South Carolina Driver Charged with DWI / DUI in North Carolina

Suppose the state of South Carolina licenses you, and you blow a .08 or refuse to blow during a stop in North Carolina. You are then subsequently charged with a DWI.

In that case, the State of North Carolina can revoke your license for thirty days. It is a process known as civil revocation. There are ways of getting your license back or obtaining a paper license. All of these actions must be done quickly.

The NC Magistrate has no authority to take an out of state license. This often happens in locations the McGee Law Firm serves because New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick Counties are tourist destinations.

Some of my former clients were scheduled for a flight out of Wilmington International Airport. They needed a valid ID to board the plane. We assisted them in getting their license back.

If you do not rescind the 30-day civil revocation, the NC DMV may put a hold on your license and send SC the information that you have been civilly revoked for thirty days because of a DWI charge.

You will then be required to pay NC DMV a $50 fee to remove the hold from your license.

If you are convicted of a DUI/DWI in North Carolina, and you are a South Carolina licensee, South Carolina will suspend your license for the following terms:

a first offense refusal will be for six months suspension.

A first offense that is not a refusal will result in a thirty-day suspension. You are eligible for a provisional license if enrolled in ADSAP (alcohol classes) and an SR22 (insurance form).

If you are a South Carolina licensee and it is your second offense, you face a 1-year hard suspension.

A third offense is a 2-year hard suspension.

After three convictions in 3 years, you face a 5-year suspension.

These punishments fall well short of North Carolina’s penalties for DWI offenses and NC DMV suspensions for NC licensees.

South Carolina DMV charges a $100 reinstatement fee, and the cost for the ADSAP (alcohol classes) is $450. An ignition interlock device is required of all SC licensees for a DUI 2nd or subsequent conviction within 10 years whether in- or out- of state. Upon notice of conviction under the compact, South Carolina shall treat the DWI as if it had occurred in the home state.