Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, no matter what it is called in the city or state it is charged, has both criminal and administrative consequences.  And with each passing year, the consequences continue to get more and more severe.  These comments are not meant as legal advice.  You should consult your attorney about the facts of your case and discuss your rights and obligations immediately after your arrest.  Especially considering the procedures that must be undertaken within days of your arrest are different under different circumstances (whether the and

CRIMINAL CONSEQUENCES

The criminal consequences in Kansas and Missouri differ just as the administrative consequences do.  Moreover there are lot of intricasies that are better left for discussion with your attorney.  One thing they both have in common is that with each occurrence over the course of a person's life, the charge can be enhanced and become more severe.  In Kansas, prior diversions count as convictions when considering the severity level of the current offense.  Generally speaking the criminal consequences include:

First DUI is a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Second DUI is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

A third or subsequent DUI is a felony.

ADMINISTRATIVE CONSEQUENCES

Administrative rules regarding driver's license suspensions are different in Kansas and Missouri.  To make matters worse, they are changing every year.  The one thing that is certain is that when you or someone you care for gets a DUI or a DWI or an OUI, or whatever the jurisdiction calls it, it is very important that they immediately speak with an attorney.  Oftentimes the driver only has a matter of days to request a hearing or they automatically have their driver's license suspended for a month, a year, several years or even life.  This is not the court date that the officer gave you.  This is a different matter than the criminal case.  In fact, in most cases, the officer does not even mention the need to request a hearing to try to defend against the suspension of the driver's license.

KANSAS

Drivers who either take an intoxilyzer breath test and fail it or refuse it, have 14 calendar days from the date they are served with the "Officer's Certification and Notice of Suspension" (or DC-27 form or Temporary Driver's License, also known as "the pink sheet") to request an administrative hearing.  The administrative hearing will be conducted by phone unless the individual, or his legal represenative, requests a face-to-face hearing.  Moreover, for reasons I won't go into here, it is critical in the request to request that the certifying officers be subpoenaed for the hearing.  If the hearing is timely requested, the driver's license will remain valid until and unless they are convicted of the DUI and the conviction is recieved by the DMV in Topeka or 30 days after the driver loses their administrative hearing, whichever happens first.

After a hearing is timely requested, the DMV will send a notice scheduling the hearing.  In Johnson County, the hearings are generally 3 or 4 months after the date of the request for hearing.  Once again, in the meantime, the driver can drive lawfully provided they are not suspended for some other reason.  If the individual took and failed the test or refused the test at the time of their arrest, the driver has the burden of proof at the administrative hearing so neither the State, the DMV or the law enforcement officer have to prove anything.  In fact, there is not even a prosecutor present for the hearing...just your attorney, possibly an police officer and a hearing officer to decide.  At the hearing, the driver is required to prove (1) that the officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that the person was operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs; or (2) that they were not arrested or were improperly arrested; or (3) that they were not given the implied consent notice; or (4) that the testing procedure was done incorrectly.  State v. Mertz, 258 Kan. 745, 750 (1995).  If the driver does not prove one of these things, and the officer properly completes their certification, their driver's license will be suspended.  See the chart below for administrative consequences for DUI's after July 1, 2010.