If your license is suspended for any reason, you may petition the Court of your county of residence or the county of offense for an ODL. This document will allow you to drive for essential needs only despite your license suspension.
Obtaining ODLs and the rules that surround how they "work" can get complicated. The information below will only summarize what I consider the highlights that you need to know preliminarily. My office will help you with the details of your particular situation.
For most ODLs, the law allows a minimum of four hours up to a maximum of twelve hours in which to drive per day depending upon the essential need shown.
The courts in Dallas and Collin County prefer to use a driving schedule. If we will be filing your ODL petition in one of these counties, I will need an idea of your daily drive schedule. Be sure to include a list of the counties you need to drive in, plus a brief description of why (i.e., I live in Denton County and work in Dallas).
The court in Denton County prefers to use a logbook as opposed to a driving schedule. If this applies to you we will discuss that and I will provide the book that this particular court prefers. Also, if your petition for ODL must be heard in Denton, we will need to schedule a prove-up date.
Your ODL is only good on its own for 30 days. After that period of time, there is a brown ODL card that must accompany it. To receive this, you must mail an SR-37 to DPS. My office will provide this information to you as well.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST - remember this is an essential needs license only. Driving outside its parameters in ANY WAY could subject you to arrest for Driving While License Suspended, a class B misdemeanor.
My office will be available to you at all stages of this process to be sure all the proper steps have been taken to obtain the ODL and to be sure you use it properly once it is received.
