Out-of-State OWI Convictions and Your Michigan Driver's License

A drunk-driving conviction in another state can cost a Michigan driver their license much as a Michigan conviction would. The Secretary of State imposes suspensions and revocations on receiving a record of conviction under another state's law that substantially corresponds to Michigan's, and the conviction goes on the Michigan driving record with Michigan points.^[1][2][3] Reports also run the other way: Michigan notifies a nonresident's home state of a final refusal suspension, and under the compact a party state reports each conviction of another party state's driver to that driver's home state.^[8][9]

This page covers the license side in both directions. The criminal case and practical steps are on Michigan drivers arrested in another state and out-of-state drivers arrested in Michigan.

Michigan's own laws count other-state convictions

Michigan does not need a compact to act on an out-of-state DUI. MCL 257.319(1) directs the Secretary of State to suspend on a conviction "whether the conviction is under a law of this state, a local ordinance that substantially corresponds to a law of this state, a law of another state that substantially corresponds to a law of this state," or, since 31 October 2010, a substantially corresponding federal law.^[1] The revocation statute, MCL 257.303, uses the same wording, so two convictions within 7 years or three within 10 can bring revocation even if some were in other states.^[2][10][11]

The conviction reaches the record through the abstract. SOS records points within 5 days of receiving a properly prepared abstract "from a court of this state or another state."^[12] The SOS manual says other-state convictions appear on the Michigan driving record "along with any points assessed according to Michigan's point system."^[3] An OWI carries 6 points.^[13] See points on your driving record.

For the criminal case, out-of-state convictions also count as priors. Michigan's definition of "prior conviction" in an OWI case includes a conviction under a substantially corresponding law of another state.^[14] So an earlier DUI elsewhere can make a later Michigan OWI a second or third offense.^[14][15] The rules are on how prior convictions are counted.

Credit for a sanction served in the other state

Two provisions keep a driver from serving two full sanctions for one offense:

• A suspension, revocation, denial or disqualification by another state or the United States runs concurrently with a Michigan sanction imposed for the same offense.^[6]
• SOS may waive a Michigan restriction, suspension or revocation, or grant a restricted license, if the driver proves that another state's court imposed a sanction equal to or longer than Michigan's for the violation and that it was served.^[6]

The waiver is discretionary; the statute says SOS "may" waive.^[6] Keeping the other state's court and licensing papers helps answer this question later; see papers and records to keep.

The Driver's License Compact

Michigan enacted the Driver's License Compact in 2018 PA 621, effective 28 March 2019, at MCL 3.1071 to 3.1073.^[4] The statute says the compact "is hereby entered into law," and Article VIII says it takes effect for a state when that state enacts it; MCL 3.1071 separately says the governor "may enter into" it.^[16][4] This guide did not verify a current list of member states, so it does not say which states exchange reports under it.

Pages that describe Michigan as outside the compact, or cite it at a Vehicle Code section, are out of date or wrong. Since 28 March 2019 the compact has been part of Michigan law at MCL 3.1071 to 3.1073.^[4]

Under the compact's terms:

1. Reporting. The licensing authority of a party state reports each conviction of a driver from another party state to the driver's home state, describing the violation and the plea.^[9]
2. Same effect as at home. For a reported conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the home state gives the conduct the same effect as if it had happened there.^[5] If the home state's offense is worded differently, it treats substantially similar offenses as covered.^[17]
3. Other convictions. For other reported convictions, the home state applies its own laws.^[17]
4. New licenses. A party state checks whether an applicant holds or held another party state's license, and will not license someone while another party state's suspension or revocation is in effect, except that a person may apply one year after a revocation if the law permits.^[18]

The "home state" is the state that issued the license and can suspend or revoke it.^[19]

Getting a Michigan license with an out-of-state problem

Michigan will not license someone whose license is suspended, revoked, denied or canceled in any state. If the action came from a state other than the one that issued the person's last license, SOS may issue a license 5 years after the most recent action.^[20] The SOS manual tells new residents that SOS will contact the previous state for the driving record, which becomes part of the Michigan record, and that a suspension or revocation there must be cleared before the Michigan application is accepted.^[21] Michigan allows only one valid driver's license at a time.^[21]

When Michigan is the state where the arrest happened

A driver licensed elsewhere who refuses a chemical test in Michigan loses the Michigan "operating privilege" the same way a resident loses a license. Once the action is final, SOS must notify in writing the licensing agency of the driver's home state and of each state where the driver holds a license.^[8] What the home state then does is governed by its own law and, for compact states, by the compact.^[5][17] The refusal rules are on refusing a breath or blood test.

The National Driver Register

Federal law adds a national layer. Each participating state reports to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Driver Register the people whose licenses are revoked, suspended or canceled for cause and people convicted of driving under the influence of or impaired by alcohol or a controlled substance, within 31 days after the state receives the information.^[7] The Michigan Secretary of State may check the register before renewing a license.^[22]

Commercial drivers

For a CDL holder, the out-of-state question is sharper. A Michigan CDL holder's OWI in any vehicle brings a 1-year suspension of CDL privileges, whether the driver was in a commercial or a noncommercial vehicle.^[23] A CDL holder who fails to answer an out-of-state citation for a reportable violation is suspended until the other state reports it resolved.^[24] See CDL disqualification after an OWI. For the suspension and revocation periods themselves, see what an OWI does to your driver's license and license revocation for repeat OWI.