Guide
Two cases, one night, seven days
A Colorado drink driving arrest starts an administrative revocation and a criminal prosecution at the same moment. They run on different rules and the faster one is the one nobody explains at the roadside.
If your licence was taken, read this first
You have seven days from the date of service to request a hearing at the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles. Not seven business days, and not seven days from your court date. If the request is not made, the revocation simply begins when the temporary permit expires, with no hearing and no review.
What happens where, and when
The administrative case takes your licence. The criminal case decides everything else. Winning one does not win the other.
Track one: the DMV
Express Consent revocation, C.R.S. 42-4-1301.1
At the roadside
The officer serves the revocation
If you tested at or above 0.08, or refused, the officer takes the physical licence and hands you an Express Consent Affidavit and Notice of Revocation. That paper is also your temporary permit. Keep it.
Within 7 days
Request the DMV hearing
You have seven days from service to request a hearing at a Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles driver services office. Miss it and the revocation simply begins. This is the single hardest deadline in a DUI case.
About 60 days out
The hearing itself
An administrative hearing officer, not a judge. We can subpoena the officer, cross examine on the stop, the roadside manoeuvres and the testing chain, and argue the affidavit on its face. The standard of proof is a preponderance, not beyond a reasonable doubt.
After the order
Revocation and interlock
A first offence at 0.08 or above is a 9 month revocation, with early reinstatement available after 30 days on an ignition interlock restricted licence. A first refusal is a 1 year revocation with no early reinstatement and a persistent drunk driver designation.
Track two: the court
Criminal case, C.R.S. 42-4-1301
Day one
Summons or bond
Most first offence DUI cases in Denver are filed by summons rather than a hold. If you were booked, the advisement happens within 48 hours and bond conditions usually include no alcohol and sometimes monitoring.
Weeks 2 to 6
Arraignment and discovery
We enter a not guilty plea to preserve every option, then pull the discovery: body worn camera, the intoxilyzer maintenance and certification records, the blood chain of custody, dispatch audio and the officer's training file.
Months 2 to 5
Motions
Reasonable suspicion for the stop. Probable cause for the arrest. Compliance with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment testing rules. Whether the roadside manoeuvres were administered as trained. A granted suppression motion often ends the case.
Months 4 to 9
Disposition or trial
Either a negotiated resolution, often a DWAI where the evidence supports it, or a jury trial. A first offence DUI is tried to a jury of six in county court.
Winning one track does not win the other. The DMV decides on a preponderance of the evidence and can revoke a licence in a case that later ends without a criminal conviction. The reverse is also true.
What the number on the report means
0.05 to under 0.08
DWAI
Driving while ability impaired. A permissible inference of impairment applies. 8 points on a first offence.
C.R.S. 42-4-1301(1)(b)
0.08 and above
DUI per se
The state does not have to prove impairment separately at this level. 12 points on a first offence, which is itself enough to revoke.
C.R.S. 42-4-1301(2)(a)
0.15 and above
Persistent drunk driver
Triggers the persistent drunk driver designation: Level II alcohol education and therapy, and an ignition interlock requirement of at least two years.
C.R.S. 42-1-102(68.5)
Refusal
Express consent refusal
Treated as a persistent drunk driver, one year revocation, and the refusal itself is admissible against you at trial.
C.R.S. 42-4-1301.1(2)
Statutory penalty ladder
| Offense | Jail | Fine | Public service | Licence points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First DWAI | 2 to 180 days | $200 to $500 | 24 to 48 hours | 8 points |
| First DUI | 5 days to 1 year | $600 to $1,000 | 48 to 96 hours | 12 points |
| Second offence | 10 days to 1 year, the first 10 consecutive | $600 to $1,500 | 48 to 120 hours | 12 points |
| Third offence | 60 days to 1 year, the first 60 consecutive | $600 to $1,500 | 48 to 120 hours | 12 points |
| Fourth or subsequent | Class 4 felony: 2 to 6 years | $2,000 to $500,000 | Set at sentencing | 12 points |
Reviewed September 2026. Figures are statutory and change; confirm the current text. Not legal advice.
Six things to do in the next 24 hours
- Photograph both sides of the Express Consent Affidavit and Notice of Revocation. The date of service is day zero.
- Request the DMV hearing in person at a driver services office within seven days. A phone call is not a request.
- Write down the route, the time, what you had, when you last ate and what the officer said, tonight, and date it.
- Do not drive once the temporary permit expires unless the hearing request has extended it.
- Keep any receipt, ticket or transit record that fixes the timeline of the evening.
- Say nothing about the case to anyone except a lawyer, including on social media.
What we pull in week one
- Body worn camera for the stop, the roadside manoeuvres and the arrest.
- Certification and maintenance history for the specific breath instrument.
- The blood draw chain of custody, and the second vial for independent retesting.
- Dispatch audio, the computer aided dispatch log and any in-car video.
- The arresting officer's standardised field sobriety testing training file.
Body worn camera retention periods are short. A preservation letter in week one is the difference between having the footage in month six and being told it was overwritten.
What people ask after a DUI arrest
Reviewed September 2026. Every figure on this page is statutory and changes; confirm the current text. This page is information, not legal advice.
How we defend DUI casesRefusal is not a free pass. It carries a one year revocation with no early reinstatement, a persistent drunk driver designation, and the refusal itself can be used against you at trial. It also removes a number that we might otherwise attack.
Usually yes. Requesting the DMV hearing within seven days extends your driving privileges until the hearing is decided. If the revocation takes effect, an interlock restricted licence may be available after thirty days on a first offense at 0.08 or above.
The statute sets five days to one year for a first DUI, and that minimum can usually be suspended on completion of alcohol education. A first DWAI has no mandatory minimum at all. A second offense is different: ten consecutive days is mandatory.
No. Colorado excludes DUI and DWAI convictions from record sealing entirely. That is one reason a dismissal or a reduction to a non alcohol offense is worth fighting for.
The seven day window does not pause while you think about it.
Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.