AB 1874 adds Vehicle Code Section 13107 to require that any driver’s license suspension or revocation imposed by a court as part of a criminal sentence not start until the person has been released from custody (using the Penal Code 4901 definition of release). The bill also bars courts from ordering those license penalties to run at the same time a person is serving a jail, prison, or other custodial term and preserves the Department of Motor Vehicles’ independent administrative actions.
This change makes court-ordered license penalties calendar-based rather than effectively served while someone is detained. For defendants, defense counsel, courts, and the DMV, that alters how long suspensions will practically restrict driving after someone leaves custody and shifts enforcement, recordkeeping, and reinstatement work into the post-release period.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill adds a Vehicle Code provision directing courts to start any suspension or revocation imposed as part of a criminal sentence only after the convicted person is released from custody, and it prohibits those periods from running concurrently with incarceration. It explicitly leaves intact DMV administrative suspension powers.
Who It Affects
People receiving license suspensions or revocations as part of criminal sentences, trial and appellate courts that issue sentencing orders, defense attorneys negotiating pleas, and the DMV, which handles license records and reinstatement. County jails and state prisons are affected indirectly because the timing of sanctions shifts to post-custody.
Why It Matters
By preventing suspensions from being ‘served’ while someone is jailed, the bill increases the effective duration of court-ordered driving penalties and moves the burden of compliance and enforcement into the reentry period. That matters for employment, transportation access, and how courts craft sentences and plea offers.
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What This Bill Actually Does
AB 1874 creates a new rule for penalties that courts impose on driving privileges as part of criminal sentences. If a judge orders a suspension or revocation, the clock does not start while the defendant remains in custody; instead, the period begins when the person is released, using the release definition in Penal Code section 4901.
The bill’s text reaches only court-ordered suspensions and revocations; it does not change any administrative or DMV-initiated suspensions.
The bill also contains a flat prohibition on courts directing those license penalties to run concurrently with jail, prison, or other custodial time. In practice, that prevents a judge from saying a 12-month suspension is satisfied by a concurrent six-month jail term.
Because the start date is tied to release, suspension timelines will often extend beyond the criminal sentence’s custodial phase and into the supervised or free period after release.Although the DMV retains its independent authority to take administrative action, the bill shifts the moment when courts’ penalties affect daily life. That creates more post-release regulatory and compliance work: courts must ensure sentencing documents track release dates; the DMV and counties must adjust their procedures for recording and enforcing start dates; and individuals will face longer spans during which they cannot legally drive, which may complicate employment and reentry.The statute’s reach is limited to court-imposed license penalties defined by existing Vehicle Code sections for suspension and revocation.
It does not change the underlying criminal convictions that trigger those penalties, nor does it alter fee or reinstatement requirements imposed by DMV regulations. Implementation will therefore be an operational task across the judicial system, correctional facilities, and DMV systems rather than a change to substantive offenses that carry license sanctions.
The Five Things You Need to Know
AB 1874 adds Section 13107 to the Vehicle Code and applies only to suspensions and revocations imposed by a court as part of a criminal sentence.
Under the bill, a court-ordered suspension or revocation begins only once the person is released from custody as defined in Penal Code section 4901.
The bill forbids courts from ordering the period of suspension or revocation to run concurrently with any incarceration in county jail, state prison, or other custodial facility.
The statute contains a nonretrogression clause for administrative actions: it does not alter or delay Department of Motor Vehicles actions, including those under Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Division 6 (commencing with Section 13350).
The operative language is prefaced by 'notwithstanding any other provision of law,' signaling that the rule overrides conflicting statutes or local practices regarding the timing of court-ordered license penalties.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Start date tied to release from custody
This paragraph directs that court-imposed suspensions and revocations start on the date the person is released from custody, referencing Penal Code section 4901 for the release definition. Practically, courts must identify or obtain the release date to compute the penalty period, which shifts licensing consequences out of detention and into post-release supervision or community life.
No concurrent running with incarceration
Subsection (b) prohibits courts from making a license suspension or revocation run at the same time as any custodial term. That removes a common practice of crediting jail time against license penalties and ensures the court-ordered ban on driving produces separate, sequential punishment to the incarceration term.
Preserves DMV administrative authority
This clause makes clear the change applies only to court-imposed sanctions and does not interfere with the Department of Motor Vehicles’ independent administrative processes, such as DUI-related administrative license actions under Section 13350. The DMV will continue to act under its statutory authority regardless of the court’s timing rules.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- People serving custodial sentences: They avoid having court-ordered license suspensions elapse while jailed and will face those restrictions when they are back in the community, preserving the penalty’s intended impact on driving behavior.
- Defense attorneys and public defenders: The timing rule can be used in plea negotiations to seek reductions or alternative sanctions that do not extend post-release restrictions, affecting bargaining leverage and mitigation strategies.
- Victims and traffic safety advocates seeking effective driving sanctions: Because suspensions apply when people return to the community, these stakeholders get a period during which driving privileges are actually curtailed and potentially enforceable.
- Reentry service providers: Clearer alignment of penalties with the community reentry period allows service organizations to plan transportation support or compliance assistance for clients who will face post-release license restrictions.
Who Bears the Cost
- Courts and county clerks: They must track custody release dates and issue sentencing orders that tie license penalty start dates to those events, adding administrative steps and potential for errors or follow-up hearings.
- Department of Motor Vehicles: DMV systems and staff will see increased workload for recording nonconcurrent start dates, processing reinstatements that begin post-release, and resolving conflicts between administrative and court records.
- People attempting to regain lawful driving status: Individuals may face longer effective suspension periods that interfere with employment and family obligations after release, increasing economic and logistical burdens during reentry.
- Prosecutors and local governments: The change may complicate plea offers that previously relied on concurrent sanctions and could increase supervision or enforcement needs after release, shifting costs to probation and local agencies.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between preserving the deterrent and public-safety value of a license suspension by making it effective when someone returns to the community, and avoiding policies that extend barriers to employment and mobility during a vulnerable reentry period; the bill favors meaningful calendar penalties but raises practical and fairness concerns about post-release hardship and administrative complexity.
The bill resolves a single timing issue but leaves several practical questions unanswered. It does not create a mechanism for courts to obtain or verify release dates automatically; absent integrated data sharing, judges and clerks will rely on correctional facilities to provide release information, which invites administrative lag and inconsistent recordkeeping.
Multiple overlapping suspensions from separate convictions create stacking risks: the statute does not address whether overlapping or consecutive court-ordered suspensions combine, or how to prioritize start dates when several sentences produce different release timelines.
Another unresolved implementation challenge is the interaction with pretrial custody and credit-for-time-served calculations. If a defendant spent significant time in custody before conviction, counsel may argue that a period of incarceration should reduce the court-ordered suspension even though the statute forbids running the suspension during custody.
The bill’s narrow carve-out preserving DMV administrative actions also creates potential timing conflicts on enforcement: a person could face an administrative suspension effective immediately and a court suspension that starts after release, creating simultaneous but distinct pathways to license deprivation that require coordination to avoid double penalties or confusion over reinstatement procedures.
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