Iowa temporary restricted license (TRL)

Iowa has two temporary restricted licenses. After an OWI you may drive as any class C driver can — but only with an interlock on every vehicle. After most other suspensions you may drive only to work, school, treatment and a few other places, with an SR-22 on file.

Two temporary restricted licenses, from two different sections

Iowa uses one name for two licenses. Which one you can get depends on why your license was taken, and they could hardly be more different: after a drunk-driving revocation the temporary restricted license (TRL) lets you drive almost as normal, but only in vehicles with an ignition interlock; after most other suspensions it lets you drive only to work, school, treatment and a few other places, and only with an SR-22 on file.

If you qualify under both sections, the department may issue one license that meets the requirements of both.

After an OWI: the interlock TRL

Section 321J.20 lets the department issue a temporary restricted license to a person whose noncommercial license is revoked under the operating-while-intoxicated chapter, and the license allows the person to drive “in any manner allowed for a person issued a valid class C driver's license” — there is no list of permitted trips. (The section was last amended effective January 1, 2025, for revocations whose underlying offense occurred on or after that date.) The condition is the device: the license “shall not be issued until the applicant installs an approved ignition interlock device on all motor vehicles operated by the applicant.”

Who cannot get one

Not a person under eighteen revoked under section 321J.2A; not a person revoked after a death case during the period in which they are ineligible — the court's six-year revocation carries no temporary license for at least two years; and not a person whose license is suspended or revoked for some other reason as well. That last group should look at section 321.215 and the rule that one license can meet both sections.

How long the revocation is

The TRL runs inside a revocation whose length depends on the test, the refusal and the record:

• Test at or over the limit: 180 days, or one year after a previous revocation (sec. 321J.12).
• Refusing the test: one year, or two years after a previous revocation (sec. 321J.9).
• On conviction, where the license was not already revoked for the same arrest: 180 days if you tested, one year if you refused; with a prior, one or two years; a deferred judgment, 30 to 90 days; a third or later offense, six years (sec. 321J.4).
• A serious injury adds one year; a death means six years (sec. 321J.4(5), (6)).

The administrative revocations take effect ten days after the department mails the notice. Every one of those sections repeats the same sentence: a temporary restricted license is available only with a device on all vehicles the person operates.

Losing it

The TRL is revoked if you drive a vehicle without an approved device or remove the device without authorisation, and tampering with or circumventing a required device is a serious misdemeanor. The license is not valid for a commercial vehicle where a CDL is needed, and a TRL holder may never drive a school bus.

Time on the TRL counts later

After a second or later revocation, reinstatement requires an interlock on every vehicle you drive “for one year from the date of reinstatement unless a longer time period is required by statute”. That year is reduced by any time you held a valid temporary restricted license during the revocation. Taking the TRL early shortens the device period at the end, and the Iowa interlock page covers the compliance-based extensions that can lengthen it.

After other suspensions: the work TRL

Section 321.215 is the older license, and the one people mean when they call it a work permit. The department may issue it to a person whose noncommercial license is suspended or revoked under chapter 321, allowing them to drive to and from home and specified places, at specified times the department can verify, for:

1. full-time or part-time employment;
2. continuing health care, their own or a dependant's;
3. continuing education toward a diploma, degree or certification;
4. substance use disorder treatment;
5. court-ordered community service; and
6. appointments with a parole or probation officer.

The holder “shall not operate a motor vehicle for pleasure.” The license is not available after a court-ordered revocation under section 321.209(1)-(5), and after certain juvenile and court-ordered suspensions.

The three conditions, and the SR-22

For the suspensions and revocations the section lists — among them habitual-offender denials — the application may be granted only if the license is requested “only for a case of hardship or circumstances where alternative means of transportation do not exist”, it is limited to the listed purposes at set times, and “Proof of financial responsibility is established as defined in chapter 321A.” That proof is Iowa's SR-22: a certificate certifying 20/40/15, kept 2 years under the Iowa SR-22 rules. Two listed suspensions are excused from the proof requirement.

The license is canceled on conviction of a moving traffic violation — a parking violation does not count — or on a violation of any of its terms.

Getting the full license back

A temporary restricted license is not reinstatement. After an OWI revocation, reinstatement needs four things beyond the end of the period:

• the $200 civil penalty, which also has to be paid before any TRL is issued (it can be paid with a $5 processing fee at a county treasurer that issues licenses);
• completion of a course for drinking drivers and an evaluation, with treatment where it is ordered;
• after a second or later revocation, certification that a device is installed for the year that follows; and
• the reinstatement fee of $20, which applies to any license canceled, suspended, revoked or barred after notice and opportunity for hearing.

Driving before then, or after a TRL has been canceled or revoked, is driving while suspended or revoked: a simple misdemeanor with a fine of $250 to $1,500 that cannot be suspended, and a further suspension or revocation for a like period or one year, whichever is shorter.

Common questions