There are many ways in which your license can be suspended in Loudoun County. The most common is simply forgetting to pay your fines and court costs within the prescribed period of time after a civil traffic infraction or small criminal matter. By statute, everyone is given 30 days after a judgment to pay court fines and costs. If you request additional time to pay from the judge or the clerk’s office, then you may be granted additional time to pay. The most common period of additional time to pay is up to 90 days. However, it’s quite common for people to walk out of the courtroom, or if they’re tried in absence, simply to forget about their infraction.
If they do so, their license will be administratively suspended by the DMV for failure to pay fines and costs. If they get suspended for this, they have to take a two-step process of paying the fine and costs and then potentially paying a reinstatement fee to the Virginia DMV to get back on track. Other common causes of license suspensions in Loudoun County are an excessive accumulation of points or a conviction for crimes that carry with them an automatic suspension of driving privileges, such as a DUI or a drug offense.
If you’re suspended for failure to pay fines and costs, you cannot challenge the suspension in terms of filing a motion or taking swift legal action. However, you can shrink your suspension by paying the fine and costs and paying the reinstatement fee. As soon as you do those few things, your suspension is cured and you’re automatically back in good standing.
If you’re charged with a DUI, your license can be suspended in two ways. First, immediately after the DUI offense, if you are charged with a DUI in which your blood alcohol content is measured to be at 0.08 or above or you refuse to take the breath test at the station, your license will be suspended administratively pursuant to statute. Depending on if you have any prior offenses, this administrative suspension at the time of your arrest will be a period of seven days for a first offense. For a second offense, the suspension will be for 60 days or until your trial date, whichever comes first. For a third offense, the suspension will be indefinite, that is, until your date of trial.
However, if you have one of the administrative license suspensions, you can challenge the administrative license suspension. It is important to contact a Loudoun County traffic attorney who handles DUI matters as soon as possible if you feel that you may have grounds to challenge this administrative suspension. In addition, if you’re convicted of a DUI offense, your license will be suspended by statute for a minimum period of 12 months for a first offense and three years for a second offense.
After the administrative suspension is over, you may drive up and until any convictions suspend your license additionally.
Other driving-related offenses that can result in a license suspension are driving after a suspended or revoked license, Virginia Code Section 46.2-301; driving after a DUI-related license suspension, Virginia Code Section 18.2-272; reckless driving; hit and run; or eluding. These are all common driving offenses that may result in a license suspension. The most common non-driving offenses that may result in a license suspension are any drug offenses. The Virginia legislature has attached drug offenses with driving privileges. If you’re convicted or you’re on a deferred finding for any drug-related offense in the Commonwealth of Virginia, your license is suspended by operation of law for a period of six months.
If your license is suspended by the court, you may ask the court for a restricted license for the purposes permitted by Virginia Code Section 18.2-271.1. The statute enumerates the specific times and places to which you may drive if your license is suspended and restricted privileges are granted. If your license is suspended administratively, you can file a motion to challenge the administrative suspension of your license in court. If you challenge a DUI-related administrative license suspension in court, however, you bear the burden of proof and it’s important to discuss what that means as it pertains to your case with your attorney.
Northern Virginia Criminal Defense Group
