The driving while suspended (DWS) laws in Overland Park, Kansas are some of the toughest in the country and call for a jail sentence with every conviction, especially for repeat offenders or “habitual violators.”
Sentences also call for hundreds of dollars in fines, court costs, and fees. A first time DWS charge in Overland Park is a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 months in jail! A second time driving while suspended charge in Overland Park is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail and up to $2500 in fines!
Clearly, an Overland Park driving while suspended ticket is not a simple traffic matter, it is actually a misdemeanor criminal charge, the same level misdemeanor as a first time driving under the influence charge. Thus, it is important to contact an experienced Johnson County traffic attorney to help protect your rights.
Additionally, if you are convicted of driving while suspended/revoked (DWS/DWR) in Overland Park Municipal Court, the Kansas Department of Revenue will suspend your driver's license even longer – for a minimum of 90 days, with 3-year driver’s license suspensions being called for in some circumstances. If your driver's license is suspended, there are no "hardship" driver's licenses available in Kansas!
A driving while suspended/revoked (DWS) conviction in Overland Park or anywhere else in Johnson County or Kansas will also usually trigger an increase in your auto insurance costs. It is not uncommon for drivers to see their rates rise hundreds or thousand of dollars per year due to a single DWS conviction.
What happens if you didn’t even know your driver's license was suspended?
Drivers often call our Overland Park traffic law office after being arrested for driving while suspended in Overland Park and explain that "I didn't know my license was suspended.
Unfortunately, the law does not allow this to be a valid excuse in almost every case, securing an acquittal on such a defense is extremely rare.
Our Johnson County law firm's Overland Park driving while suspended/revoked (DWS) attorney may be able to keep a conviction off of your driving record
This traffic law firm has years of experience handling driving while suspended cases in Overland Park and throughout Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe, Leawood, Lenexa, and Mission driving while suspended tickets. We can help you avoid jail time and possibly keep the driving while suspended ticket/citation off of your driving record.
Possible solutions to Overland Park driving while suspended charges/tickets include amendments to non-moving violations such as "no DL on person" or diversion agreements which serve to "dismiss" the case if certain conditions are met. A driving while suspended amendment will also serve to prevent an additional driver's license suspension due to the violation/citation. These solutions are available only to certain drivers in certain circumstances.
In other instances, especially if the client has a number of prior driving while suspended convictions, we may be able to help driver's avoid the mandatory jail time called for by the Overland Park and Kansas driving while suspended laws or to serve the jail time while on house arrest.
No traffic attorney in Johnson County or Kansas can guarantee results, however this office promises to diligently pursue the interests of our clients and fight for their rights and interests. We represent Johnson County drivers on hundreds of tickets each year and have experience taking these cases to trial, negotiating advantageous plea deals with prosecutors, and setting up diversions or amendments to non-moving violations.
Overland Park, Kansas Habitual Violator
Kansas (and many other States, such as Missouri) have laws declaring a driver to be a "habitual violator" if the driver has a set numer of violations/convictions for certain offenses in a given period of time. A Habitual violator is defined in KSA 8-285 as a Kansas driver, whom within the immediately preceding five (5) years, has been convicted three or more times of any combination of the following:
- Vehicular homicide KSA 21-3405.
- DUI/DWI (driving under the influence) - including a DUI diversion agreement for an offence of KSA 8-1567.
- Driving while suspended or revoked in Overland Park, Olathe, Leawood, Lenexa, or elsewhere in Kansas (KSA 8-262, KSA 8-252a.
- Perjury in violation of KSA-261a.
- Violation of the fifth clause of (KSA 8-142), and amendments relating to fraudulent applications.
- Any crime punishable as a felony, if a vehicle was used in that crime.
- Failing to stop at the scene of an accident and perform duties required by (KSA 8-1602 - 1604).
- Violating the Vehicle Insurance provisions of (KSA 40-3104), relating to driving without insurance in Overland Park or elsewhere in Johnson County or elsewhere in Kansas.
-OR-
Whenever the files and records of the Kansas Department of Revenue's Driver Control division indicate that the record of conviction of a person is such that the person is a Habitual violator, as stated in KSA 8-285, the division will revoke the persons driving privileges for a three year period.