Get Your License Back after a DUI
How to get your Florida Driver’s License back after a DUI conviction
If you are arrested and charged with driving under the influence, (DUI) in Florida, you will be facing fines, potential time in jail and the loss of your Florida Drivers License for up to 180 days. While all of the penalties and fines associated to a DUI conviction are serious, loosing your driving privileges can be particularly difficult to lead a normal life. The information below explains how your driving privileges will be taken away as part of a DUI charge and conviction, and the steps our DUI attorneys can take to help you get your license back after a DUI.
Initial Suspension of your Driver’s License
Florida Statute 322.2615 states that “A law enforcement officer or correctional officer shall, on behalf of the department, suspend the driving privilege of a person who is driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle and who has an unlawful blood-alcohol level or breath-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher, or of a person who has refused to submit to a urine test or a test of his or her breath-alcohol or blood-alcohol level.”
In place of your Driver’s license, you will be immediately issued a 10-day temporary permit and a notice of suspension. The arresting officer will then forward the results of the blood alcohol test results, (breathalyzer, blood or urine test) that indicated a BAC over the legal limit of 0.08% to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, (DHSMV) along with your driver’s license and other documentation, photos and video pertaining to your arrest and conduct during the arrest.
At this point, you have a temporary permit that expires in 10 days unless you and your attorney are able to request an informal or formal review of the suspension of your license with the DHSMV within 10 days.
About an Informal Hearing with the DMVHS
If you and your attorney decide to request an “Informal Review” of your suspension with the DMVHS, an informal review will be conducted by a hearing officer designated by the DMVHS, (not the courts). The informal review is simply a review of the materials submitted by the arresting officer and by the person who’s license was suspended. It is not a hearing and no officers or witnesses are involved. The objectives of this review is to verify procedural processes and that the rights of the person who’s license was suspended were not violated.
After the DMVHS completes the informal review, it’s decision to and details to uphold, amend or remove the suspension must be mailed to the person who’s license was suspended within 21 days after the expiration of the 10 day temporary permit.
About a Formal Hearing with the DMVHS
If you and your attorney decide to request an “formal Review” of your suspension with the DMVHS, the DMVHS must schedule a hearing within 30 days after the request is submitted. The hearing will be held before a hearing officer, again designated by the DHSMV, (not the courts). During this hearing, the hearing officer may administer oaths accept testimony from and examine witnesses, accept and consider relevant evidence, issue subpoenas for the officers and witnesses identified in submitted documents, and make a ruling on the suspension.
After the formal review, the DMVHS must send notice to the person who’s license was suspended, the hearing officer’s decision as to whether sufficient cause exists to sustain, amend, or invalidate the suspension within 7 working days after a formal review hearing.
Limitations to the Scope of both Informal and Formal Reviews
In both types of reviews, the hearing officer is limited to ascertaining certain facts to determine whether there is sufficient cause to sustain, amend or invalidate the suspension. These areas of question are:
- Did the arresting officer have probable cause to believe that the person who’s license was suspended was driving or in physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, chemical or controlled substances?
- Was the person’s blood alcohol above 0.08%?
- Did the person refuse to submit a breath, blood or urine test?
- Was the person arrested notified by the arresting officer that if they refused to submit a breath, blood or urine test blood alcohol test, their driving privileges would be suspended automatically for 1 year, and if this was their second refusal, for 18 months?
Applying for issuance of a Business or Employment Purposes Only Driver’s License
To regain your driving privileges at least in part to be able to drive to work or operate your business, or if an informal or formal review of your driver’s license did not result in your license suspension being amended sufficiently or invalidated, it is possible to apply for the issuance of a limited driver’s license for business and employment purposes only. Person’s who refused to submit to a breath, blood or urine blood alcohol concentration test are not eligible to apply for a license for business or employment purposes only.
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