Picture it – a driver is arrested for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) or Driving on a Suspended License (DWLS) and this is not their first offense – one of the common questions among law enforcement is: Do I take the plate and give them a paper plate? This has been the question ever since the Repeat Offender Law went into effect in 1999. While there is an easy way to get an answer, how it gets there can be confusing. The easy way is to run a “35;1;” on a person’s driving record through LEIN. Or another way to say it, the officer should request a driving status. The printout will then say if the person has any prior “alcohol violations,” or any prior “mandatory additional suspensions.” Those two terms are key when trying to determine if a plate should be seized.

MCL 257.904c is the section of the law that tells an officer to seize a plate and then put a paper plate on the vehicle. It states that when an officer believes that the vehicle is required to be immobilized by the courts, then the plate should be seized and a paper plate attached. Immobilization by the courts is determined by MCL 257.904d.

It is fairly clear to everyone that if there is a prior conviction for OWI or Impaired Driving and the person is being arrested for a second or subsequent offense OWI, then the plate should be seized. Very few people have a problem with this concept. An officer looks at the driving record, sees an OWI conviction prior to this OWI arrest, then the plate is seized – it is one or more OWI convictions.

However, when the person is arrested for DWLS or another traffic violation, (For a complete list of offenses see MCL 257.904d(7).) an officer should not look at the DWLS convictions. A common warrant request by an officer to the prosecutor’s office is DWLS 3rd because the officer believes that the person arrested is a repeat offender and has to be charged as a 3rd offender. There is no such charge as DWLS 3rd. Again, it is the mandatory additional suspensions that are important, not the number of DWLS convictions.

In this situation, the officer should first ask if the driver is currently suspended. If yes, then the officer needs to look for the mandatory additional suspensions. It is the mandatory additional suspensions that determine if a person’s plate should be seized. Those are suspensions that are issued by the Secretary of State’s Office in certain situations (pursuant to MCL 257.904(10), (11), or (12)), and it requires a careful examination of the driving record to determine if a person has at least two prior mandatory additional suspensions. This is why it is important to run “35;1;” when checking on a driving record. It makes an officer’s job easier to determine if a plate should be seized.

A couple other comments on this area, an officer should not seize rental, tribal, trailer, manufacturer, dealer, US government, nor out-of-state plates in these situations. If it is a leased vehicle, then the plate should be seized. Also, the paper plate remains on the car until the case is adjudicated. This is regardless of who owns the vehicle, and regardless if the person knew or didn’t know that the driver was a repeat offender. If the owner was not the repeat offender then that person will have to appear in court and state he or she did not knowingly allow the repeat offender to operate that car. It is up to the court to determine if the vehicle should be immobilized.