License Suspension for OVI in Ohio

One of the ways an OVI will affect you the most is with a license suspension. In fact, in Ohio the license suspension does not wait until you are convicted. You receive a license suspension the moment the police officer decides to arrest you! Once you are charged, the officer will confiscate your license and inform you that it is now suspended. Your license is then sent to the BMV where it is destroyed.

The initial license suspension is called an Administrative License Suspension (“ALS”). The ALS does not come from the police or even the court. It actually comes from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Under Ohio law, if a person submits to a Breathalyzer and tests over the limit or refuses to submit to a Breathalyzer, the BMV is required to suspend their license. This results in a suspension while your OVI case is pending.

Ohio OVIs have mandatory license suspensions as part of sentencing. A first offense OVI requires a minimum six-month license suspension but can be up to three years. If you have prior OVI convictions, the minimum suspension will be more than six months and the maximum can be up to ten years or even a lifelong suspension.

Depending on the facts of the case, there may be a way to get your license suspension reduced, postponed, or even dismissed.

Call Kane Law Offices at (937) 887-4700.