DWI in NY licensed in NJ

A NJ license holder, who is convicted in another state (in this case NY) of an offense that is substantially similar to to the NJ drunk driving statutes, will be subject to administrative action by the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC).

In essence, the MVC will impose an administrative suspension (in my experience the minimum term of 7 months for a first offender) for this type of offense under the NJ statute. The MVC typically relies upon the Interstate Driver License Compact as the authority to impose this suspension once NY notifies the MVC of the conviction.

As noted above, a critical component in determining whether the MVC will take this action is whether the statute under which the actual conviction in NY is entered is 'substantially similar' to the NJ statute. Respectfully, this is something an experienced criminal defense lawyer needs to examine, to see if there are grounds to contest the MVC suspension in NJ.

Lastly, the MVC will also impose an annual surcharge of $1,000.00 for three consecutive years as a part of their administrative action against the NJ driver.