The sobriety court (specialty court) restricted license in Michigan

Michigan's specialty court restricted license lets a person with repeat drunk-driving convictions drive an interlock-equipped vehicle for set purposes while taking part in a certified sobriety, drug, hybrid, mental health or veterans treatment court.^[1][6] It is issued by the Secretary of State under MCL 257.304, but only after the license has been suspended or revoked for 45 days and the specialty court judge certifies that the person has been admitted and has an approved interlock on every vehicle they own or drive.^[2]

Where this license comes from

The program began as the "DWI/sobriety court interlock program." In 2023, Public Acts 124 and 125 renamed it the "specialty court interlock program" and opened it to participants in certified drug treatment, hybrid, mental health and veterans treatment courts as well as sobriety courts.^[6] Section 304 applies only to people arrested for an OWI-type violation on or after January 1, 2011.^[7]

The license matters because repeat convictions otherwise mean either a long suspension or a revocation. Two OWI-family convictions within 7 years require the Secretary of State to revoke the license and deny a new one, and a revoked driver cannot get a license back for at least 1 year, or 5 years for a second revocation within 7 years.^[8][9] The guide to license revocation for repeat OWI covers those periods.

Who qualifies

Subject to the 45-day wait, the judge's certification and the blocks described below, the Secretary of State must issue the restricted license to a person whose license was suspended or restricted under section 319, or revoked or denied under section 303, based on either of two conviction histories:^[1]

• two or more convictions under MCL 257.625(1) (OWI) or 625(3) (OWVI), or a matching Michigan local ordinance; or^[1]
• one such Michigan conviction preceded by one or more matching convictions under another state's law, a local ordinance, or federal law.^[1]

The court side uses the same test: to be considered for the specialty court interlock program, a person must have that conviction history.^[10] Admission to the court itself is a separate decision, and no one has a right to be admitted.^[11] See sobriety courts for how admission works.

What can block it

The license cannot be issued if the person is otherwise ineligible for a license, except where the ineligibility comes from listed sources, which include the OWI-related suspensions and revocations themselves, failure-to-appear suspensions under section 321a, implied-consent refusals under section 625f, and section 904(10).^[12] The Secretary of State's own page lists other open actions that block participation, such as a no-insurance suspension and an open 625g temporary permit.^[12]

The Secretary of State's page also lists a failure-to-appear or failure-to-comply suspension as disqualifying, but MCL 257.304(3)(f) excepts that kind of ineligibility.^[12] Where an agency page and the statute differ, the statute governs.

Getting the license: the steps

1. The court admits the person to the specialty court interlock program.^[2]
2. An interlock approved and installed under MCL 257.625k and 625l goes on each vehicle the person owns or operates.^[2]
3. At least 45 days of the suspension or revocation pass.^[2]
4. The judge certifies admission and installation to the Secretary of State; in practice the probation officer gets the judge to sign form MC-393 and forwards it.^[13]
5. Once the MC-393 shows on the driving record, the person applies at a Secretary of State office for the restricted license.^[13]

Only a certified court can make that certification; an uncertified court may not certify to the Secretary of State that a person is eligible.^[14]

Where you can drive

The license permits driving only the interlock-equipped vehicle, taking any required driving test, and these trips:^[3]

• work, if the job does not require a commercial driver license;^[3][15]
• to and from home and work;^[3]
• court-ordered alcohol, drug or mental health education and treatment;^[3]
• Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or other court-ordered self-help programs;^[3]
• court hearings and probation appointments, and court-ordered community service;^[3]
• a school where the person is enrolled;^[3]
• regularly occurring medical treatment for a serious condition, or a medical emergency, for the person or a household or immediate family member;^[3]
• court-ordered alcohol or drug testing and the interlock service provider;^[3]
• at the judge's discretion, a minor child's day care provider or school, including sanctioned activities.^[3]

The driver must carry proof of the destination and the hours of any job, class or other reason for the trip, and show it to an officer on request.^[16] Violating a license restriction is a misdemeanor.^[17]

How the interlock works and who pays

A Michigan interlock must keep the vehicle from starting at a breath alcohol level of 0.025 or more, photograph the driver at each sample, and call for rolling retests while driving.^[18] A failed or missed retest does not shut the engine off mid-drive; the device warns the driver and makes the vehicle inoperable once it is no longer being operated.^[19] Asking someone else to blow into the device, blowing for someone, tampering with it, or driving without one are each misdemeanors punishable by up to 6 months and/or $5,000.^[20] More detail is in ignition interlock devices.

The driver pays for the device, with a no-cost device for people below 150 percent of the federal poverty line, who pay up to $2.00 a day in maintenance.^[21] The Secretary of State tells interlock users they are responsible for all violations, even if someone else was driving.^[22]

What ends the license early

The specialty court judge must immediately tell the Secretary of State if a participant is removed from the program, drives without an interlock, tampers with or removes it without approval, or is charged with a new OWI.^[23] The Secretary of State then summarily suspends or revokes the restricted license and reimposes the full section 319 suspension, with no restricted license, or the full section 303 revocation.^[5]

After completion, the license is still suspended or revoked in the same way if the person drives without the interlock, removes it without Secretary of State authorization, commits a "major violation," or is arrested for OWI, unless a hearing officer sets the action aside.^[24] It is also suspended for any new conviction that carries a license sanction, until that sanction runs, and for unpaid court fines or costs from driving, until they are paid.^[25]

Getting an unrestricted license

The restricted license lasts until a hearing officer in the Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight orders an unrestricted license.^[4][26] That order cannot come before the latest of these events:^[4]

• the court notifies the Secretary of State that the program was successfully completed;^[4]
• the minimum section 303 or 319 sanction that would otherwise have applied has run;^[4]
• the person shows at least 1 year of driving with the interlock;^[4]
• the person meets section 303 and the restoration rule, R 257.313.^[4]

At that hearing, successful completion and the judge's certificate, which includes a statement of at least 6 months' abstinence at completion, must be treated as positive evidence of abstinence during the program.^[27] But if the hearing officer finds any alcohol use while restricted, shown by breath, blood, urine or transdermal testing (unless a second test within 5 minutes showed none), or non-prescribed drug use, the unrestricted license is delayed at least 1 year.^[28] After completion, each "minor violation" pushes the decision back 3 months.^[24]

The hearing standard and evidence are covered in license restoration hearings and what a restoration hearing requires.

Two related benefits: the car and the jail term

A participant in good standing, or who completes the program, is exempt from vehicle immobilization and forfeiture that would otherwise apply, unless they later break a law carrying those sanctions.^[29] And for OWI 2nd within 7 years or OWI 3rd, a jail or prison term may be suspended only if the defendant agrees to participate in a specialty court program and successfully completes it.^[30] See vehicle immobilization and when jail is mandatory.