Requesting Limited Driving Privileges following a DWI in Wake County

If your license was revoked at the time of a DWI arrest, you can request limited driving privileges from the court. This article explains how to get limited driving privileges at the Wake County Courthouse, which is where you’d need to go if you were arrested in Apex, Cary, or Raleigh or other area of the county for a DWI.

Day Before You Get Your Limited Driving Privileges (Can be 9 days after your DWI arrest if your license was revoked for 30 days.)

Bring three packets of the following:

1. Limited Driving Privileges petition filled out
   
2. Seven-year Driving Record
   
3. DL-123 form from your insurance company
   
4. Substance Abuse Assessment from a treatment center
   
5. Any letter from an employer requesting additional hours.

Go into the clerk’s office in the Wake County Courthouse to the right of the metal detectors today and file them. The clerk will take two copies, and give you one copy.

Next court day at 11:00 am (10 days after your DWI arrest if your license was revoked for 30 days)

Bring three copies of the proposed Order – AOC CVR Form 10 – and $100 cash. Fill it out the order with your personal information before going into the courtroom, and the judge will fill out the appropriate privileges. Approach the DA and let him know you want to talk to the judge about requesting limited driving privileges and that you filed petition yesterday.

The judge will have you approach and may ask you some questions, but will probably grant you the privileges if you have the proper paper work. Have the judge sign all three copies of the Order.

The judge will hand the order to a clerk sitting next to the judge, who will then fill out additional information and have you sign each copy.

You’ll be told to pay the cashier who is behind a glass window outside of Courtroom 1A the $100 and return with a receipt indicating that you’ve paid. Then you will get a stamped copy of the order, which will allow you to drive pursuant to its terms.

The Order is valid for the next 20 days, and you must keep that with you while you drive.

Thirty days after your revocation (if your license was revoked for 30 days)

If you don’t have an attorney do this for you, be sure to bring $100 cash. Go to the Clerk’s office to the right of the metal detectors in the Wake County Courthouse. Explain you want your license back because thirty days have passed since its civil revocation. The clerk will find your file, and walk it over to a cashier in Room 119. You’ll pay your cash, get a receipt and your license back.