How Can I Get My Revoked License Back in Michigan?

If you have had your driver’s license revoked in the state of Michigan due to multiple drunk driving convictions, then the chances are that you have had a fairly difficult year getting around without a driver’s license. Michigan is an especially inhospitable environment not to be able to drive with its cold winters and sparse public transportation. However, we are here to help you recover your driver’s license. Our driver's license restoration attorneys can provide expert legal guidance, oversight, and review of the entire process. We are a full-service law firm that oversees every detail of our cases from reviewing reference letters, to helping you schedule a substance abuse evaluation with the most qualified evaluator in your area. We are going to begin with a discussion on eligibility to request a hearing, then discuss the importance of sobriety in winning your hearing and all the other documents and evidence you will require.

Determining Eligibility Based on the Number of Drunk Driving Convictions

If you have only had one drinking and driving offense, then your license is suspended and you should navigate to our “How to Get My Suspended License Back in Michigan” section. If you have had two or more drinking and driving convictions in the past seven years, then there are some things you need to know. First, your license is revoked, this means you no longer have a driver’s license in Michigan. You could wait 20 years and the state will never automatically reinstate your driving privileges. Please visit our section Prepare for Your Driver’s Restoration Hearing to learn more about the process of restoring your driver’s license.

Next, if you have had two drunk driving convictions within seven years, then you may request a hearing after one year. This means you must wait both one year since your conviction, and one year without being caught driving without a license. Additionally, you will need one year of sobriety. However, if you have three drunk driving convictions within ten years, then determining your eligibility depends on when your last drunk driving revocation was. If it has been more than seven years since the last time your driver license was revoked, then you will only have to wait one year. However, if your last driver’s license revocation has been revoked within the past seven years, then you will have to wait a full five years. This information can be confusing, but the driver’s license restoration attorneys at Grabel & Associates are available 24/7 to help you make sense of your situation and determine when is the right time to file for a driver’s license restoration.

Genuine Sobriety Will Pave the Road To Success

Sobriety is truly a transformative process. The differences between someone who has quit drinking for good and someone who is either actively drinking or white knuckling sobriety is both noticeable and measurable. It is measurable in their attitude. Someone who been through enough hardship to accept they have a drinking problem and that drinking has no place in their life or their future has a certain humility. Humility shows a sense of gratefulness for both what you have and also for all of the opportunity you have to keep improving. It makes a world of difference to work with someone who is truly sober, compared to someone who is just “going through it.” Another popular saying is, “don’t just go through it, grow through it.”

The term “white knuckling” sobriety is often used interchangeably with the term “dry-drunk.” These are people who have been forced into not drinking usually because of probation, but who have not yet accepted they have a problem with alcohol. They are almost categorically angry and mad at the world. People who have not yet accepted responsibility for the part they played in getting where they are, always seem to blame everyone else for their problems. However, there is a caveat, and that is a person who has accepted they have a problem and are doing something about it. You may still be mad or think that your circumstances or situation are unfair, but trust that change is coming. AA promises that you will know a new freedom and a new happiness. It works if you work it, so keep taking the next right step and the internal transformations will come.

Transformation to becoming a sober person starts with action. In AA they say you have to change your playgrounds and playmates. Excuses like I just go to the bar to shoot pool do not work. Another popular saying is if you hang out at the barber shop long enough you are going to get a haircut. This means staying away from the places where you used to drink and the people you used to drink with. Eventually, as you clear away the wreckage of your past, like your driver’s license restoration, then you will make room in your life for good things that you have built in your sobriety. One example is getting a restricted driver’s license, but believe that promotion, financial security, freedom, and abundance are things you can count on and are just around the corner when you continue your sobriety.

One common problem is resistance to AA and sobriety. Some people have been declared to be too smart for AA. They look for the way the sayings overlap and tear them apart like an attorney. The Big Book of AA less affectionally refers to these people as “narcissistic ego-maniacs.” However, no one is hopeless, and sponsorship is often the answer. Think about all of the areas of your life you hire a professional to manage your affairs. You hire a doctor to pulverize your kidney stones, because you lack the professional skill and equipment to do it yourself. You probably hire an attorney to manage your legal interests, because you don’t have a license to practice law or possess the specialized knowledge necessary. Maybe you hire an accountant or money manager to aid you with your portfolio and help you during tax season, because you want better results or simply cannot be bothered to worry about it. Similarly, you can decide to hire a sponsor to manage your sobriety. This is a person with specialized knowledge of alcoholism and how to stay sober, and you can turn the decision making over to him or her when it comes to drinking. If you choose not to follow good advice, then you can evaluate the outcomes and may find it the prudent decision to listen in the future.

How to Request a Driver’s License Restoration Hearing

You will make your request to the Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight with the Secretary of State. This office was formerly called the Office of Administrative Hearings Section (AHS). You will need to assemble several documents along with the official written request, Secretary of State form 258. The first two documents are the substance abuse evaluation and a 12-panel drug screen. Please visit our pages on 12 panel drug screens and substance abuse evaluations to learn more. The next piece of evidence you will need is between three but not more than six reference letters from friends, family, or coworkers. Please visit our page on reference letters. Finally, you will need some form of evidence that supports your sobriety. This can be AA attendance, Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART) attendance, or a letter from a drug and alcohol counselor or self-maintained abstinence.

The Hearing

After you make a request for a hearing, you will receive your hearing date in the mail within two to three months. The hearing is conducted by a hearing officer that acts similar to a judge. He of she conducts an interview to probe the sincerity of your recovery program to try to determine the likelihood whether you may drink and drive again. It is difficult to say whether expert legal counsel is more important while assembling the package of evidence you submit to request a hearing or during the actual hearing itself. However, when you feel the presence of your attorney intervening during the interview and expertly guiding the discussion to a favorable outcome, you will leave with no doubt in your mind that you made the right choice hiring Grabel & Associates to represent you. We win 97% of our cases the first time, so all you will have to do after the hearing is wait for a favorable decision in the mail permitting you to claim your restricted license with the Secretary of State. Contact us to schedule a free consultation and begin working with our experienced attorneys to assemble your case.