If you refuse to submit to a test to determine your blood alcohol content level, your driver's license will be immediately suspended. Within 10 days of the date of your arrest, you must request an administrative hearing. If you fail to do so, you can lose your license for one or more years.
How to save your driver's license after a drunk driving arrest -- Why
you can't wait until your court date to take action
If you wait until your court date to take action, it may
be too late. You could lose your license -- even before you go to court.
You must either demand an "administrative suspension hearing"
or a "refusal hearing," depending on whether or not you submitted
to a police blood or breath test, or refused to do so. Either way, the
time limit is ten (10) days. If you don't demand a hearing, you'll lose
your license, regardless of what happens in court. This isn't part of
the court case, so you can't wait until you go to court to take care of
it. You need to act promptly.
To take immediate action, please call (608-284-1200) or
email the attorneys (
) at Van Wagner & Wood right away for a professional and confidential
first-impression analysis of your situation.
What about my CDL (Commercial Driver's License)?
Because Wisconsin, like all states, permits only one driver's
license to be issued to a person, a drunk driving conviction will always
result in suspension or revocation of the person's commercial driver's
license, or "CDL." A "CDL" is not a separate driver's
license. It is actually an 'endorsement' conferring additional privileges
to operate commercial vehicles requiring specific qualifications. It is
an endorsement, however, based on issuance of a regular driver's license
and, consequently, conviction of an offense requiring suspension or revocation
of the driver's license always means that the "CDL" is revoked
or suspended. This is true even if the person was not operating a commercial
vehicle or 'as a CDL' at the time of the violation.
For those who are subject to federal regulation, a drunk
driving conviction will be considered a "major" violation and,
thereby, can result in legal disqualification under applicable federal
rules.
Insurance carriers often have their own rules governing
employment of drivers with drunk driving convictions. Though each insurance
company makes its own rules, trucking companies who haul interstate frequently
are unwilling to hire or retain drivers with a drunk driving conviction
because their insurance carriers will not allow them to do so. Companies
who only haul inside Wisconsin generally are not subject to such strict
insurance requirements.
There are also specific drunk driving offenses that focus
on those who operate a commercial motor vehicle after having consumed
alcohol. Operating a commercial motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration
of 0.04 or more is illegal in Wisconsin. A driver who tests at or above
that level will receive an immediate 24 hour out of service order, in
addition to the citation for violating the 0.04 prohibited alcohol concentration
law.
Contact Van Wagner & Wood
If you are under investigation for a crime or drunk driving offense,
if you have already been charged with a crime or drunk driving violation, or
if you have already been convicted but believe your conviction or your sentence
were wrong, call (608-284-1200 locally in Madison, Wisconsin, 1-866-262-4599
through Wisconsin) or e-mail () the attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood right away. They will give you a brief
but professional “first-impression” analysis of your case and your
situation, which will allow you to take an important first step in defending
the case against you. You can also submit information about a criminal
offense investigation or charge or a drunk
driving OWI investigation or charge for a free case review.
The criminal defense attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood handle
cases involving drug offenses in which the accusation is made by either
a state or a Federal prosecutor, arrests by state officials or Federal
agents, and other drug cases such as those handled by the DEA. Van Wagner
& Wood's criminal defense lawyers represent people located across the
state of Wisconsin in matters involving state drug charges including Adams
(Adams, Wisconsin Dells), Ashland (Ashland), Barron (Barron), Bayfield
(Washburn, Bayfield), Buffalo (Buffalo City, Mondovi), Burnett (Siren),
Chippewa (Chippewa Falls), Clark (Abbotsford), Columbia (Columbus), Crawford
(Prairie du Chien), Dane (Belleville, Black Earth, Blue Mounds, Brooklyn,
Cambridge, Cottage Grove, Cross Plains, Dane, Deerfield, DeForest, Fitchburg,
McFarland, Madison, Maple Bluff, Marshall, Mazomanie, Middleton, Monona,
Mount Horeb, Oregon, Rockdale, Shorewood Hills, Stoughton, Sun Prairie,
Verona, Waunakee, Windsor), Douglas (Superior), Dunn (Menomonie), Eau
Claire (Abbotsford, Eau Claire), Grant (Mount Hope, Lancaster, Fennimore),
Green (Monroe), Iowa (Mineral Point, Dodgeville), Jackson (Black River
Falls), Jefferson (Jefferson), Juneau (Mauston), La Crosse (LaCrosse,
Lafayette, Darlington), Marathon (Wausau), Monroe (Sparta), Pepin (Durand),
Pierce (River Falls), Polk (St Croix Falls), Portage (Stevens Point),
Price (Park Falls), Richland (Richland Center), Rock (Janesville), Rusk
(Ladysmith), St Croix (Hudson), Sauk (Sauk City), Taylor (Medford), Trempealeau
(Whitehall), Washburn (Spooner), and Wood (Wisconsin Dells) counties.
Drunk Driving (OWI, DUI, DWI)
Wisconsin's foremost authority on drunk driving laws,
Attorney Tracey Wood, consults with lawyers and law firms throughout the
United States to help them build successful strategies for very complex
cases. In Wisconsin, Attorney Wood most frequently represents people located
in Madison (Dane County), Richland Center (Richland County), La Crosse
(La Crosse County), Jefferson (Jefferson County), Wisconsin Dells (Columbia
County and Sauk County), Stevens Point (Portage County), Dodgeville and
Mineral Point (Iowa County), Portage (Columbia County) and Montello (Marquette
County).
Federal Crimes
Van Wagner & Wood's criminal defense attorneys handle Federal
cases throughout the state of Wisconsin and Federal appeals cases throughout
the nation. The attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood have handled Federal cases
for more than twenty years, cases and appeals ranging from Federal conspiracy,
drug charges of possession, intent to deliver, sell, distribute controlled substance,
securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, domestic terrorism, Internet crimes
money laundering, to kidnapping.
The criminal defense attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood represent
people charged with Felony Murder, Homicide, Negligent Homicide, Reckless Homicide,
Vehicular Homicide, Reckless Endangerment, First-degree Intentional Homicide,
and Second-degree Intentional Homicide. Those attorneys most frequently represent
people accused or charged in the state of Wisconsin. Often times, they are called
upon by a client residing outside of the state of Wisconsin, which they represent
in very serious crimes such as Felony Murder or Homicide. Van Wagner & Wood 's attorneys have handled cases for clients in Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, California, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Illinois.
Van Wagner & Wood's criminal law defense lawyers frequently appear in Wisconsin Circuit Courts in Madison, Wisconsin for Dane County; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin for Chippewa County Circuit Court; Menomonie, Wisconsin for Dunn County Circuit Court; Eau Claire, Wisconsin for Eau Claire Circuit Court; Lancaster, Wisconsin for Grant County Circuit Court; Monroe, Wisconsin for Green County Circuit Court; Mauston, Wisconsin for Juneau County Circuit Court; La Crosse, Wisconsin for LaCrosse County Circuit Court; Wausau, Wisconsin for Marathon County Circuit Court; Sparta, Wisconsin for Monroe County Circuit Court; Stevens Point, Wisconsin for Portage County Circuit Court; Janesville, Wisconsin at Rock County Circuit Court; Baraboo, Wisconsin at Sauk County Circuit Court; Wisconsin Dells at Columbia County Circuit Court; Wisconsin Rapids at Wood County Circuit Court; Waukesha, Wisconsin at Waukesha County Circuit Court; Elkhorn, Wisconsin at Walworth County Circuit Court. They also appear at Oneida Circuit Court in Rhinelander, Wisconsin; Langlade Circuit Court at Antigo, Wisconsin.
If your case is in another area of Wisconsin, please contact an attorney at Van Wagner & Wood to discuss it.
Appeals & Serious Crimes - Homicide - Murder - State - Federal
Van Wagner & Wood's attorneys represent people on every type of criminal appeal, from post conviction remedies to intermediate courts in Wisconsin - the Wisconsin Court of Appeals - and Wisconsin Supreme Court, as ell as appeals under federal jurisdictions to the United States Court of Appeals. Attorney Tracey Wood frequently represents people appealing drunk driving (or related) convictions to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.
