Unless you are lucky and the Kentucky clerks do not report your DUI conviction to the National database, your home state will be informed of your Kentucky DUI. Once your home state discovers you were convicted of DUI in Kentucky, your home state will suspend your license. States have formed compacts with each other to share information regarding license driving history. The compacts (or state agreements) are:

Driver’s License compact (DLC)

Non-Resident Violation compact (NRVC)

Driver’s License Agreement (DLA)

National Driver Register (NDR)

Prior to the NDR, it was easy for persons who had a license suspension in one state to travel to a neighboring state and avoid a license suspension by obtaining a license in another state This was possible because not all states were members of the DLC, NRVC or DLA. However,since then the NDR was formed. The NDR is a owned and operated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. All U.S. states participate in NDR. When a person applies for a license in any state, the state MVA or DMV is required to check and see if the person’s name is on the NDR Problem Driver Point System (PDPS). This is a Federal regulation. All states are members because states are denied federal highway funding if they refuse membership. Once a person has been reported to the NDR as a problem driver, the prospective license state will investigate the driver’s history and probably deny the license. I say probably because it is up to the state to determine what driver history will justify a suspension or license denial. The PDPS check allows all states DMV/DOT to prevent someone who has a suspended license in one state from shopping in another state for a driver’s license.

The PDPS check makes it difficult for a person to get more than one state license at a time. Do not confuse the National Driver Registration with the National Driver Registry. The National Driver Registry is a for profit reporting agency just using a similar name to confuse people and make money.

The DLC is a driver’s license compact agreement between U.S. states to show information concerning license suspensions and traffic violations of non-resident and forward the information to home state (the license state). The DLC motto is one driver, one license. Once the home state discovers the “out of state offense” it has the authority to use its laws and penalize the driver. The penalty could be a point infraction or a suspension of the license. Michigan, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Wisconsin are not members.

The Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRCV) is an agreement among states which requires members to suspend the driver’s license of those who get traffic tickets for moving violation in other states and fail to pay the ticket. Forty-four states are members. The 6 non-member states are Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon and Wisconsin.

The DLA was formed to monitor forging license. Only Alabama, Connecticut and Massachusetts are members.