Can You Hold Two Driver's Licenses Simultaneously

[arj_n]

My question involves a driver's license issued by the States of: California and Florida

I got my permit at 15 and my license at 16 in Florida, where my family lives. After being at college in Los Angeles for a couple of years I finally went and took the written test and got a California license (and have since successfully applied for an address change on that license). When I received my temporary license at the DMV they returned my Florida license to me with a hole in it, so I thought the Florida license would be taken care of by the DMV. I put the hole-punched license away with my archived files and forgot about it.

I was recently back home in Florida, and I was pulled over for a non-moving violation (blocking an intersection). I gave the cop my California license and the car's registration. When he returned, he said that my Florida license is still valid, and since that address matches up with the car registration he decided to issue the ticket to that license. That's all he said.

I'm very confused. I checked on the Florida DMV website and it also says my Florida license is valid. I know it's illegal to hold licenses in two states, so now I'm confused as to what to do. My California license is definitely real and valid, and my Florida license definitely has a hole in it, punched at the California DMV, but Florida thinks it's valid. What should I do?

[That Guy]

I'm not sure what the purpose of your question is. Are you wondering whether that citation should have been issued to your California DL instead of your FL DL? And if that is the case, what difference does it really make? You say it is a non-moving violation so the assumption can be made that it will not affect your driving record either way.

Alternatively, are you wondering whether you can be found in violation for having two driver's licenses at the same time? If that is the case then as long as your FL DL remains to be "punched" then you should be OK. Here is the CA statute regarding "more than one DL"...

California Vehicle Code Section 12511. No person shall have in his or her possession or otherwise under his or her control more than one driver's license.

I would venture a guess that FL's statute has a similar restriction in that it prohibits "possessing" more than one DL.

I was recently back home in Florida

Let me just add that if you have "moved" back to FL and are no longer residing in CA, you should change you vehicle registration as well as your DL back to FL... a simple "change of address" with the CA DMV will not suffice.

[arj_n]

Thanks! Yeah I was wondering if I could run into any problems because both states consider my driver's license to be valid, after talking to a couple of other informed people as well I'm a little less concerned.

I'm also wondering if the citation is invalid/more fightable since I officially took up a CA license, provided my CA license to the officer, and yet he gave me a ticket on my old license simply because that license's address matched up with the vehicle registration (it's my parent's vehicle, and my old license was at their address as well).

The change of address was within CA, I'm just visiting FL for the holidays :P Thanks for your help!

[That Guy]

Thanks! Yeah I was wondering if I could run into any problems because both states consider my driver's license to be valid, after talking to a couple of other informed people as well I'm a little less concerned.

I don't know if this analogy is in fact correct, but here is how I understand it... You do not have a "valid driver's license from two states". Your FL license was invalidated (with a hole punched through it) by the CA DMV when you applied for your CA DL. Its not like you can hand someone your FL DL and assume it will be accepted as valid... It won't!

Now, if you were to walk into the the FL DMV, request a replacement FL DL, and carry both, then, YES, you would be in violation of (at least) CVC 12511 (which I cited above). The language in that CVC section makes it clear that you would have to be "in possession of" a second DL or have a second DL "under your control". Neither of which applies here.

I'm also wondering if the citation is invalid/more fightable since I officially took up a CA license, provided my CA license to the officer, and yet he gave me a ticket on my old license simply because that license's address matched up with the vehicle registration (it's my parent's vehicle, and my old license was at their address as well).

I highly doubt that it will invalidate the citation or that it will make it any more "fight-able" than what it really is. The driver's license number, the state where it was issued and the mailing address written on the citation are there for identification purposes, so as to ensure that any future correspondence is sent to a confirmed address (and the officer decided that an FL address would be more appropriate). In other words, those bits of information are not elements of the offense with which you were charged, and your guilt or innocence is NOT dependent upon which driver's license you gave the officer or which DL#/state of issue he may have written on the citation.

[cdwjava]

The ticket was given using the FL license number because that is the number that Florida has assigned you for driving purposes. No matter where you might otherwise get a license, that number will represent you in FL.

If you never had a license in FL, the moment you got a ticket processed, their DMV would likely generate one for you anyway. This method keeps them from making multiple one-shot numbers for out of state travelers who come back and violate the law.

California does this. If you come here and get cited, you would be assigned a number by the DMV (here, it would begin with an "X") and that would represent you until such time as you obtained a license or ID in CA.

So, they issued it under your FL number because that is how the state identifies it as being you.

[mmmagique]

Interesting information CD! I never knew that! I'm sure that'll help the OP understand the situation a bit better as well.

[cdwjava]

Interesting information CD! I never knew that! I'm sure that'll help the OP understand the situation a bit better as well.

I cannot guarantee that EVERY state does this, but mine does and so do several others. I see no reason to think that other states do not do the same sort of thing.

[CORedneck]

I was in a similar situation. Back in 1995, I moved from Indiana to Colorado and switch my DL to Colorado. The CO DOR took my Indiana license. Several years later, for grins and laughs, I ordered a copy of my Indiana driving record and according to the record, I still had a valid IN license. Nothing indicated that I moved to Colorado. My wife switched her license from IN with maiden name to CO with married name and her Indiana driving record indicated that she switch to Colorado.

Technically I could have gone in to the IN BMV and got a new IN license but, there is this thing called perjury. I remembered when I renewed my IN license in 1995 and held that license from Jan to Jul when I switched to CO. In both IN and CO that you had to answer the question if you possessed a license from a different state.

At the time, IN license was good for 4 years, therefore it expired in 1999. According to IN law, driving records look back seven years so in 2006, I totally dropped off their system. A couple of years ago, my wife had license issues with Indiana and when she tried to get her motorcycle endorsement, Colorado wouldn't issue her a license until the hold from Indiana was taken care of. She was suspended for an insurance violation and suspension time was long past being served. All that IN wanted was $150 reinstatement fee. Colorado never suspended her and her license remained valid. When I called the IN BMV, they found her record but I asked if I had a record by giving my name and DOB. Nothing was found and this included have a couple of recent tickets there.

On traffic tickets, IN does NOT create driving record on non-residents that get violations there. They just forward the ticket info to your home state to deal with. Colorado being one of the few states that don't penalize for minor out of state violations - no points, no record. I also had several tickets in Missouri and they open a non-resident point file, therefore I had points there and a Missouri DL number. As mentioned each state is different on how they deal with non-residents who receive traffic violations. On the top of my mind, CO opens a point record on out of state drivers, same with AZ, MO, OH where as UT, KS, IL doesn't - they just forward it to your home state. Major offenses like DUI are different. I think every state concerning non-residents getting DUI's, the non-resident gets a record in that given state along with action against their privilege. If you get a DUI in Kansas and you hold a CO DL, you will get suspended both in CO and KS and you will have to pay reinstatement fees and meet different reinstatement conditions in both states.