Legal Question in DUI Law in Colorado

Re: how do i get license back

Colorado is a participant in the National Driver�s Registry and a signatory of the interstate compact dealing with drivers licensing, and so is Washington State. Basically, if you�ve been suspended in Colorado then you�re going to be unable to get a license in Washington until you are reinstated or �cleared to reinstate� by Colorado. This is the legal doctrine known as �comity� between states.

So why were you suspended? If it�s just an unpaid ticket or an �Outstanding Judgment Warrant� as Colorado calls them, send in the money and get it paid off. If it�s a criminal or administrative suspension, you may have no choice but to wait out the length of the suspension.

Colorado is a participant in the National Driver�s Registry and a signatory of the interstate compact dealing with drivers licensing, and so is Washington State. Basically, if you�ve been suspended in Colorado then you�re going to be unable to get a license in Washington until you are reinstated or �cleared to reinstate� by Colorado. This is the legal doctrine known as �comity� between states.

Your first step will be to find out why you were suspended. You should immediately write to or phone the Colorado Motor Vehicle Division and ask for this information or go to your local Washington Department of Licensing office. The Washington DOL may or may not be able to tell you this, depending on how good their data link is with Colorado.

If the basis for suspension is just an unpaid ticket or an �Outstanding Judgment Warrant� as Colorado calls them, send in the money and get it paid off. But if it�s a criminal or administrative suspension, you may have no choice but to wait out the length of the suspension. Sometimes when a person is suspended by the state, they have some sort of appeal rights, but appeals must be made within a certain period of time, usually 30 days or so. Since you�ve apparently been suspended now for seven months, it�s unlikely that you can appeal. But find out whether you actually received the notice of suspension. On occasion, depending on the basis for suspension, lack of notice allows you to challenge the suspension action and get it overturned.

In the meantime, depending on the reason for being suspended, you might be able to get �Occupational Driving Privileges� from either Colorado or Washington, but not knowing all the facts, I�m not able to say for sure. For obtaining occupational privileges, I think you�ll benefit from talking to an attorney who is familiar with driver�s licensing law. I�m not licensed in Colorado, so you will need to contact a lawyer in that state if you find that you must deal with Colorado�s licensing department first.

Re: how do i get license back

You will have to go back to Colorado and comply and complete all of their requirements in order to get a clearance letter. Then you take that to licensing here in Washington and get your license by complying with allof our requirements.