Lee County License Hearing Guide

A refused breath test or a BAC of .15% or higher suspends a license in Lee County automatically, and there are exactly 30 calendar days from the Notice of Suspension to request a hearing with the Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings in Columbia. The $200 fee is non-refundable, can't be waived for hardship, and has to be a cashier's check or money order, never a personal check. The hearing itself runs on a lighter standard than criminal court, a preponderance of the evidence rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, decided by one of five administrative hearing officers.

Anyone working from older information about this process needs an update. Effective May 19, 2024, the state's All-Offender Law eliminated both the provisional license option that used to exist for lower BACs and the route-restricted license that covered higher ones. That leaves exactly two paths now. The first is filing the OMVH hearing request and, once it's processed, visiting the Bishopville DMV to buy a Temporary Alcohol License for $100, which restores unrestricted driving with zero alcohol tolerance until the hearing concludes. The second is skipping the hearing altogether and installing an ignition interlock device immediately.

That second option looks appealing but comes with real costs most people don't anticipate. Driving with the interlock does count toward the eventual suspension period if the hearing or the criminal case is ultimately lost, but it also means hundreds of dollars a month in lease and maintenance fees and immediate, intensive monitoring by the state's probation office, all while the defendant hasn't been convicted of anything yet. The more common legal advice is to get the $100 TAL instead, which grants the same unrestricted driving without that oversight and buys time for an attorney to actually fight the underlying charge.

The Bishopville DMV, at 508 South Lee Street, is open until 5 p.m., but walk-in road testing cuts off sharply at 1:30 p.m. and knowledge tests stop after 4 p.m., so arriving early in the day matters for anyone processing a TAL or handling a licensing issue.

Since Lee County has no certified interlock calibration shop of its own, compliance means a drive to Sumter, where Intoxalock operates through Mobile Audio Network. LifeSafer and Sens-O-Lock both serve the broader region as authorized providers as well.

SR-22 insurance, required for three years after a DUI conviction, is filed electronically by the insurer directly with the SCDMV, so no visit to a local Bishopville agency is necessary.