ARIZONA DUI
Driver's License Issues
Implied Consent — Under the law, any person who operates a vehicle in the State gives consent to the State to test the driver's blood, breath or urine to determine BAC if a law enforcement officer has “reasonable grounds” to suspect DUI or that a person under age 21 has any amount of alcohol in his or her body.
This law is codified at A.R.S. 28-1321(A), which states:
A. A person who operates a motor vehicle in this state gives consent... to a test or tests of the person's blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance for the purpose of determining alcohol concentration or drug content if the person is arrested for any offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed in violation of this chapter or section 4-244, paragraph 33, while the person was driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs. The test or tests chosen by the law-enforcement agency shall be administered under the direction of a law-enforcement officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the person was driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle in this state, either:
1. While under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.
2. If the person is under 21 years of age, with spirituous liquor in the person's body.
A.R.S. 28-1321(B) sets forth the procedure for officers to request a test and explains the consequences for refusal. Generally, if the defendant refuses, he or she will lose driving privileges for one year. If the defendant refuses for a second or subsequent time within 60 months (five years), he or she will lose driving privileges for two years. The section text follows:
B. After an arrest, a violator shall be requested to submit to and successfully complete any test or tests prescribed by subsection A of this section, and, if the violator refuses, the violator shall be informed that the violator's license or permit to drive will be suspended or denied for 12 months, or for two years for a second or