Thousands of out-of-state drivers lose licenses in Missouri DMV error, lawyers say
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- Attorneys say out-of-state drivers received revocation notices after SIS cases.
- Printed records will no longer display SIS status beginning next week, the DOR said.
- FUSION phase 1 was implemented in November 2024 and did not change reporting, DOR said.
The Missouri Department of Revenue rolled out a new computer system in 2024, and criminal defense attorneys say it is now causing some out-of-state drivers to lose their licenses.
The Department of Revenue installed its new computer system, FUSION, or Fifty Unique Systems in One Nexus, in the fall of 2024. But a year later, those attorneys began noticing that clients who had received suspended imposition of sentences in courtrooms for traffic charges such as driving while intoxicated were receiving notices that their licenses would need to be revoked for a conviction.
Suspended sentences or SIS, in Missouri, are not treated as convictions, but changes in the computer system have resulted in these cases being recorded as convictions in other states, attorneys say.
Denise Kirby, an attorney in Kansas City, said she specializes only in DWI cases. Kirby estimates that recent changes have affected thousands of individuals in cases across the state, leading to an overwhelming amount of legal work for attorneys who are trying to assist these clients. However, the exact number of those impacted remains unclear.
“Last fall, clients started calling me who had out-of-state licenses and telling me that they had received notification from their home state that their license was being suspended or revoked for a DWI conviction in Missouri,” she said. “But none of those clients had DWI convictions in Missouri, and they have suspended impositions of sentence, and under Missouri law, that is not considered a conviction.”
Kirby said she reached out to the Department of Revenue and asked if it was a known issue because it was happening with clients from all over the country. She said that the response she received was that it was fixed in November, but the issue has now lingered into April.
“It has taken a big toll on my clients and on all of us who do DWI defense, because we’re having to deal with it every day,” Kirby said. “And to be clear, it’s not just DWI. It’s any traffic case that ended with a suspended imposition.”
Some clients have lost potential jobs due to background checks showing a conviction for DWI, Kirby said, and others have been unable to drive to work because their license has been suspended in their home state.
“I did have an attorney tell me the other day that he has a client whose insurance company dropped him for the DWI conviction showing on his driving record,” she said.
Kirby isn’t alone. Several other criminal defense lawyers in the Kansas City area who work on DWI cases said that their clients have been dealing with the same issues.
Jeff Eastman, an attorney, said that he personally has roughly 100 clients who have been impacted by the issue.
“Well, it’s to the point that I would hope some state senator or some state representative would respond to their constituents’ calls and basically look behind this curtain and figure out what the problem is,” Eastman said.
“If this was a private sector problem, heads would have rolled by now, people would have been terminated. They don’t really appreciate the hardships some of these people are experiencing,” he said.
‘a fix is in the works’
Officials at the Department of Revenue said in a statement that they are working on a fix.
“The DOR driver licensing system has always shown all court actions that affect driver licensing, including SIS,” said JoDonn Chaney, a Department of Revenue spokesperson.
“The FUSION system - phase 1, that was implemented on November 12, 2024, classified SIS recipients in the same way but also indicated the court’s actions on printed documents. Beginning next week – printed records will no longer display the SIS status,” Chaney said.
It is unclear how the fix will impact those who are currently dealing with their states telling them they have to revoke their license. The department did not directly address why drivers are facing revocations.
Rep. Lane Roberts, a Joplin Republican, said that he was unaware of the problem, saying that it sounded like something to do with the way the system currently works.
Roberts said that, in fairness to the department, any database as large as the one handled by the Department of Revenue can create problems.
“I certainly can see why it would be problematic for people out-of-state if we’re having a problem in-state with a computer system affecting them,” he said. “My guess is that those who have been affected by it, it’s an unintended consequence. Obviously, it’ll take some time to work through it and get it fixed, because you are going to be dealing from one bureaucracy to another.
Roberts continued: “It is going to take some time and it’s not going to be convenient.”
Kirby said her legal clients had heard from Department of Revenue customer service representatives that there was a fix in the works and it would be finalized soon.
“I would like to believe that that’s true, but I have my doubts,” she said.
