MVA 10 Day Hearing Request Rule

When you are stopped for drunk driving in Maryland, the officer will ask you to take a chemical test for the presence of alcohol. Your response may subject you to the 10 day rule. This rule gives you 10 days from the date of your arrest to request a hearing. The purpose of the hearing is for you to challenge the MVA's right to suspend you.

If you agree to take the test and score .08 or more you face a 45 day suspension. Repeat offenders face longer suspensions.

If you refuse to take the test you face a 120 day suspension. Repeat offenders face longer suspensions.

These suspensions will automatically go into effect 46 days from your arrest, unless you request a hearing within 10 days of your arrest.

You request the hearing by completing a form that the officer is required to give you. The form is entitled "Officer's Certification and Order of Suspension." This is a two page document. Both pages look identical. However, the reverse sides of these pages are different. One of the reverse sides contains the form you must complete. In addition you must enclose a check when you mail in the form. The form tells you where to mail your request for a hearing and your check. If you fail to enclose the check, your request for a hearing will not be honored.

If it already has been 10 days since your arrest, you may still have the right to a hearing. Don't surrender your driving privileges due to lack of information.

This information begins to make you a true and equal partner in your defense. Now let's get to work.