Implied Consent Hearing

An Implied Consent Hearing or IC is a trial following an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. The Implied Consent hearing must be requested by the arrested driver within a specified time period (generally 30 days) from the date of their license revocation. The Implied Consent Hearing is not a jury trial but a trial before a judge which allows the judge to review the driver's license revocation and determine if there is proper cause to enforce the revocation

Implied Consent Hearings will review the following:

• The officer had grounds to stop the driver for driving under the influence of alcohol.
• The driver was lawfully arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
• The driver refused to submit to the chemical test offered by the law enforcement officer.
• The driver was advised of their chemical test rights (may not be required in all states)

The court must find against the defendant through a preponderance of evidence which is a lower bar than the criminal standard of "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt". States require the Implied Consent Hearing to be held by a set timeframe after the DUI arrest. The license suspension, if upheld by the judge in the Implied Consent Hearings, is in addition to other criminal penalties which may be assessed after a DUI conviction.