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2026-108 Department of Motor Vehicles—License Revocation

Audit Scope & Objectives

The audit by the California State Auditor will provide independently developed and verified information related to California’s license revocation processes. The audit’s scope will include, but will not be limited to, the following activities:

  1. Review and evaluate the laws, rules, and regulations significant to the audit objectives.
  2. For a selection of at least eight counties, identify the steps those county courts and the DMV take to process a conviction, including the courts’ processes for forwarding conviction records to the DMV and the DMV’s intake and maintenance of those records. Determine whether delays exist in these processes, and, if so, quantify the magnitude of the delay and identify the causes for the longest delays.
  3. For a selection of at least eight counties, determine whether those county courts transmit convictions to the DMV electronically or via hard-copy documentation.
  4. For a selection of at least eight counties, determine the systems the courts use to intake, track, and process convictions that must be transmitted to the DMV and the extent to which those systems coordinate automatically with the DMV’s systems for processing convictions.
  5. To the extent that data is available, determine the following:
    • The current volume of convictions, by offense type and by court, and the median time the DMV took to process convictions since at least 2019.
    • Whether a backlog of unprocessed convictions exists, the size of any current backlog of unprocessed convictions, and the size of any backlog that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the number of any delayed license actions or incorrect driving records caused by backlog issues.
    • The extent to which the DMV complies with regulatory timelines governing its processing of convictions.
    • To the extent possible, identify whether any courts failed to transmit required information to the DMV and whether the DMV returned information to the courts for correction.
    • The average caseload for DMV employees responsible for processing convictions from courts.
  6. Determine the DMV’s process for assigning convictions to employees for processing. Assess any performance metrics the DMV uses for tracking the processing of convictions, as well as the steps the DMV takes to reduce any backlog in unprocessed convictions. Determine whether the DMV has any corrective plans in place related to the speed at which it processes convictions.
  7. Evaluate any legal issues that may arise from delayed processing of convictions, including the State’s ability to suspend driver’s licenses and any related effects on a driver’s ability to obtain vehicle insurance.
  8. Review and assess any other issues that are significant to the audit.
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