Does a DUI Suspend Your Driver’s License in South Carolina?

Often the first question the DUI defense lawyers at Futeral & Nelson get is what happens to a person’s driving privileges. Answering this question has two main parts. The first is the initial suspension that may occur depending on whether you refused or provided a breath sample (“blew” into the machine) after you were arrested.

The second is what can happen to your license at the end of the case depending on how the DUI charge is resolved. South Carolina changed many of these rules effective May 19, 2024, so our lawyers explain how DUI license suspension works in both scenarios under the current law in this article. So does a DUI suspend your driver’s license in South Carolina, and for how long?

Quick Answer: Yes. In South Carolina, a DUI arrest can suspend your license immediately if you refuse the breath test (six months for a first offense) or blow a 0.15% or higher (one month for a first offense). You have 30 days from the suspension notice to request a hearing. If you are convicted of DUI or DUAC, you generally must enroll in the Ignition Interlock Device Program to end the suspension, for six months on a first offense.

Does a DUI Arrest Suspend Your License Right Away in South Carolina?

It can. A DUI arrest does not automatically suspend your license, but the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV) will suspend it right after the arrest in two situations. This is called the “Implied Consent Suspension,” and it happens if you:

• Refuse to submit to a breath test (or other requested chemical test) after a DUI arrest; or
• Submit a breath sample of 0.15% BAC or greater.

The officer will usually take your license and give you a notice of suspension at the time of the arrest. The implied consent suspension is separate from the criminal DUI charge. The SCDMV and the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings handle it, not the court where your DUI case is pending, so it has its own deadlines and hearing. We explain the “Implied Consent Suspension” in more detail here.

How Long Is the Implied Consent Suspension in South Carolina?

The length of the implied consent suspension depends on whether you refused or blew a 0.15% or higher, and on your prior record. The longer periods apply if you had a prior DUI, DUAC, or felony DUI conviction, or a prior suspension under the implied consent, zero tolerance, or DUI conviction statutes, within the past ten years. The following table shows the suspension periods under S.C. Code Section 56-5-2951:

If your license is suspended for refusing or for blowing a 0.15% or higher, you must also enroll in the Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program (ADSAP) if the suspension is upheld or you do not challenge it. If you blew below 0.15%, there is no implied consent suspension on that basis, but you still face the DUI or DUAC charge itself.

How Do You Challenge an Implied Consent Suspension?

You can challenge the implied consent suspension by requesting a contested case hearing with the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings within 30 days of the suspension notice. The hearing filing fee is $200, unless the Office’s rules require a different amount. If you miss the 30-day deadline, you lose the right to the hearing, and the suspension stands.

If you request your hearing on time, you will likely have driving privileges while we wait for the hearing to be scheduled and decided by getting a Temporary Alcohol License (TAL) from the SCDMV. The TAL costs $100 and allows you to drive without restriction in South Carolina until the hearing officer decides your case and the SCDMV sends the required notice if it upholds the suspension.

At the hearing, we can cross-examine the arresting officer and challenge whether the officer had grounds to arrest you, whether you were properly advised of your rights, and whether the breath test was administered correctly.

Can You Drive With an Ignition Interlock Device Instead of Serving the Suspension?

Yes. Since May 19, 2024, a driver facing an implied consent suspension may enroll in the Ignition Interlock Device (IID) Program and obtain an ignition interlock restricted license instead of serving the rest of the suspension without driving. The device must stay in the vehicle for the remaining suspension period, with a minimum of three months. That three-month minimum applies even if the suspension is shorter, such as the one-month suspension for a first-offense 0.15% breath test.

In our opinion, for most people who request a hearing, the IID option is not worth it while the hearing is pending. The TAL already lets you drive without restriction. The IID costs a couple hundred dollars a month and subjects you to monitoring by the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (DPPPS) and its IID program.

You can violate the IID program, even innocently, and face penalties. If you win your hearing, you will have spent that money and exposed yourself to those penalties for nothing. The IID option may make more sense for drivers who do not request a hearing or who lose it; if the suspension is upheld, the law generally requires enrollment in the IID Program.

What Happens If You Win or Lose the Implied Consent Hearing?

If you win the implied consent hearing, the suspension is overturned, you can reinstate your license, and the $100 TAL fee is reimbursed. The $200 hearing filing fee is not refunded. Winning the hearing does not end the DUI case, however. The criminal charge is still pending and must be resolved separately.

If you lose the hearing, you receive credit for the time the suspension was in effect before you received a TAL and requested the hearing, and you must enroll in ADSAP within 30 days after notice that the suspension was upheld. Under the old law, drivers could choose to serve the suspension, obtain a route-restricted license, or enter the Ignition Interlock Program.

The new law removed the route-restricted license option in these cases and generally requires you to enroll in the IID Program after the suspension is upheld. You will receive credit toward the IID requirement for time you maintained an ignition interlock restriction on your TAL. A driver who submitted to a breath test and registered a 0.00% alcohol concentration is exempt from the IID requirement under S.C. Code Section 56-5-2941.

Is Your License Suspended If You Are Convicted of DUI or DUAC?

Yes. If you are convicted of DUI or of Driving With an Unlawful Alcohol Concentration (DUAC), the SCDMV will suspend your license. Under the law effective May 19, 2024, you can’t simply wait out a fixed suspension period. To end the suspension and drive again, you generally must enroll in the Ignition Interlock Device Program and keep the device in your vehicle for the required period. These periods apply the same way to DUI and DUAC convictions:

You must have the IID for the full required period, and time spent waiting does not count. If you are convicted of a first-offense DUI and wait three months to install the device, you do not get credit for those three months. You still have to drive for six months with the IID, and your license stays suspended until you enroll and meet the requirements for an ignition interlock restricted license.

The device requirement does not apply to a person who submitted to a breath test that showed 0.00%, such as in a DUI case based only on drugs, but that exception does not eliminate the conviction or the suspension itself. As before, a conviction also requires ADSAP, proof of financial responsibility where applicable, and the fines and other penalties for a DUI in South Carolina.

Can You Still Get a Provisional License After a First DUI?

No, not if the offense occurred on or after May 19, 2024. Before the new law, many drivers convicted of a first-offense DUI could obtain a provisional license that allowed them to drive during the suspension. That option is no longer available for new offenses. The provisional license remains available only in older cases where the offense date came before the law changed and the other requirements are met. For current cases, the ignition interlock restricted license has replaced it.

Does Pleading to Reckless Driving Suspend Your License?

A common resolution of DUI charges is to plead guilty to reckless driving in exchange for the DUI being dismissed. Whether the DUI arrest or charge can be expunged depends on the applicable expungement rules. We compare these options in our article on DUI versus reckless driving. All by itself, a first reckless driving conviction does not result in a suspension, but a reckless driving conviction can in certain circumstances:

• If you had a prior reckless driving conviction in the past five years, your license will be suspended for three months.
• If you had other qualifying violations in the past three years, you might be declared a habitual offender.
• Reckless driving carries six points, and if you have 12 or more points against your license at one time, you may be suspended under the South Carolina points system.

A reckless driving plea itself does not require the ignition interlock device, which is one reason it can be a valuable outcome when the evidence allows it. A separate alcohol-related suspension, if any, must still be addressed.

How Did the 2024 DUI Law Change License Suspensions in South Carolina?

The bill known as S.36 (2023 Act No. 55) generally took effect on May 19, 2024. It did not change how we defend and attack DUI cases, but it changed the driver’s license consequences of implied consent suspensions and DUI and DUAC convictions. The applicable rules depend on the offense and suspension dates; the Act also makes certain ignition interlock provisions retroactive to people already serving covered suspensions. The following table summarizes the main changes:

How Does a DUI Suspension Affect Drivers Under 21, Out-of-State Drivers, and Habitual Offenders?

The new law also affects several other groups of drivers:

• Drivers under 21: Under the zero tolerance law, a driver under 21 with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02% or more faces a three-month suspension (six months with a qualifying prior conviction or suspension in the past three years), and a refusal brings a six-month suspension (one year with a qualifying prior). These drivers can now enroll in the IID Program for the remainder of the suspension, with a three-month minimum, instead of not driving at all.
• Out-of-state drivers: South Carolina cannot take away a license issued by another state, but it can suspend your privilege to drive in South Carolina and will notify your home state, which may impose its own penalties. If you are a South Carolina driver arrested elsewhere, see our article on what happens if you get a DUI in another state.
• Habitual offenders: A habitual offender whose status resulted from at least one alcohol-related conviction may enroll in the IID Program for the rest of the disqualification, with a three-month minimum, instead of serving the full five-year suspension. Reckless driving does not count as an alcohol-related conviction for this purpose.
• Fourth-offense and permanently revoked drivers: For a fourth or subsequent DUI or DUAC offense under the law applicable to offenses on or after May 19, 2024, the statute provides for a lifetime IID requirement rather than permanent loss of driving privileges. A person with a lifetime IID requirement due to a conviction on or after October 1, 2014, may apply for removal five years after license reinstatement and every five years thereafter. A person whose license was permanently revoked for an offense before October 1, 2014, may instead be eligible to petition for reinstatement under separate rules.

How Do You Get Your License Back After a DUI Suspension?

To get your license back, you must meet the applicable requirements of your suspension, which usually include enrolling in ADSAP and, after a DUI or DUAC conviction, the IID Program. You generally must complete any required ADSAP services to fully restore your driving privileges, although the law permits restoration after certain implied consent or zero tolerance suspensions while you continue making satisfactory progress in ADSAP.

The SCDMV generally charges a $100 reinstatement fee for each suspension on your record that has not been reinstated. A suspension based only on the implied consent law does not require proof of financial responsibility, but a DUI or DUAC conviction generally does, typically filed through an SR-22 certificate. These costs add up quickly, and we break them down in our article on how much a DUI costs in South Carolina.

For quick answers to other common questions, read our article on what you should know about a DUI in South Carolina.

How Can a Charleston DUI Lawyer Help?

Call (843-284-5500) to speak with the lawyers at Futeral & Nelson and schedule a consultation as soon as possible after your arrest. The 30-day deadline to request an implied consent hearing starts when the notice of suspension is issued, and missing it can cost you your chance to challenge that suspension. In addition to the driving suspensions described above, you may face jail time, a permanent criminal record, and other consequences from the DUI charge. We study these law changes so we can advise clients correctly and help them return to driving legally as quickly as possible.

Contact our Charleston DUI defense lawyers at Futeral & Nelson, LLC today to discuss your case.