DUI - THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
A CRIMINAL CASE AND AN ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW

A DUI offense involves two separate processes and is explained in writing on the Notice and Order of Revocation that you received from the police on the day of the DUI incident. The DUI laws have two separate areas of concern:

• a violation of a criminal law
• an individual's driving behavior and road safety

The two different focuses of the law are the reason a license may be revoked administratively when a criminal charge has been dropped.

The court action is a legal proceeding that takes place because a person has violated a criminal law. It is handled by a state or municipal attorney, depending upon the jurisdiction in which the incident took place. The attorney can consider many issues in deciding how to proceed with a particular case.

The administrative license revocation law and hearing process are geared around the issues of driver behavior and road safety. The hearing officers are limited by law to consideration of only certain issues at these hearings. The issues are whether the:

• arresting officer had probable cause to believe that you were driving or operating a motor vehicle while under the influence
• breath test result was .08 or greater or you refused to give a breath sample

This is the reason that the license revocation is not always tied to the court proceeding. If you have specific questions about the reinstatement process, you may contact the Anchorage Driver Licensing staff at the Anchorage Benson Boulevard DMV office for assistance. They can be reached at 269-3770 or by sending a message to ADL@admin.state.ak.us.

Reinstatement - Driver License - DMV HOME PAGE - Dept. of Administration - State