A divided Massachusetts appeals court recently ruled 2-1 that the Registry of Motor Vehicles must shorten a man’s drivers license suspension.

Massachusetts state law requires the Appeals Court Rules Driver’s License Suspension starts from the date of conviction, not when the RMV learns of the conviction. The Massachusetts RMV suspends the driver’s licenses of third offense drunk drivers for eight years.

The appellant had previously been convicted of operating under the influence of alcohol in Massachusetts in 1997 and in Connecticut in 2000 and 2004. However, the Connecticut convictions were not reported to the National Drivers Registry until 2007, which was when the Massachusetts RMV learned of the prior convictions.

The RMV suspended the person’s license for eight years from 2007, the date the Connecticut convictions were reported to National Drivers Registry. The Court ruled that the RMV was required to use the 2004 conviction date when calculating the eight year suspension, not the 2007 date.