§ 32-5-192 — Implied Consent; When Tests Administered; Suspension of License or Permit to Drive, Etc., for Refusal to Submit to Test

Alabama § 32-5-192

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 32: Motor Vehicles and Traffic
• Ch. 5: Regulation of Operation of Motor Vehicles, Etc., Generally
• Art. 8: Driving Under Influence of Intoxicating Liquor or Narcotic Drugs
• Div. 2: Chemical Tests for Intoxication

Text

(a)(1) Any person who operates a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state shall be deemed to have given consent, subject to this division, to a chemical test or tests of his or her blood, breath, or oral fluid for the purpose of determining the content of any impairing substance or substances within a person’s system, if lawfully arrested for any offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed while the person was driving a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state in violation of Section 32-5A-191.
(2) The test or tests shall be administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the person was in violation of Section 32-5A-191, while driving a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state.
(3) The law enforcement agency that employs the officer shall designate which test or tests shall be administered. The person shall be told that his or her failure to submit to a chemical test or tests will result in the suspension of his or her privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a minimum of 90 days. If the person objects to a blood test, the law enforcement agency shall designate that one of the other tests be administered.
(b) Any person who is dead, unconscious, or who is otherwise in a condition rendering him or her incapable of refusal, shall be deemed not to have withdrawn the consent provided by subsection (a) and the test or tests may be administered, subject to this division.
(c)(1) If a person under arrest refuses upon the request of a law enforcement officer to submit to a chemical test or tests designated by the law enforcement agency as provided in subsection (a), none shall be given, unless a court order has been obtained ordering the person to submit to a chemical test or tests.
(2) The Secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency, upon the receipt of a sworn report of the law enforcement officer that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe the arrested person had been driving a motor vehicle upon the public highways of this state in violation of Section 32-5A-191 and that the person refused to submit to the test upon the request of the law enforcement officer, shall suspend his or her driving privilege as defined in Section 32-5-191 as provided in Section 32-5A-304.
(3) If the person is acquitted of violating Section 32-5A-191, the secretary, in his or her discretion, may reduce the period of suspension.
(d)(1) Upon suspending the driving privilege, the secretary or his or her duly authorized agent shall immediately notify the person in writing of the suspension and upon a request filed by the person, the secretary shall provide a hearing in the same manner as provided in Section 32-5A-307; except, that the scope of the hearing for the purposes of this section shall determine all of the following:
a. Whether a law enforcement officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person had been driving a motor vehicle upon the public highways of this state in violation of Section 32-5A-191.
b. Whether the person was placed under arrest.
c. Whether he or she refused to submit to the test upon request of the officer.
(2) Whether the person was informed that the privilege to drive would be suspended or denied if he or she refused to submit to the test shall not be an issue.
(3) The secretary shall order that the suspension or determination that there should be a denial of issuance either be rescinded or sustained.
(e) If the suspension or determination that there should be a denial of issuance is sustained by the secretary or his or her authorized agent upon the hearing, the person whose driving privilege has been suspended shall have the right to file a petition in the appropriate court to review the final order of suspension or denial by the secretary, or his or her duly authorized agent, in the same manner as provided in Section 32-5A-307.
(f) Upon a determination that a nonresident’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state has been suspended, the secretary shall provide, in writing, the action taken by this state to the motor vehicle administrator of the state of the person’s residence and to any state in which he or she has a license.

Legislative History

(Acts 1969, No. 699, p. 1255, §1; Acts 1983, No. 83-620, p. 959, §1; Act 2021-387, §1; Act 2021-498, §2.)