Updated September 3, 2026
If the police report says you refused a chemical test, two things are true at once. The DMV will treat the refusal as its own offense and suspend your license for a year on a first arrest, longer with priors, and the court can add penalties on top of the DUI charge. At the same time, the prosecution usually has no blood alcohol number, which changes how the case has to be proven. Refusal cases are harder on the license and, in some ways, harder on the prosecution. Both halves matter.
Which test you are talking about
California has two different breath tests, and the word refusal only applies to one of them.
- Before arrest: the preliminary alcohol screening test. The handheld device at the roadside. For drivers 21 and over who are not on DUI probation, this test is voluntary, and Vehicle Code section 23612 requires the officer to say so. Declining it is not a refusal. The same is true of the field sobriety tests.
- After arrest: the chemical test. Under the implied consent law in Vehicle Code section 23612, anyone who drives in California has agreed to give a breath or blood sample after a lawful DUI arrest. You get to choose which, with some exceptions. Declining this test, or failing to complete it, is the refusal that carries the penalties below.
The line between the two is where most refusal cases are won or lost. The officer is required to read a specific admonition explaining that the post-arrest test is required and what refusing will cost. If that warning was not given, was given badly, or was given before the arrest, the DMV cannot sustain a refusal suspension.
What counts as refusing
A refusal does not require the word no. Silence, repeated requests to speak to a lawyer first, agreeing and then not blowing hard enough, asking for a different test after starting one, or delaying past the point where a sample is useful can all be recorded as a refusal. There is no right to consult an attorney before the chemical test. Being physically unable to complete a breath test because of injury or a medical condition is a different situation, and the officer is supposed to offer blood instead.
What the DMV does
Under Vehicle Code section 13353, a first refusal brings a one-year suspension. With one prior DUI, wet reckless, or refusal in the past 10 years, it is a two-year revocation; with two or more, three years. A refusal suspension generally cannot be converted to a restricted license the way a standard suspension can, which is what makes it so much heavier than the four-month suspension that follows a failed test.
You still have 10 days from the arrest to request a DMV hearing, and in a refusal case the hearing asks different questions: whether the officer had reasonable cause, whether you were lawfully arrested, whether you were told that refusing would suspend your license, and whether you actually refused. Each of those is an opening. The request process is in the 10-day DMV hearing guide.
What the court does
Vehicle Code section 23577 adds a refusal enhancement to a DUI conviction: on a first offense, an additional 48 hours in county jail, and the court can require the longer nine-month DUI program instead of the three-month one. A prosecutor can also tell the jury about the refusal and argue that it shows you knew you were impaired. That argument can be met, but it has to be planned for.
Why the prosecution's case looks different
A standard DUI is charged two ways: driving while impaired, and driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. Without a chemical result, the second count usually cannot be proven, and the case rests on the first: the driving pattern, the officer's observations, the field sobriety tests if you took them, and the video if there is any. Those are all subjective, and they are all subject to cross-examination. That is the sense in which a refusal case can be harder for the state.
The exception is a forced blood draw. After a refusal, officers can seek a warrant for blood, and in Los Angeles County they can often get one electronically within the hour. A warrant draw produces a number, and the refusal penalties still apply. If blood was taken, the warrant, the draw, and the lab handling all become issues in the case.
What to do now
- Request the DMV hearing within 10 days. In a refusal case the stay is what keeps you on the road for the months the case takes.
- Write down, while it is fresh, exactly what the officer said about the test and when, and whether you were told the roadside test was voluntary.
- Do not discuss the arrest with anyone but your attorney, and do not post about it.
- Have the report and any body camera footage reviewed before your arraignment, not after.
A refusal changes the shape of the case on both sides. A free consultation with a Long Beach DUI defense attorney can get the hearing requested and the admonition, the arrest, and any warrant examined while the deadline is still open.
This page is general information for Long Beach residents, not legal advice about any specific situation. Agency fees and procedures change; confirm details with the agency before you rely on them.
