Habitual Offender Certification

Are you or a loved one facing Habitual Offender Certification per statute RSA 262:19, V. and RSA 259:39? Did you default or miss a certification hearing and receive a four year license suspension? Did you pay a speeding ticket and all of the sudden you qualify to be certified? Attorney Kaelin Schultz is a former Administrative Law Judge who presided over Habitual Offender Certification hearings. She knows the system and is ready to go to work for you. Let us help you prepare your best case.

Don't delay, you may only have 15 days to reopen a defaulted hearing.

Did you just pay the ticket? You may only have a 30 day window to petition the Ciruit Court to remove a qualifying conviction from your motor vehicle record to avoid certification.

The Habitual Offender Certification Law has a mandatory minimum driver's license suspension of one year and a maximum of four years.

Learn more about the Habitual Offender Law

Source: statutes RSA 262:19, V., RSA 259:39 and administrative rules Saf-C 206 et seq.

FAQ

Do you qualify for a back dated certification (time served sentence) ?

Can't avoid certification? Under some circumstances the effective suspension date may be able to be back dated to the last qualifying conviction date. Depending on when that conviction date is, you may receive a time served sentence and be able to get decertified right away.

Are any of your convictions old enough to be annulled or expunged ?

There are different annulment statutes spread across the NH Revised Statutes. Let us help you navigate them to see if you might be able to remove a qualifying conviction an avoid certification. The process can be relatively straight forward, but you need to be careful, per statute RSA 651:5, IV. , if your petition for annulment is denied for any reason, you cannot petition again for three years.

Don't just pay the ticket!

When you pay a ticket, it becomes a convection on your motor vehicle record. For example, Operation After Suspension is considered a major qualifying conviction toward Habitual Offender. Even a minor Speed, Line Violation or Operating Without a Valid license cnviction may cause you to qualify to be certified as a Habitual Offender. Learn more about the Habitual Offender Law and what qualifies for certification.

Do you qualify to be decertified?

What are the steps to become decertified and restore your license after you afer certification?
You will need to request a Decertification Hearing and must be eligible to restore per statute RSA 262:24 and administrative rules Saf-C 206.06 and 206.07.

Eligibility requirements include, but are not limited to the following:

- Your suspension time for certification must be over.
- You cannot be under suspension for any other reason in New Hampshire or elsewhere.
- You cannot have any unpaid fines or defaults.
- You must not have driven in violation of the supsension order.

What is a catch 22?

Are you suspended in another state other than New Hampshire? Is the out of state DMV/ RMV telling you you have to clear up your NH suspension first? Is the NH DMV telling you you have to clear your out of state suspension first. This is a catch 22. You will likely need to request a Reciprocity hearing at the NH Department of Safety Bureau of Hearings per statute RSA 263:77 and administrative rules Saf-C 204.01 and 204.07. Attorney Kaelin Schultz a former NH Administrative Law Judge who presided over Reciprocity hearings dealing with this exact issue.