What Is the Penalty If I Drive While My Operator’s License is Under Suspension As a Result Of a Connecticut DUI Incident?

If you license is under suspension, do NOT drive!

If you do, you could face a mandatory, minimum jail sentence of 30 days in jail (and it could be longer if this is not your first offense). This penalty applies whether your license has been suspended because of an Administratve Per Se suspension or because a conviction in Connecticut Superior Court for DUI. The only way to beat the charge is to attack the stop and claim it was in violation of your constitutional rights, which is difficult to do. Your only other alternative to avoiding the mandatory 30 days in jail would be to persuade the court that your case satisfies the criteria to avoid the mandatory, minimum jail sentence.

If your license has been suspended, you cannot legally drive at all (unless you get a work permit that allows you to travel ONLY to and from work). This prohibition against driving includes driving to the AEP classes. In most cases, you can delay the start of the AEP until you have your driver’s license restored.

Here is the applicable language from Connecticut General Statute Section 14-215 (c) (1): “Any person who operates any motor vehicle during the period such person’s operator’s license or right to operate a motor vehicle in this state is under suspension or revocation on account of a violation of subsection (a) of section 14-227a or section 53a-56b or 53a-60d or pursuant to section 14-227b, shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than one year, and, in the absence of any mitigating circumstances as determined by the court, thirty consecutive days of the sentence imposed may not be suspended or reduced in any manner.”

Also, be advised that the penalties for operating under suspension become even more severe if your license is under suspension for a second or third conviction of DUI in Connecticut. See Sections 14-215 (c) (2) and (3) respectively.