What Is a Restriction on Your Driver’s License in Arizona?

A restricted driver’s license in Arizona lets you keep driving after a suspension or conviction, but only for a fixed list of purposes spelled out in state law. Under ARS 28-144, that list covers nine specific trips like commuting to work, getting to school, attending medical appointments, and meeting with a probation officer.¹ Driving for any other reason is a class 2 misdemeanor.²

The Nine Places You Can Drive

ARS 28-144 lists every purpose a restricted license permits. If your trip does not fit one of these, you cannot legally make it:¹

Between home and work, during scheduled work hours.
Between home or work and school, following your class or work schedule.
Between home, work, or school and the office of a licensed health professional.
Between home, work, or school and a screening, education, or treatment facility for a scheduled appointment.
Between home, work, or school and a probation officer’s office, or any appointment required by the state or a local government.
Between home, work, or school and a certified ignition interlock service facility.
Between home and a designated parenting-time location.
Trips to take a dependent between either home and the dependent’s job, school, or medical appointment.
Between home and court-ordered screening, education, or treatment for a scheduled appointment.

The dependent-transport line is one people miss. If you are the only driver in the household, the statute lets you take a child or other dependent to school or a doctor without breaking your restriction.

The Direct Trip Rule

Every purpose in the list describes travel between two specific places. That framing is doing real work: it means the drive itself has to be direct. Stopping at the grocery store on the way home from work is not on the list, and an officer or prosecutor can treat a side trip as a violation. Plan your errands around the trips you are already allowed to make, and combine them only when the destination itself qualifies.

How To Get a Restricted License After a DUI

You are not placed on a restricted license automatically after a DUI. You have to apply, and you have to serve the mandatory suspension first. For a standard first-offense DUI where no one was seriously injured and you have no prior DUI convictions in the past 84 months, that means at least 30 consecutive days of full suspension before restricted driving can begin, followed by at least 60 additional days on the restriction.³

The application has to be made in person at an MVD office. A DUI restricted permit cannot be processed through an authorized third-party provider.⁴

The Ignition Interlock Option

Arizona offers a special ignition interlock restricted license as an alternative path. To qualify, you must:⁴

Complete at least 90 days of your suspension.
Have no other pending actions on your driving record.
Install a certified ignition interlock device on your vehicle and provide proof of installation.
Complete any required alcohol or drug treatment programs.
File proof of future financial responsibility, typically an SR-22 certificate.
Pay all applicable fees.

Requesting the special ignition interlock license carries a tradeoff. By applying, you agree to the administrative action against your license and waive your right to contest it at an administrative hearing.³ Trips to service the interlock are already covered as one of the nine permitted purposes, so keeping the device calibrated will not put you in violation.

What Happens If You Drive Somewhere Else

Driving in violation of any license restriction is a class 2 misdemeanor.² That carries up to four months in jail and a fine of up to $750, and it goes on your record as a criminal conviction rather than a traffic ticket. Running an errand, visiting a friend, or making any trip outside the nine purposes can trigger it.

Two narrow exceptions drop the charge to a civil traffic violation: violating a corrective-lenses requirement, and violating a restriction imposed under ARS 28-3308.²

The consequences get worse if your restricted license has been revoked and you continue driving. Driving on a suspended, revoked, or canceled license is a class 1 misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in jail.⁵

Who This Doesn’t Cover

The nine-purpose framework in ARS 28-144 does not apply to holders of an Arizona commercial driver license. The statute explicitly excludes CDL holders from its scope.¹ That does not mean CDL holders escape DUI consequences. A blood-alcohol level of 0.04 percent or higher in a commercial vehicle, or 0.08 percent or higher in a personal vehicle, brings a one-year disqualification from commercial driving, and a court conviction can add another year.⁶

The restrictions on a Class G graduated license for drivers under 18 are also separate. Those apply automatically to every new teen driver for six months and cover nighttime hours, passenger limits, and wireless device use, rather than the conviction-based purposes listed above.⁷ If a teen license is what brought you here, the rules and penalties are different from anything in this article.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-144 – Driver License or Permit Restrictions
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-3480 – Operation in Violation of Restriction; Classification; Civil Traffic Violation
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-1385 – Administrative License Suspension for Driving Under the Influence
4
Arizona Department of Transportation. Restricted Driver Permits
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-3473 – Driving on a Suspended, Revoked or Canceled License
6
Arizona Department of Transportation. Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-3174 – Class G Driver Licenses; Restrictions; Civil Penalties; Motorcycles