Out of State Residents

Available for free, confidential consultations at (530) 410-6474

In El Dorado County, frequently in the South Lake Tahoe courthouse, it is not uncommon for non-California residents to face DUI charges. If you are not a resident of California and hold an out of state driver’s license, it is obviously a much trickier situation.  The laws of California do make it much easier than other states when it comes to handling these cases. First and foremost, if you are charged with a misdemeanor, your DUI Attorney can generally appear for you at all court dates. If you are ultimately convicted of a DUI in El Dorado County, it is possible that you can serve your sentence through CHI, a private ankle monitoring company located in El Dorado County, though you would more than likely have to come back to get equipped with the device.

As discussed in the DUI penalties page, the court will generally require an individual convicted of a DUI to complete an Alcohol Education Program. In my experience, most courts will either not require the program for out of state residents, or will allow the out of state resident to complete an online program instead.

Here is where it gets complicated. For California residents, the program must be completed for two reasons. First, because the court has ordered it. Second, completion of the program is necessary to getting back their driver’s license.  The problem out of state residents have is that the California DMV only accepts programs done in California, specifically those licensed by the California Department of Health Care Services. So completing a program online might satisfy the court, but it does nothing for the California DMV.

Keep in mind that if you are an out of state resident, with an out of state driver’s license, any license suspension the California DMV takes against your privilege to drive in California can affect your driver’s license in your home state.  So if California has a hold on your privilege to drive in California, eventually the home state will pick up on it, and place a hold on the home state driver’s license, at least until the California hold is cleared up.

So how can I remove any hold from the California DMV?

The California DMV provides for a one-time “waiver” of the requirement that you complete an alcohol education program in order to have the hold removed from your license.  The DMV will first suspend your privilege to drive in California for whatever the suspension term was originally for, so on a first offense DUI that would be six months. At that point, you would contact the California DMV a request a “waiver packet”, specifically forms DL 4005, 4006 and 4007.  The California DMV will mail you the packet to your out of state address. That is the only way to obtain the forms.  You complete the packet and mail it back, the processing time can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months.  You must maintain an SR-22 on file with the California DMV for three years from the dated of conviction.  You are not allowed to drive in California during those three years, but the California DMV will release any hold on your driver’s license. After the three years, if you decide to move to California, you would be eligible to obtain a California driver’s license without having to complete the program.

If you are an out of state resident, the hiring of an El Dorado County DUI Lawyer is highly recommended.  Michael Rehm can be contacted at (530) 410-6474.

Resources:

Drivers License Compact

San Diego Pedestrian Accident Attorney