Arrested for DWI in Louisiana? The 30-Day License Deadline

After a DWI arrest in Louisiana, you generally have 30 days from the date of arrest to ask in writing for an administrative hearing about your driver’s license (La. R.S. 32:667(A)(2)(a)). If no request is made by the end of that period, the license suspension takes effect without a hearing (La. R.S. 32:667(B)). That deadline belongs to the license case, which runs separately from the criminal charge. This article explains Louisiana law as it stood in October 2026.

What happens to your license at the arrest

The license procedure applies when a person is arrested for DWI under La. R.S. 14:98 or La. R.S. 14:98.6, or a local DWI ordinance, and either refuses an approved chemical test or takes the test with a result of 0.08 percent or more. For a driver under 21, the threshold is 0.02 percent (La. R.S. 32:667(A)).

In that situation, the officer takes the driver’s license and issues a temporary receipt in its place. The receipt lets the person drive for no more than 30 days from the date of arrest, unless the law provides otherwise (La. R.S. 32:667(A)(1)). The receipt also serves as the official notice of the 30-day deadline to request a hearing (La. R.S. 32:667(A)(2)(a)). Many people set it aside with the rest of their paperwork. It is the most time-sensitive document they were handed.

The 30-day deadline

The written request goes to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. It must be made within 30 days from the date of arrest, not from the first court date (La. R.S. 32:667(A)(2)(a)).

• Late requests. If incarceration, hospitalization, or another cause acceptable to the department kept you from asking in time, you may submit documentation of that cause. Any such request must be made no later than 90 days from the date of arrest (La. R.S. 32:667(A)(2)(b)). Do not plan around this exception. It depends on documentation and on the department accepting it.
• Test results not yet back. If you took a test and the results were not immediately available, the same 30-day period applies. If the results are not received within 30 days, or show a level under 0.08 percent for a driver 21 or older, no hearing is held and the license is returned without a reinstatement fee (La. R.S. 32:667(A)(3)).

Some websites still describe a 15-day window for an ordinary DWI arrest. The current statute says 30 days (La. R.S. 32:667(A)(2)(a)). Whatever the source, the safest course is to act on the earliest date that could apply and keep dated proof of when the request was sent.

What a hearing request does

Once the department receives a request, it must issue a document extending the temporary license until the administrative proceedings are complete. It must also forward the case to the Division of Administrative Law within 60 days of receiving the request (La. R.S. 32:667(D)(1)). The hearing is held by the Division of Administrative Law, not the criminal court (La. R.S. 32:667(E)).

The issues at the hearing are limited by statute. They include whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person was driving under the influence, whether the person was placed under arrest, whether the required advice of rights was given, and whether the person took the test with a result over the limit or refused it (La. R.S. 32:668(A)). A hearing is not a guarantee of any result. It is the only way to contest the suspension before it takes effect.

Suspension periods if no hearing is requested

If no written request is made within the 30 days, the license is suspended for these periods, as the statute reads in October 2026 (La. R.S. 32:667(B)):

• Test at 0.08 percent or more: 180 days for a first offense; 365 days for a second or later violation within five years of the first (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(1)(a)).
• Test at 0.15 percent or more: two years for a first offense; four years for a second (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(1)(b)).
• Driver under 21, test at 0.02 percent or more: 180 days (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(1)(a)).
• Refusal: one year; two years for a second or later refusal within ten years of a prior refusal (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(2)(a), (c)(i)).

If a hearing is held and the suspension is upheld, these periods generally apply as well (La. R.S. 32:667(B); La. R.S. 32:668(A)).

A suspension under this statute also bars operating a motor-powered watercraft on Louisiana waterways for the same period (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(4)).

Driving during a suspension: the ignition interlock option

A suspension does not always mean no driving at all. For a first or second offense involving either a refusal or a test result below 0.15 percent, the driver becomes immediately eligible for a restricted license once the driver proves to the department that the vehicle has a functioning ignition interlock device. If the department fails or refuses to issue it, the district court for the parish where the driver lives may order it (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(3)(a)).

For a result of 0.15 percent or more, a hardship license is available for the full two-year or four-year suspension after proof of an installed interlock device, which must stay installed for the suspension period (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(3)(b)–(c)). A refusal suspension carries no hardship eligibility if a death or serious bodily injury occurred and a trier of fact finds the driver’s intoxication was the contributing factor (La. R.S. 32:667(B)(2)(b), (c)(ii)). In many cases, an interlock device is also a condition of getting the license back, for at least six months (La. R.S. 32:667(I)).

Two cases, not one

A single DWI arrest usually starts two separate proceedings. The license case is administrative and is decided under La. R.S. 32:661–668. The criminal case is a prosecution under La. R.S. 14:98 and the related statutes. Each has its own deadlines, its own decision-maker, and its own possible outcomes. Requesting the license hearing does not resolve the criminal charge, and a court date on the criminal charge does not stop the license deadline.

The two can interact. If a person whose license was suspended under R.S. 32:667 is later convicted of an offense from the same occurrence, the suspension from the conviction runs concurrently with the administrative suspension, and the total cannot exceed the longer of the two (La. R.S. 32:667(F)). The outcome of the criminal case can also affect the license suspension and reinstatement fees (La. R.S. 32:667(H)).

In St. Tammany Parish, a DWI charge may be heard in the 22nd Judicial District Court or, depending on where the arrest happened and the level of the charge, in a city court that hears offenses within its territory, such as the City Court of East St. Tammany (La. R.S. 13:1894; La. R.S. 13:2487.1). The license case is separate either way: it goes through the department and the Division of Administrative Law.

What to do now

• Find the temporary receipt and note the date of arrest. The request window runs from that date. Have a lawyer confirm the last day and how the request must be submitted.
• Do not wait for the first court date to deal with the license.
• Keep every document you were given, including any bond paperwork and test printouts.
• Avoid discussing the facts of the arrest with anyone other than your lawyer.

Every case turns on its own facts, and no lawyer can promise how either proceeding will end. What a lawyer can do is make sure the license deadline is not lost while the criminal case is still getting started. You can read more about the firm’s criminal defense practice.

To talk about your situation, call (985) 612-7220 or start a confidential intake.