorney will present opening statements, which serve to outline each side’s theory of the case. The trial will then continue with questioning of witnesses by each side. Finally, your attorney and the prosecutor will give closing arguments, which summarizes each side’s case and is a final attempt to sway the jurors to one side or the other.

Sentencing – Punishment for a DUI conviction can include jail or prison time, fines, and supervised or unsupervised probation. A skilled DUI attorney may also negotiate alternatives to incarceration, which may include treatment, electronic home monitoring, work release programs or community service.

Implied Consent Hearing – In Minnesota, when you are arrested for DUI, there are really two (2) cases: the criminal case and the DMV case, which involves your driver’s license. The implied consent hearing relates to the DMV case and is considered a civil matter. At the implied consent hearing, issues such as the validity of the stop by the police officer and the procedures followed (or not followed) by that officer may be contested. Your attorney may also challenge the accuracy of the chemical testing at this hearing.

License Plate Impoundment

Under Minnesota Statute § 169A.60, the Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety may impound license plates of vehicles for impaired driving violations when the current violation:

occurs within ten years of a qualified prior impaired driving violation by that person;
involves a blood alcohol reading of .20 or more;
occurs where the vehicle was also occupied by a child under the age of 16;
occurs while the driver's license was cancelled for the person being inimical to public safety.

The license plate impoundment applies not only to the vehicle used in the impoundment violation, but also any vehicle owned, registered, or leased in the name of the violator. This includes vehicles owned or leased jointly with another person such as a spouse.

The arresting officer usually issues the license plate impoundment order and seizes the plates at the time of arrest. The impoundment order is effective immediately, but the arresting officer will issue a temporary vehicle permit that is valid for seven days (or 45 days if the violator is not the owner).

If the plates are not impounded at the time of the arrest, a person that is issued an impoundment notice must surrender his/her plates within seven (7) days to a Minnesota police department, sheriff or state patrol office along with a copy of the impoundment order.

The minimum term of plate impoundment is one year. During this time period, the violator may not drive any motor vehicle unless the vehicle displays specially coded plates (commonly known as “whiskey plates”) and the person has a valid license to drive. The violator is also subject to certain restrictions when selling or acquiring a vehicle during the impoundment period.

If the vehicle was not owned by the driver who was arrested, the vehicle’s registered owner may be able to have new regular license plates issued for the vehicle. The registered owner has the right to file a sworn statement with the Commissioner of Public Safety within seven (7) days of the issuance of the impoundment order setting out the facts and requesting new plates. If the statement satisfies certain basic requirements the new plates will be issued.

In addition, a person who has his/her plates impounded may ask for an administrative review at any time during the impoundment period and a judicial review within thirty (30) days of receiving the impoundment order.

Vehicle Forfeiture

The state of Minnesota can seek to impound and permanently keep your vehicle if your latest DUI violation:

Occurs within 10 years of at least two prior convictions
Is the second offense within 10 years and your blood alcohol concentration is higher than .20
Occurs with a blood alcohol concentration of .20 and a child is endangered
Is your second offense and a child is endangered
Occurs while your license has been cancelled
Includes fleeing a police officer

Under these circumstances, the State may keep the vehicle as long as any security interests against the vehicle are satisfied. A forfeited vehicle is then sold or kept for official use, and the owner of the vehicle does not receive any compensation.

There are many defenses to a vehicle forfeiture action. However, the vehicle’s owner must challenge the forfeiture within 30 days of receiving the forfeiture notice and, accordingly, it is imperative to contact a qualified attorney immediately. An experienced attorney may also be able to negotiate return of the vehicle with certain stipulations without the need for a court hearing.