No suspension provided for under any of the provisions of this chapter shall be issued by the Office of Driver Services until the following provisions of this section have been complied with:
(1) The Office of Driver Services shall incorporate in its notice of security requirement or suspension a warning that the licensee has the right to a hearing if he or she desires a hearing prior to the suspension of his or her license;
(2) The only subject to be considered at this hearing shall be whether or not there is a reasonable possibility that a judgment could be rendered against the licensee in a lawsuit arising out of the accident;
(3) A hearing officer appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration shall schedule a hearing in an office of the Revenue Division of the Department of Finance and Administration designated by the secretary for the hearings. The hearing shall be in the office of the Revenue Division in the county of residence of the licensee unless the secretary and licensee agree to another location for the hearing or agree that the hearing shall be held by telephone conference call;
(4)
(A) The licensee may, if he or she wishes, submit his or her cause to the Office of Driver Services for determination upon the investigating officer's report, thereby waiving a formal hearing.
(B) The determination shall have all of the force and effect of a formal hearing;
(5) Any licensee desiring a hearing under the provisions of this section shall notify the Department of Finance and Administration in writing within twenty (20) days of receipt of the notice of security requirement or suspension. Hearings conducted under this section shall not be subject to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq.; and
(6)
(A) The licensee may request a hearing after the twenty-day period has passed.
(B) If the hearing is requested after the order of suspension has gone into effect, the request will not operate as a stay of the order of suspension which will remain in effect and be terminated only in the event a decision favorable to the licensee is rendered at the hearing.
Structure Arkansas Code