Iowa’s OWI, operating while intoxicated, law makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle in any of the following conditions.

• While under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or other drug or a combination of such substances.
• While having an alcohol concentration of .08 or more.
• While having any amount of a controlled substance in the body.

In order for you to be convicted of the charge, the State of Iowa must prove all elements of the offense  beyond a reasonable doubt.

At trial, the State of must prove that you were operating a motor vehicle and one of the following:

• You did so while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• While having an alcohol concentration of .08 or greater.

Iowa’s implied consent law means that any person who operates a motor vehicle in the state agrees to have a blood, breath and/or urine test performed to determine alcohol level or presence of drugs, whenever a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person is operating under the influence. Before a test of samples of the blood, breath, or urine of an OWI suspect can be had, the officer must have reasonable grounds to believe that the person was operating while intoxicated. The officer must make a written request, and any one of the following conditions must exist:

• the person was placed under lawful arrest for OWI;
• the person was involved in a motor vehicle accident or collision resulting in personal injury or death;
• the person refused to take a preliminary breath test;
• a preliminary breath test was taken and the results indicate a BAC above .08 or between .02 and .08 if under the age of 21 or above .04 if commercial driver (CDL);
• a preliminary breath test was administered and it indicated a BAC result under the legal limit, and the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person was under the influence of a controlled substance, a drug other than alcohol or a combination of alcohol and another drug.

If any one of these conditions were met, the officer can request a test.

By driving a motor vehicle in Iowa, you agree to give the test. If you refuse to provide the test, you will be punished more severely than you would if you consented and the tests reflected that you were under the influence.

Should you take the test? It’s best that once you are taken into custody and delivered to the station that you call an OWI lawyer. You need advice. Whether you should blow or not, depends on the circumstances you are dealing with. Was there an accident? Did someone get hurt?

If you wish to contest the revocation of your license, this is started as an administrative proceeding. A hearing with the department of motor vehicles may be requested to contest the revocation of a driver’s license for a chemical test refusal or failure. The request for a hearing must be made within 10 days following the date of receipt of the notice of revocation. Once requested, the department must hold a hearing within 45 days of the request in the county where the alleged events occurred. The hearing may be by telephone conference call.

At the administrative hearing, the only issues are: whether the police had reasonable grounds to believe that the person was operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and

• whether the person refused to submit to the test or tests, or
• whether a test was administered and the results indicated a prohibited BAC level, or
• whether a test was administered and the test results indicated the presence of alcohol, a controlled substance or other drug, or a combination of alcohol and another drug.

After the hearing, the DMV will order the revocation to be rescinded (voided) or sustained (confirmed as valid). If the revocation is sustained, you may file a request for review within 10 days. The director or the director’s designee shall review the decision within thirty days and will either rescind or sustain the revocation or order a new hearing. If the director orders a new hearing, it must take place within 20 of the director’s order.

If you can show that new material evidence exists and there were valid reasons the evidence was not presented at the first hearing, the department will stay the revocation until a new hearing can be held. Your license revocation will be rescinded if the DMV fails to comply with the time limitations under which a hearing must be held. Furthermore, if the trial court finds in your case that the peace officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that an OWI violation occurred to support a request for or to administer a chemical test or that the chemical test was otherwise inadmissible or invalid, the license revocation will be rescinded and your full driving privileges will be reinstated.