Gross Misdemeanor DWI in Minnesota: License Plate Impoundment Issues

Posted on September 3, 2009 by Jason C. Brown

The Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety maintains the right to impound license plates if a driver is involved with a gross misdemeanor offense. These offenses involve a drunk driver with:

  • An alcohol concentration of .20 or more;
  • Having a child under age 16 present in the vehicle at the time of the DWI; or
  • Occurring while the person's license has been canceled for the person being inimical to public safety.

Plate impoundment applies to the following automobiles:

  • The vehicle used in the plate impoundment violation; and
  • Any vehicle owned, registered, or leased in the name of the violator, whether alone or jointly.

The arresting officer will typically issue a plate impoundment order at the time of arrest. The impoundment is effective immediately. The officer will then seize the plates and issues a temporary permit valid for one week. The violator is also subject to a number of restrictions when buying or selling a vehicle during the impoundment period.

The minimum amount of time that plates may be impounded is one year. During this time, the violator may not drive a car unless the vehicle has specially coded plates and they have been re-licensed to drive. These specially coded license plates, sometimes referred to as "whiskey plates" will have a "WX" contained within the plate code. These are issued if:

  • The violator has a properly licensed substitute driver;
  • A member of the violator's household is validly licensed;
  • The violator has been validly re-licensed; or
  • The owner is not the violator and is validly licensed.

It is illegal for a driver whose plates have been impounded to attempt to avoid the plate impoundment law, or for another individual to enable such evasion.

Have you been arrested for a gross misdemeanor DWI? Let us answer your questions. The sooner you involve an experienced lawyer, the better able we will be to gather evidence and address other important issues in your case. Call our Minnesota DWI lawyers now at (612) 789-2100 for a free consultation or submit an inquiry through our online consultation form.

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