Pennsylvania record
Pennsylvania DUI license suspension and appeal deadline
- What the state calls it
- DUI at 0.08 BAC or above for most adult drivers
- Administrative action
- No pre conviction suspension for a failed test. Pennsylvania suspends before conviction only for a chemical test refusal, under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(b). A suspension based on a test result comes only after conviction, under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3804(e). Either one is challenged by a statutory appeal to the Court of Common Pleas.
- Deadline to contest
- No standard pre conviction hearing deadline of this kind. See the notes below.
- What starts the clock
- PennDOT's driver's manual states that an appeal "must be filed within 30 days of the mailing date of the Department's notice." The clock runs from the mailing date of PennDOT's notice, not from the arrest and not from the suspension's effective date.
- Agency
- PennDOT, Bureau of Driver Licensing, imposes the suspension by mailed notice. The challenge is a statutory appeal filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Civil Division, in your county of residence under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1550.
- How to request
- File a statutory appeal, a petition, in the Court of Common Pleas Civil Division in your county of residence, within 30 days of the mailing date on PennDOT's notice. For most suspensions the filing operates as a supersedeas, so the suspension is held off while the appeal is pending. There is no PennDOT hearing form and no agency hearing fee. County court filing fees apply.
- If the deadline passes
- The suspension takes effect on the date stated in PennDOT's notice, and the automatic supersedeas that comes with a timely appeal is lost. Restoration then requires serving the suspension and satisfying all restoration requirements. PennDOT lists chemical test refusal restoration fees of 615 dollars for a first offense, 1,233 dollars for a second, and 2,464 dollars for a third or later.
- If the test was refused
- This is the whole difference in Pennsylvania. Only a refusal produces a suspension independent of the criminal case: 12 months under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(b)(1), or 18 months in the aggravated situations listed, and PennDOT applies it even if you are found not guilty of the DUI. If you took the test and failed, PennDOT does not suspend at that point. Any suspension follows a conviction, and at the general impairment tier a first offense carries no suspension at all.
- Statute
- 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1550, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3804
What this means after an arrest in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania does not follow the usual pattern of an immediate administrative suspension you contest on a short clock. The record above describes what does happen, and the sources below are where that comes from.
What is different about Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is the state where the usual advice is simply wrong. There is no roadside administrative suspension for a failed test, no confiscated license, no temporary permit, and no agency hearing. A driver who fails a test and is arrested keeps driving. PennDOT acts only if it later receives a certified record of conviction, and at the general impairment tier a first offense carries no suspension at all. The one pre conviction suspension is for refusing the test, and it stands even if you are acquitted. Every suspension here is contested the same way, by appealing to the Court of Common Pleas within 30 days of the mailing date on the notice. So the practical clock in Pennsylvania starts with a letter in the mail rather than with an arrest.
What to do first
- Find the paperwork you were given at the roadside and check the date printed on it.
- Speak to a Pennsylvania defense attorney about how the license consequences apply to your case.
- Keep a copy of everything you send, with the date you sent it.
- Read what to do after a DUI arrest for the wider picture, including the criminal case.
Sources
- 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547 — Chemical testing to determine amount of alcohol or controlled substance — Pennsylvania General Assembly (accessed 2026-08-20)
- 75 Pa.C.S. § 1550 — Judicial review — Pennsylvania General Assembly (accessed 2026-08-20)
- 75 Pa.C.S. § 3804 — Penalties — Pennsylvania General Assembly (accessed 2026-08-20)
- PA Driver's Manual, Chapter 4 — sanctions and appeals — Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (accessed 2026-08-20)
Change history
- 2026-08-20 — Record created from 75 Pa.C.S. §§ 1547, 1550, 3804 and PennDOT driver's manual. (casey-meraz)