Denver County License Hearing Guide

Winning the criminal case doesn't save a license. That's the single most common misconception defendants carry into this process, and Colorado law makes it explicit: under C.R.S. 42-2-126(6)(a), the administrative revocation and the criminal prosecution run on entirely separate, independent tracks. Get the DUI charge dismissed outright in court, and the DMV will still revoke the license based on its own administrative standard of proof unless that revocation is separately challenged and beaten at its own hearing.

The clock for that challenge is unforgiving: 7 calendar days under Colorado's Express Consent law, with no grace for weekends or holidays. A failed breath test or an outright refusal means the officer seizes the license on the spot and hands over a yellow Express Consent Affidavit, which starts the 7-day count from the date of arrest itself. A blood test works differently — nothing gets seized immediately since the BAC isn't known yet, and the clock doesn't start until weeks later, when the DMV mails a Notice of Revocation to whatever address is on file once lab results confirm the violation. That notice counts as legally received three days after it's mailed, and the 7-day request window runs from that deemed-received date, not from the mailing date itself — in practice, closer to ten calendar days after the DMV sends the letter. Anyone who's moved since the arrest needs to update that address with the Department of Revenue right away; the notice going to an old address doesn't pause the deadline, it just means finding out too late.

How to actually file changed recently in a way that's tripped up people relying on outdated advice: the old fax number for hearing requests has been fully decommissioned. Requests now go exclusively through the mydmv.colorado.gov portal or by email to the Express Consent Unit. The request itself includes a single consequential checkbox — whether to subpoena the arresting officer for the hearing. Skip it, and the hearing officer decides based purely on the written police report. Check it, and the defense gets to cross-examine the officer under oath, which is frequently where a stop's procedural weaknesses actually surface.

Get the request filed on time, and the temporary permit that comes with it stays valid for full, unrestricted driving all the way until the hearing itself — typically 30 to 60 days out — giving real room to arrange counsel and keep working in the meantime. Nearly every hearing runs over Zoom now, audio-only included, so there's no need to travel to the Driver Control office regardless of where in the metro area someone lives.

Once a revocation does take effect, reinstatement requires an SR-22 certificate filed electronically by an auto insurer — not something a driver can walk into an office and hand over themselves — and many standard carriers drop coverage the moment an SR-22 gets requested, pushing people toward high-risk specialty insurers instead. For an ignition interlock device, if one's required for early reinstatement or because of a BAC over 0.15, Denver has multiple state-approved installers to choose from, including Intoxalock, Smart Start, and LifeSafer, all with metro locations.