Reinstating a License When Proof of DUI Class Completion Is Lost

Attorney Answer

Probably yes, unless you can produce proof you finished. California conditions getting the privilege back on completion of the program, and the DMV's missing record does not take that condition away.

Cal. Veh. Code § 13352 governs suspension and revocation of the driving privilege on a DUI conviction and conditions restoration of that privilege on the offender completing the court-ordered, licensed driving-under-the-influence program. There is no provision in the Vehicle Code that shifts the loss of a completion record onto the department, or that excuses re-completion because an agency's file is missing. As a practical matter, the burden of producing proof is yours — which is unfair after twenty-five years, and is still how it works.

The good news is that the certificate is usually not the only record. Completion is commonly reflected in the sentencing court's own file, because proof of compliance was filed there or noted in a minute order, and licensed programs are overseen by a county administrator that may hold records after a provider closes. Before you re-enroll, exhaust those sources.

What you can do

1. Request the sentencing court's file for the old case — the docket and all minute orders. Ask the clerk specifically about archived or microfilmed records; twenty-five-year-old files are often offsite but not gone. 2. Contact the licensed program provider directly. If it has closed, contact the county's alcohol and drug program administrator for the county where you took the class and ask who holds the closed provider's records. 3. Ask the DMV Driver Safety office, in writing, exactly what documentation it will accept as proof of completion, and keep the written answer. 4. Check your own papers, and anyone else's who kept them for you — the certificate, receipts, cancelled checks, or an enrollment letter can all help build the showing. 5. Ask the DMV, in the same written request, whether anything else stands between you and reinstatement given how long the licence has been out of force, such as re-application, testing, or fees. 6. If the records genuinely no longer exist anywhere, weigh re-enrolling against continuing without a licence, and consider having a lawyer handle a DMV administrative review for you.