6.15Operating Motor Vehicle While License Is Suspended or Revoked1
“An individual whose operator’s . . . license or registration certificate has been suspended or revoked, whose application for license has been denied, or who has never applied for a license, shall not operate a motor vehicle on a highway or other place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor vehicles, including an area designated for the parking of motor vehicles, within [Michigan].” MCL 257.904(1).
•M Crim JI 15.20 addresses the elements of driving while license is suspended or revoked.
MCL 257.904(3) provides for:
•First Violation:
•imprisonment for not more than 93 days; or
•fine of not more than $500; or
•both.
•Violation Occurring After Prior Conviction:
•imprisonment for not more than one year; or
•fine of not more than $1,000; or
•both.
“A prior conviction under [MCL 257.904] must be established at or before sentencing by 1 or more of the following:
(a) A copy of a judgment of conviction.
(b) An abstract of conviction.
(c) A transcript of a prior trial, plea, or sentencing.
(d) A copy of a court register of action.
(e) A copy of the defendant’s driving record.
(f) Information contained in a presentence report.
(g) An admission by the defendant.” MCL 257.904(9).
Only applicable sanctions are listed below; accordingly, if a particular sanction is omitted from this section, it is not applicable to this offense. The Offense Code Index for Traffic Violations published by the secretary of state and sourced from the Michigan Department of State Court Manual includes a table detailing traffic offenses and applicable sanctions. See Section 1.41 for more information on abstracting procedures.
•Four points (at-fault collision) or two points (any other moving violation). See MCL 257.320a(1)(l); MCL 257.320a(1)(u); MCL 257.732(1)(a). See Section 1.42 for more information on points.
•License suspension and/or revocation required, depending on the circumstances. See MCL 257.904(10)-(12). See Section 1.45 for more information on license suspension and Section 1.44 for more information on license revocation.
•Registration plate cancellation required.2 See MCL 257.904(3).
•Vehicle impoundment required. See MCL 257.904b(1).3 See Section 1.48 and Section 9.12(B) for more information on vehicle impoundment.
•Registration denial is required under certain circumstances. See MCL 257.219(1)(c)-(d). See Section 1.50 for more information on registration denial.
•Scope of MCL 257.904
MCL 257.904 “does not apply to an individual who operates a vehicle solely for the purpose of protecting human life or property if the life or property is endangered and summoning prompt aid is essential.” MCL 257.904(15).
“For purposes of [MCL 257.904], a person who never applied for a license includes a person who applied for a license, was denied, and never applied again.” MCL 257.904(19).
•Individuals With Expired License
“The plain language of [MCL 257.904(1)] applies to persons who never apply for a license or who obtain one but subsequently have the license suspended or revoked because of improper driving.” People v Acosta-Baustista, 296 Mich App 404, 408 (2012). “In the first instance, the person has never been adjudged fit to drive.” Id. “In the second instance, the person has specifically been adjudged unfit to drive.” Id. MCL 257.904(1) does not apply to “a person driving on a valid but recently expired license[.]” Acosta-Bautista, 296 Mich App at 409. “[A] person with a valid license who has simply let it lapse is a person adjudged fit to drive who has merely failed to keep up the related paperwork.” Id. at 408.
•Inference that Operator is the Registered Owner
A traffic stop conducted “after running a vehicle’s license plate and learning that the registered owner has a revoked driver’s license,” is reasonable “when the officer lacks information negating an inference that the owner is the driver of the vehicle[.]” Kansas v Glover, ___ US ___, ___ (2020). “The fact that the registered owner of a vehicle is not always the driver of the vehicle does not negate the reasonableness of [the officer’s] inference.” Id. at ___. However, “the presence of additional facts might dispel reasonable suspicion,” such as “if an officer knows that the registered owner of the vehicle is in his mid-sixties but observes that the driver is in her mid-twenties, then the totality of the circumstances would not raise a suspicion that the particular individual being stopped is engaged in wrongdoing.” Id. at ___ (quotation marks and citation omitted). In Glover, the officer “drew the commonsense inference that [defendant] was likely the driver of the vehicle, which provided more than reasonable suspicion to initiate the stop,” where he “knew that the registered owner of the truck had a revoked license and that the model of the truck matched the observed vehicle,” and he “possessed no exculpatory information[.]” Id. at ___, ___.
•Immigration Status
“[T]he plain language of [MCL 257.904] and [the Convention on the Regulation of Inter-American Automotive Traffic 1943] support a finding that the reasoning underlying MCL 257.904(1) . . . is not affected by the motor vehicle operator’s immigration status and will remain the same regardless of whether the motor vehicle operator is driving pursuant to a license from Michigan, a foreign country that is a signatory to the convention, or one of the other 49 states.” Acosta-Baustista, 296 Mich App at 411.
1 The felony offenses contemplated by MCL 257.904 are discussed in Chapter Chapter 8.
2 Upon a first violation of MCL 257.904(1) or MCL 257.904(2), “[u]nless the vehicle was stolen or used with the permission of a person who did not knowingly permit an unlicensed driver to operate the vehicle, the registration plates of the vehicle must be canceled by the secretary of state upon notification by a peace officer.” MCL 257.904(3)(a). For any violation of MCL 257.904(1) or MCL 257.904(2) that occurs after a prior conviction, the registration plates of the vehicle must be canceled unless the vehicle was stolen. MCL 257.904(3)(b).
3 Note that MCL 257.904b references subdivisions of MCL 257.904 that are not longer current. For further explanation, see Section 1.48.