A brand new feature on the Kansas Department of Revenue website allows Kansas drivers to check the status of their driver’s license online. The link is found at www.ksrevenue.org in the vehicles section. This may be especially handy now since the new law passed as of July 1, 2011, which allows people who have previously been suspended due to a Kansas DUI to obtain a restricted license after 45 days of suspension, has created a lot of confusion. Thousands of suspended Kansas drivers filed the paperwork with the Department of Revenue (available here), to get the license which allows them to drive for work purposes with an ignition interlock device. The Department of Revenue is taking a while to get back to people with an answer about whether they can have the restricted license or not. In fact, it has taken about 45 days for most people to hear back from the KDR. What they receive is a letter that says they can go get the ignition interlock device installed. The letter has a section for the ignition interlock provider to fill out and fax to the Kansas Department of Revenue. I don’t know what happens then. I imagine that the KDR will send another letter that tells the person that they can drive as long as they have an ignition interlock device. Anyway, this new feature may be helpful to people who don’t know exactly where they are in that process, or whether they are suspended, revoked, cancelled, restricted or valid after a Kansas DUI suspension due to an administrative action or Kansas DUI conviction.
Remember, you cannot get the restricted license after 45 days of suspension if you are suspended for any other reason. The KDR will cash your $100.00 check (required to obtain retroactive application of the new law to an old suspension) and then send you a letter denying your application for a license to drive with an ignition interlock device. So, if you are also suspended because of an old unpaid traffic ticket, not having insurance, as a Habitual Violator, or for any other reason, you have to clear that up BEFORE you apply for the restricted license or you will have to pay the application fee again.
Finally,drivers who received a Kansas DUI while driving here on an out-of-state license can also check to see whether Kansas has suspended them, restricted them or otherwise taken action against their driving privileges. When a person with a license from another state gets cited for a DUI in Kansas, the Kansas Department of Revenue generates a Kansas driver’s license number for that person. That license number can be found on correspondence from the Department of Revenue. The person can then check to see whether Kansas has suspended them from driving in Kansas.