Legal Guide

How to get your license back in Grand Rapids, Michigan

In west Michigan, there is a lack of widespread public transportation and therefore people have to drive for their essential work. When you lose your license for any reason, you have to travel to recover your license.

If your license is suspended or revoked, you must contact Grand Rapids, Michigan Driver's License Restoration Lawyers for a free consultation to get back your license instead of ignoring the law and the Secretary of State and subjecting yourself to further criminal charges of driving with suspended licenses.

Restoring your Driver’s License

In Michigan, if your driver’s license got canceled or suspended due to any reason, you must consider certain things to do while trying to restore (getting it back) your license. According to Criminal Defense Lawyers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the most important thing to do is to get a copy of your driving record so that you can see that what information is mentioned on it.

If you may have a ticket or something else on your out-of-state driving record, you should review your record from that state. Unpaid tickets and out-of-state fines may affect your ability to obtain or renew your Michigan license.

Understanding and getting your Driving Record

You can obtain your complete driving record very easily from your local Secretary of State (SOS) office, or you can also order it online, fax, or by mail. You will have to pay $12 to receive it. Make sure that you have asked for a complete certified record because there are versions of records that are edited and if you got these edited versions of records, it would not help you. The complete entry will be numbered "42" in the second line of the upper left corner.

When you receive your complete record, carefully go through the whole document and below “End of Record History”. The information in this section shows all the current obstacles that need to be removed before your license can be restored. Information will include dates, locations, and specific violations. It can also include suspension dates. Disqualifications can be permanent or indefinite. There may be several definite and indefinite suspensions in your recording. You will need to review each of them to understand what you need to do to recover your license.

Definite Suspensions

Certain suspensions will indicate a specific period, including the date "from" and "to" in the driving record. After that period, you can go to your local SOS office and pay $ 125 to get your license restored.

Indefinite Suspensions

Perpetual suspensions do not expire. This means that these locks do not have a predetermined end date. Here are some common reasons why a driver can lose their license indefinitely:

  • Outstanding fines and tickets
  • Not paying child support
  • No evidence of car insurance
  • Drug or alcohol driving offenses
  • Didn’t appear in court for a misdemeanor hearing for a traffic violation
  • Failure to fulfill a judgment

If a person fails to appear in court for a misdemeanor hearing for a traffic violation will result in a judgment. Such incidences appear in the driver’s record as “FAC Suspension”. If you find anyone of them in your driving record, it means that there is probably an arrest warrant for you.

Not paying or ignoring your penalties that are a civil offense within the specified period will cause a default judgment. Failure to comply with this decision will result in the judge issuing a non-execution order. Such incidents appear in the driver’s record as “FCJ Suspension”. If you have any of these in your driving record, it means that you owe the court additional fees or fines.

There are many Michigan resources online that are helpful for individuals who have had their driver's license suspended or revoked.


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