If you have a notice from the MVA, read this line first: you have 10 days from the date the notice was sent to request a hearing. Not 30. Ten — and weekends and legal holidays don’t count against you. Miss it and the suspension takes effect automatically, without anyone reviewing your case. There is no appeal from a deadline you didn’t meet.
I’m David Waranch. I represent Maryland drivers at MVA hearings, and the single most common thing I hear is: “I thought I had a month.”
You don’t. Call me before the ten days run out.
The MVA Is Not the Court. That’s the Whole Problem.
People assume that if they beat the charge in court, their license is safe. It isn’t, and the confusion costs drivers their licenses every week.
A licence suspension runs on a completely separate track from your criminal or traffic case. Different building, different decision-maker, different deadline, different rules of evidence. The MVA does not wait for your trial and does not care what happens at it.
| Your court case | Your MVA case | |
|---|---|---|
| Decided by | A District Court judge | An administrative law judge |
| At stake | Fines, points, a conviction, possibly jail | Your license |
| Your deadline | The date on your citation | 10 days from the notice |
| If you do nothing | Nothing happens yet | You are suspended. Automatically. |
Winning one does not win the other. I have met people who were found not guilty in court and still could not drive — because the ten-day letter had been sitting unopened on the kitchen counter while they prepared for a trial months away.
What Triggers an MVA Hearing
The MVA can move against your license for any of these, and each one comes with its own notice and its own ten-day clock:
- A DUI or DWI arrest — whether you blew, or refused
- Accumulating points — 8 points suspends, 12 revokes
- An insurance lapse — and the MVA’s own penalty on top (§ 17-106)
- Failing to appear or pay a ticket
- A medical or vision referral
- A provisional driver’s violation — the rules are far harsher for young drivers
If it’s a DUI or a refusal
The officer took your licence and handed you a paper one. That paper is good for 45 days. What comes after it depends on what you did at the roadside:
| Result | First offence | Second |
|---|---|---|
| BAC 0.08 – 0.14 | 180 days | 180 days |
| BAC 0.15 or higher | 180 days | 270 days |
| Refused the test | 270 days | 2 years |
Note what that table says: refusing is punished more harshly than blowing a 0.14. People refuse believing it protects them. On the MVA side, it usually does the opposite.
If it’s points
Under Md. Code, Transp. § 16-404, the MVA escalates on a fixed ladder within any two-year window:
- 3 points — a warning letter
- 5 points — you must attend a Driver Improvement Program
- 8 points — suspension
- 12 points — revocation
An initial suspension runs 2 to 30 days; a subsequent one, 15 to 90. And if you hold a provisional licence and are under 18, § 16-404(d) is far harsher: 5 or more points in 12 months is a 6-month suspension on a first offence, and a full year on a second.
What Actually Happens at the Hearing
It isn’t a courtroom, and that catches people out. It’s a hearing room, before an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings. There’s no jury. The rules are looser than a criminal trial, and the burden on the State is lighter.
What the judge decides is narrow: whether the suspension stands, whether it’s modified, or whether you get a restricted licence instead. That’s the whole game — and it is won on preparation, on the paperwork, and on the specific procedural failures in how the case against you was assembled.
Turning up alone and explaining that you need your car for work is not a strategy. Everyone in that room needs their car for work.
Restricted Licences: What You Can Actually Get
A suspended licence in Maryland does not always mean you can’t drive. If you can demonstrate genuine need, the MVA may impose a restriction instead — letting you drive in limited circumstances. This is often the realistic goal of the hearing.
- Work or education restriction. You may be limited to driving to and from work or school, or in the course of your employment. Your employer may be asked to verify your job in writing. This is commonly what’s sought where points have accumulated or after an alcohol-related offence.
- Medical restriction. You may be required to use particular equipment, or limited by time of day or area — corrective lenses, automatic transmission only, daylight driving only, or no expressways, beltways or interstates.
- Alcohol or drug restriction. A prohibition on driving after consuming alcohol or any mood-altering substance in any amount.
Many drivers will also be required to install an ignition interlock device — you breathe into it every time you start the car. Under § 16-404(c)(3), the MVA may issue a restrictive licence for the whole period of the suspension to a driver who joins the Ignition Interlock Program. For a lot of people that is the difference between keeping a job and losing one.
If a restriction is granted, you’ll get a letter explaining it, and you must go to an MVA branch for a new licence — it carries a red restriction code in the lower right-hand corner.
How I Handle Your MVA Hearing
- File the request inside the 10 days. First thing, before anything else. Everything downstream depends on it.
- Get the file and read it properly. The advice of rights, the certification, the calibration and maintenance records for the machine, the observation period. Procedural failures on the State’s side are common and they are decisive.
- Build the case for a restriction — employment letters, treatment enrolment, interlock, the specifics of what losing the licence would actually do to you.
- Appear and argue it. In many cases you won’t need to take the day off at all.
MVA Hearings Across Maryland
I represent drivers at MVA hearings statewide. For county-specific detail:
- [PASTE THE 12 COUNTY MVA-HEARING PAGE LINKS HERE]
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to request an MVA hearing?
10 days from the date the notice was sent — not the date you opened it. Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays are excluded from the count. If you don’t request a hearing, the suspension takes effect at the end of that period automatically.
What if I’ve already missed the deadline?
Call me anyway — don’t assume it’s over. What’s possible depends on why you were suspended. Where a suspension came from an unpaid ticket or a missed court date, § 26-204(d) gives you 15 days from the MVA’s notice to pay, enter a payment plan, or get a new court date — and doing so causes the MVA to withdraw the suspension. Other routes exist too. But every one of them is harder than not missing the deadline.
Can I get a work-restricted licence?
Often, yes — it’s one of the main things worth fighting for at the hearing. You’ll need to show genuine need, and your employer may have to verify your job in writing. It’s not automatic, and it’s rarely granted to someone who turns up unprepared.
Do I have to attend the hearing myself?
In many cases I can appear on your behalf. We’ll talk about whether your presence helps — sometimes it does.
I refused the breath test. Is it hopeless?
No. A first refusal is a 270-day suspension, which is serious — but refusal cases have their own weaknesses, particularly around whether the advice of rights was properly given and whether the refusal was genuinely knowing. They are very much worth fighting.
Don’t Wait Out the Ten Days
There is no version of this where waiting helps. If you have a notice from the MVA, the clock started when it was sent — not when you read it.
Toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Free consultation. Hablamos Español.
Related: Maryland DUI defence · driving on a suspended licence · how points work · suspension vs revocation vs cancellation
Last updated: June 2026.