DMV Administrative Hearings in Las Vegas

If you were arrested for DUI in the greater Las Vegas area including all of Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Mesquite, then contact Gallo Law Office about representing you at the DMV administrative hearing to protect your driver's license.

Act quickly. You must request a hearing within 7 days of your DUI arrest in order to continue to drive without restrictions. Call today for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your case and the DUI administrative hearing.

James C. Gallo is an experienced DUI attorney in Las Vegas and all of Clark County, Nevada. Whether your DUI involves a refusal to submit to testing or a breath or blood-alcohol reading over .08, call today for a free consultation to discuss your case.

Information on DMV Hearings

Seven Days to Request the Administrative Hearing

After your DUI arrest, you must deal with the DMV administrative suspension of your driver's license. If you take the test and the results show a breath alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, then the arresting officer will take your driver's license and issue you a temporary driving permit.

After the arrest, you or your attorney has 7 (seven) days to request an administrative hearing. Within a few days of requesting the administrative hearing, you can pick up a temporary license that allows you to drive until the hearing.

In a blood test case, your license is not subject to an immediate suspension. Instead, the DMV waits until the test results are returned. If those results show a reading of .08 or above then you will receive notice of your driver's license administrative suspension.

After receiving notice, you can request an administrative review hearing. Sometimes this notice is not received until three or four months after the blood is taken.

What Happens at the DMV Administrative Hearing

In Nevada, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) can revoke your driver's license under the administrative authority granted by the Nevada State Legislature. You are then allowed to contest that suspension of your license in an administrative hearing. Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) at the Office of Administrative Hearings presides over those hearings.

After you request the administrative hearing the DMV will issue you a temporary driver's license (or stay the action) until after the ALJ renders a decision in your case.

After the request, a hearing will be scheduled and the Office of Administrative Hearings will issue subpoenas to the witnesses. The hearings are audio recorded.

During the administrative hearing, your attorney can call witnesses to testify under oath, cross-examine those witnesses, introduce physical evidence and make legal arguments concerning statutes, regulations and case law.

The scope of a DUI administrative hearing is whether you, at the time of the test, had a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in your blood, breath or urine, or whether you had a detectable amount of a controlled and/or prohibited substance as determined by a chemical test.

After the hearing, the Administrative Law Judge will issue a written ruling, usually within 30 days of the hearing. If you win the hearing, your administrative suspension will be removed from your record and you can obtain a duplicate license. DMV hearings are very difficult to win because a driver's license is a privilege, not a constitutional right. As a result, the burden of proof for the Government is quite low. If you lose the hearing then the suspension is upheld. You will be given the opportunity to install a breath ignition interlock on your automobile. You will be required to drive with the interlock restriction for 180 days.

Temporary and Restricted Licenses

Your temporary license will remain valid until the order from the ALJ is received and processed by the DMV. The decision from the ALJ can be appealed to the District Court and then the Nevada Supreme Court.

Location of Hearing

For a DUI arrest in the greater Las Vegas area, the administrative hearings are held at the following location:

Las Vegas Department of Motor Vehicles – Administrative Hearings
2701 E. Sahara Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702) 486-4940

Additional Resources

Nevada DMV Administrative Hearing Handbook – Read the hearing brochure on DUI administrative hearings written by the Office of Administrative Hearings with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.

DMV Nevada on Administrative DUI Hearings – Learn more from the DMV about Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) and what to expect during the Administrative Hearing to invalidate the suspension of your driver's license after a DUI arrest.

Finding an Attorney for a DMV Administrative Hearing

If you were arrested for DUI and want to protect your driving privileges from an administrative suspension then act quickly. You have only 7 days after the arrest to request a formal review hearing.

During the hearing your attorney can question witnesses, present evidence and make legal arguments. Even if your attorney is not able to invalidate the suspension, the information gained during the hearing will be very valuable in fighting the criminal charges, especially if the case goes to trial.

Call Gallo Law Office to find out more about fighting a DUI case and the importance contesting the administrative suspension during a formal review hearing.