What Are the Penalties for Refusing a Field Test in New Lexington?

Refusing the roadside field sobriety tests in Ohio carries no automatic license penalty because those physical tests are voluntary. Refusing the post-arrest chemical test of your breath, blood, or urine when suspected of operating a vehicle impaired (OVI) is a different story, and it triggers an automatic one-year license suspension for a first refusal. The two choices carry very different consequences.

What Happens If You Refuse Roadside Field Tests?

Not much where your license is concerned. However, an officer can still arrest you based on other observations, like the smell of alcohol, slurred speech, or an admission. Declining the roadside tests keeps you from adding weak evidence to the state’s file, though it will not end the stop on its own.

What Are The Penalties For Refusing A Chemical Test?

The rules change once an officer arrests you and asks you to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test at the station. Ohio’s implied consent law treats driving on state roads as an advance agreement to submit to a chemical test, so saying no results in an immediate Administrative License Suspension handled by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

For refusing a post-arrest chemical test, Ohio sets these baseline suspensions:

• A first refusal brings a one-year license suspension, with a mandatory waiting period before any limited driving privileges can be requested.
• A refusal paired with one prior refusal or an operating-a-vehicle-impaired conviction in the past 10 years brings a two-year suspension.
• Repeat refusals push the suspension longer still, up to five years in the most serious cases.
• A reinstatement fee comes due before you can drive legally again once the suspension ends.

The one-year starting point and the rest of these penalties come from Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.191, which ties the length of each suspension to your prior record. The suspension lands even if you are never convicted of the underlying charge, because it is a civil action separate from the criminal case. This detail catches many first-time drivers off guard.

How Can Refusing A Test Affect Your Case?

A refusal does more than cost you a license. It can ripple into the criminal case and your daily life in ways our OVI defense attorneys see often. Refusing a chemical test can affect your situation in several ways:

• Prosecutors can tell the jury you refused and argue the refusal shows you knew you were impaired.
• The state can still pursue the impaired-driving charge without a blood-alcohol number, leaning on the officer’s observations.
• A prior refusal can raise the penalties if you are stopped again inside the look-back period.
• Losing your license for a year can disrupt work, childcare, and medical appointments.
• Getting limited driving privileges often requires steps like proof of insurance and, in some cases, an ignition interlock device.

Weighing all of this in the heat of a traffic stop is nearly impossible, which is why the choice trips up so many people. A close review after the fact can still turn up ways to challenge both the stop and the suspension.

Fight The Suspension And The Charge Together

The Law Offices of Saia, Marrocco & Jensen Inc defends drivers in New Lexington, Perry County, and throughout Ohio, pairing nationally recognized advocacy with more than 100 years of collective experience and free consultations. Our attorneys are available 24 hours a day to review the stop, the arrest, and the paperwork, so call (614) 444-3036 or reach out online before the appeal deadline passes.