How to Complete and Submit the Michigan SOS-258 Substance Use Evaluation

The Michigan SOS-258 Substance Use Evaluation is the clinical report the Department of State requires before it will schedule a license restoration hearing for a driver whose license was revoked for alcohol or drug offenses. A qualified evaluator completes the form after reviewing your treatment history, your sobriety timeline, and a laboratory 12-panel drug screen, and conducting a clinical interview. You then submit the signed form with the rest of your evidence package through the state’s online portal within 90 days of the evaluator’s signature date.¹

Who Needs an SOS-258

You need this evaluation if your Michigan license was revoked because of multiple alcohol or controlled-substance driving offenses and you want to petition the Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight (OHAO) for restoration. A first revocation bars you from requesting a hearing for at least one year. A second revocation within seven years of a prior one pushes the wait to at least five years.² OHAO will not schedule a hearing unless your request includes a current substance use evaluation on the form the department prescribes.³

What To Bring To Your Evaluator Appointment

The evaluator cannot complete the SOS-258 from a clinical interview alone. Gather every document below before you book, because the appointment is where it all gets pulled into the form.

The 12-Panel Drug Screen

Order a laboratory-processed 12-panel urinalysis. The lab report must show cutoff levels and at least two integrity variables such as specific gravity, creatinine, or pH. Instant or point-of-care tests are not accepted. The panel must cover amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, ecstasy/MDMA, marijuana, methadone, methaqualone, opiates, oxycodone/percocet, PCP, and propoxyphene.⁴ Bring the full lab report to the appointment so the evaluator can incorporate it directly into the form.

Treatment And Support Group Records

Collect treatment plans, discharge reports, and completion certificates from every substance abuse or mental health program you have ever attended. The SOS-258 asks for a lifetime history, so dig out records from older programs even if they ended years ago. If you attend AA or another support group, bring attendance logs, meeting schedules, and your sponsor’s name and contact information. The form has a dedicated section for type of group, timeframe, and frequency.¹

Prescription Medications

If you take any medication to treat addiction, pain, or any mental or physical condition that could affect driving, your prescribing physician must complete a separate DA-4P form. The SOS-258 also has a prescription section where the evaluator records each drug’s name, the prescribing doctor, the condition treated, and the dates of use.¹

Community Support Letters

At least three people who can speak to your sobriety must write notarized letters. You can submit up to six. These usually come from friends, family, or coworkers who see you often enough to credibly describe your current lifestyle. Each letter needs to cover the writer’s relationship to you, their knowledge of your past and current use of alcohol or drugs (including marijuana), when they last saw you use any substance, and how you have changed since your revocation. Letters should also address whether you take part in social activities involving alcohol or drugs.⁴ Letters are not strictly required if your witnesses will testify in person at the hearing, but most petitioners submit them anyway.

Choosing A Qualified Evaluator

The form asks for the evaluator’s name, qualifications and degrees, program name, and program license number. In practice that means a licensed substance abuse counselor, psychologist, or physician with clinical experience in addiction assessment. Before you book, confirm the evaluator has completed SOS-258 forms before and understands what Michigan hearing officers look for. An evaluator unfamiliar with the OHAO process can produce a technically accurate report that still falls flat at the hearing because it fails to address the issues the state cares about.

Bring your completed Hearing Request Application (SOS-257) to the appointment along with the drug screen, treatment records, and anything else you have gathered. The evaluator uses those materials alongside the clinical interview to fill out every section of the form.¹

What The Evaluator Fills In

Knowing what goes on the form helps you show up with the right material. The evaluator records every driving and nondriving conviction involving alcohol or drugs from your entire life, including arrests in other states, with the date of arrest and the blood alcohol content or drug type for each. A separate section documents your abstinence periods, the start and end dates, the cause and substances involved in any relapse, and the date you last used alcohol and the date you last used controlled substances.¹ This history has to match what the Secretary of State already has on file. Discrepancies between your reported history and state records are one of the fastest ways to sink a petition.

Using the DSM-IV or DSM-5, the evaluator assigns all past and present diagnoses related to alcohol, drugs, and mental health, with supporting facts and course specifiers describing whether a condition is in early remission, sustained remission, or active. The evaluator also identifies the standardized testing instruments used (such as the Addiction Severity Index, SASSI-3, or MAST/DAST), gives the score and interpretation, and explains how the results correlate with the diagnosis. The test instrument itself is attached to the form, along with your drug screen lab report.¹

The last major section is the prognosis. The evaluator gives a professional opinion on your likelihood of maintaining sobriety, weighing your living and work environments, lifestyle, relapse history, any ignition interlock device report, prescribed addictive medications, and any other relevant factors. The hearing officer leans heavily on this prognosis when gauging your risk of reoffense.

The 90-Day Clock And How To Submit

Once the evaluator signs the SOS-258, you have 90 days to get it in front of the Department of State. If it arrives after that window, the state treats it as stale and you will need a new evaluation.³ Assembling letters and treatment records can eat into that window quickly, so have everything else ready before the evaluator appointment and upload the full package shortly after you receive the signed form.

Submission goes through the Driver Appeal Integrated System (DAIS) at milogin.michigan.gov. Online filing is the primary method.¹ Your package should include:

SOS-257, the completed Hearing Request Application.
SOS-258, signed and dated by the evaluator.
The 12-panel drug screen lab report with cutoff levels and integrity variables.
Three to six notarized community support letters.
DA-4P form if you take any medication that may affect driving.
Interlock report, if applicable, dated within 30 days of submission.
Treatment completion certificates, discharge reports, and support group verification.

Scan every page of the multi-page SOS-258 legibly and in order. Missing or illegible pages will delay your case. If the filing is complete and you are eligible, you will receive a notice with your hearing date. If something is missing or you are not yet eligible, you will be notified of the deficiency instead.¹

The Standard Your Package Has To Meet

Michigan Administrative Rule 13 sets the bar for restoration at clear and convincing evidence. The hearing officer has to be genuinely persuaded that any substance abuse problem is under control and likely to stay that way, that your risk of repeating past behavior is low, and that you have the ability and motivation to drive safely and within the law.³

Before granting a license, the hearing officer must also find that you have completely abstained from alcohol and all controlled substances, except those prescribed by a licensed physician, for at least six consecutive months. If the evidence suggests a longer period is appropriate, the minimum rises to twelve. Time alone does not carry the burden. Every piece of your evidence package needs to tell a consistent story, because small inconsistencies between your SOS-258, your support letters, and your testimony can sink a case that looks strong on paper.

If Your Petition Is Denied Or You Miss The Hearing

A denial does not end the process, but it resets your timeline. You can appeal the OHAO decision to the Michigan Circuit Court under MCL 257.323. Implied consent appeals go to the county where the arrest occurred; other appeals go to the county where you live. You have 63 days from the date of the determination to file, and up to 182 days if you can show good cause for the late filing.²

If you skip your hearing without an approved adjournment, you may have to wait a full year before requesting another.⁴ If you are denied or need to refile, do not try to recycle an old SOS-258. The evaluation has to be current at the time of your next submission.

1
Michigan Department of State. OHAO Form Package SOS 257 and 258
2
Michigan Legislature. MCL 257-303
3
Michigan Department of State. Michigan Administrative Code – Driver License General Rules
4
Michigan Department of State. Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight – License Restoration Hearings and Interlock