Eligibility for Restricted License in Oklahoma

Question: If my license is revoked following a DUI in Oklahoma, can I get a restricted license in order to get myself to and from work or my kids to and from school?

Answer: The individual can always go to the district court in the county in which they were arrested and request the district court to grant them a modification. Up until the administrative hearing they can request it from DPS, but as I’ve previously stated, we don’t recommend that—we recommend having your hearing, because if you can get the revocation thrown out, then you end up never having to have the modification.

You can, in fact, appeal—go before the district court and even have, it’s called a merits hearing, where the Department of Public Safety has to put their case on brand new in front of the district court judge, and even if the district court judge rules against you, you can still ask the judge for a modification to allow you to drive. And in fact, if the judge rules against you, you can even appeal that decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. And if you’re successful there, then you may not have to have the modification.

But that’s kind of the nice thing about the system is that you get multiple opportunities of due process to try to challenge the revocation of your license and still, at the end of the day, if you’re unsuccessful, you can still ask for the modification to be able to drive, sometimes 24 hours a day, seven days a week with the interlock device installed, or the court could restrict you to just be able to drive to and from work. But only in the most extreme circumstances have I ever seen a judge just flat out deny someone a modification, and that’s usually somebody that’s had multiple, multiple DUIs throughout their driving career.