Traffic Law Missouri.com

Missouri law provides that the Department of Revenue Driver License Bureau shall revoke for one year the Missouri driver license (or the Missouri driving privileges of an out-of-state driver) of any driver who is arrested or stopped with reasonable grounds (probable cause) to believe that the driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is at least .08% by weight for adults or .02% by weight for minors.

The one year driver license revocation for the “refusal to blow” is referred to by the Missouri Department of Revenue as a “Chemical Refusal Revocation” because it is based on the driver’s refusal to submit to a chemical test of the driver’s blood alcohol level as required by Missouri’s Implied Consent Law.

When a driver “refuses to blow” as required by Missouri’s Implied Consent Law, the officer, on behalf of the Missouri Department of Revenue Driver License Bureau, issues the driver a notice of license revocation (also is called a notice of refusal). The officer personally serves the notice of refusal on the driver using a Dept. of Revenue Driver License Bureau *Form 4323*:

*Refusal to Submit to Alcohol/Drug Chemical Test*
*Notice of Revocation of Your Driving Privilege*
*15 day Permit*

If the driver holds a Missouri driver license (and has it with them), the officer will take possession of their Missouri driver license. The from 4323 also contains a temporary 15-day driving permit and also notifies the driver of their right to file a petition for review to contest the driver license revocation.

A petition for review is a lawsuit against the Department of Revenue challenging the revocation. The petition for review is filed in the Circuit Court for the Missouri county in which the driver was arrested and the Form 4323 issued and served on the driver.

If a petition for review is not filed within 30 days from the date of the notice of refusal, the 1-year revocation of the driver’s license goes into effect.

*Missouri’s Implied Consent Law*

Driving in Missouri is a privilege, not a right. Every driver in Missouri is deemed to have given consent to a take a blood alcohol test upon the request of an officer after being arrested or stopped when the officer had:
# Reasonable grounds to believe that the arrested person was driving a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated or drugged condition; or
# Reasonable grounds to believe that the person stopped, being under the age of twenty-one years, was driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of two-hundredths of one percent or more by weight; or
# Reasonable grounds to believe that the person stopped, being under the age of twenty-one years, was committing a violation of the traffic laws of the state, or political subdivision of the state, and such officer has reasonable grounds to believe, after making such stop, that the person had a blood alcohol content of two-hundredths of one percent or greater.

This commonly is referred to as Missouri’s “Implied Consent Law” and is set out in RSMo 577.041.

Missouri’s Implied Consent statute requires that, to be valid, the officer’s request that the driver submit to a blood alcohol test:
# Must include the reasons of the officer for requesting the driver submit to a blood alcohol test; and
# Must inform the driver that evidence of refusal to take the test may be used against them; and
# Must inform the driver that the driver’s license shall be revoked immediately if the driver refuses to take the test.

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