RS 668 - Procedure following revocation or denial of license; hearing; court review; review of final order; restricted licenses
A. Upon suspending the license or permit to drive or nonresident operating privilege of any person or upon determining that the issuance of a license or permit shall be denied to the person, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall immediately notify the person in writing and upon his request shall afford him an opportunity for a hearing based upon the department's records or other evidence admitted at the hearing, and in the same manner and under the same conditions as is provided in R.S. 32:414 for notification and hearings in the case of suspension of licenses, except that no law enforcement officer shall be compelled by such person to appear or testify at such hearing and there shall be a rebuttable presumption that any inconsistencies in evidence submitted by the department and admitted at the hearing shall be strictly construed in favor of the person regarding the revocation, suspension, or denial of license. The scope of such a hearing for the purposes of this Part shall be limited to the following issues:
(1) Whether a law enforcement officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person, regardless of age, had been driving or was in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon the public highways of this state, or had been driving or was in actual physical control of a motor-powered watercraft upon the public navigable waterways of this state, while under the influence of either alcoholic beverages or any abused substance or controlled dangerous substance as set forth in R.S. 40:964.
(2) Whether the person was placed under arrest.
(3) Whether he was advised by the officer as provided in R.S. 32:661.
(4) Whether he voluntarily submitted to an approved chemical test and whether the test resulted in a blood alcohol reading of 0.08 percent or above by weight, or of 0.02 percent or above if he was under the age of twenty-one years on the date of the test.
(5) Whether he refused to submit to the test upon the request of the officer.
(6) Such additional matters as may relate to the legal rights of the person, including compliance with regulations promulgated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and rights afforded to the person by law or jurisprudence.
B.(1)(a) In a case of first refusal or first submission to a test for intoxication and when there has been no prior suspension of the driver's license, if suspension is otherwise proper, upon a showing of proof satisfactory to the department that the suspension of driving privileges would prevent the person from earning a livelihood, the department may:
(i) Require the licensee to surrender his regular license and issue in its stead at a cost to the person of fifty dollars plus the cost of the license a special restricted operator's license designated as such by a large red R printed on the face of the license, to be effective for the remaining period of suspension.
(ii) Designate in writing, and upon application of the person to amend as necessary, the routes over which and the times during which the restricted licensee shall be permitted to operate designated motor vehicles in order to earn his livelihood, which written restrictions shall be attached to the restricted license and kept with it at all times.
(b) No person who has refused a chemical test for intoxication is eligible for a restricted license for the first ninety days of the suspension. When a person submits to a chemical test and the results show a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or above by weight, or of 0.02 percent or above if the person was under the age of twenty-one years on the date of the test, he is not eligible for a restricted license for the first thirty days of the suspension.
(c) However, any licensee who has had his license suspended for a first or second offense of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic beverages under the provisions of this Subsection, shall, upon proof of need to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, be immediately eligible for and shall be issued an ignition interlock restricted license sufficient to maintain livelihood or allow the licensee to maintain the necessities of life. In the event that the department fails or refuses to issue the restricted driver's license, the district court for the parish in which the licensee resides may issue an order directing the department to issue the ignition interlock restricted license either by ex parte order or after contradictory hearing.
(2) However, the department shall immediately cancel and seize the restricted license upon receiving satisfactory evidence of violation of the restrictions, and no person shall have driving privileges of any kind for a period of six months from the receipt by the department of the cancelled restricted license.
C.(1) After a person has exhausted his remedies with the department, he shall have the right to file a petition in the appropriate court for a review of the final order of suspension or denial by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in the same manner and under the same conditions as is provided in R.S. 32:414 in the cases of suspension, revocation, and cancellation of licenses. The court in its review of the final order of suspension or denial by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections may exercise any action it deems necessary under the law including ordering the department to grant the person restricted non-commercial driving privileges where appropriate as provided in Subsection B of this Section.
(2) Upon filing a petition for review, the licensee shall serve the Department of Public Safety and Corrections with a copy of the petition and summons. Upon receipt of a copy of the petition for review, the department shall issue the licensee driving privileges, which shall be valid until the decision on the petition for review is final. The court on its own motion, or on the motion of either party, may modify or vacate such driving privileges upon a showing of good cause.
Acts 1983, No. 632, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984. Acts 1984, No. 409, §1; Acts 1985, No. 194, §1, eff. July 6, 1985; Acts 1985, No. 816, §1; Acts 1985, No. 572, §1; Acts 1990, No. 932, §1; Acts 1992, No. 605, §1; Acts 1993, No. 17, §1, eff. May 18, 1993; Acts 1993, No. 453, §1; Acts 1994, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 20, §2; Acts 1995, No. 516, §1; Acts 1995, No. 520, §2; Acts 1995, No. 1070, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1184, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1296, §3, eff. July 15, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 1297, §1, eff. July 15, 1997; Acts 1999, No. 1146, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1212, §1; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 91, §1; Acts 2001, No. 781, §4, eff. Sept. 30, 2003; Acts 2001, No. 886, §1; Acts 2007, No. 413, §1; Acts 2009, No. 287, §1; Acts 2012, No. 559, §1; Acts 2013, No. 388, §3, eff. June 18, 2013; Acts 2016, No. 366, §1.
NOTE: Section 6 of Acts 2001, No. 781, provides that the provisions of the Act shall become null and of no effect if and when Section 351 of P.L. 106-346 regarding the withholding of federal highway funds for failure to enact a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level is repealed or invalidated for any reason.