Understanding Administrative Suspension in Orlando, Florida
If you’ve recently been arrested for DUI in Orlando, Florida, the officer might have taken your driver’s license and issued an administrative suspension right there and then. From that point, you only have 10 days to contest the suspension and preserve your ability to drive. While you can go to the DMV and request a waiver review hearing, the better approach is to ask for a “formal review hearing.” If you request a formal review hearing, you can get a 42-day permit so you can drive while your attorney fights the administrative suspension.
You have three choices within ten days of suspension
The rules for administrative suspension are complicated. But within ten days of your DUI arrest, you will be presented with three choices. You can:
- Do nothing and wait for the process to play itself out
- Hire an attorney who will demand a formal review hearing and a 42-day driving permit
- Accept the administrative suspension during a waiver of review hearing in exchange for the reinstatement of your right to hardship privileges
The best of these options involves hiring an attorney to demand a formal review hearing. It essentially means fighting to void the suspension so that it essentially disappears from your driving record.
If you choose option three, you are consenting to the suspension and admitting that the DUI is valid for administrative purposes. This would remain true even if your DUI was dismissed or reduced.
Orange County offers a pretrial diversion program for misdemeanor cases of DUI. You do not want to stipulate to the administrative DUI if you want driving privileges or you think you can beat your DUI charges.
Understanding option two
Demanding a formal review hearing is the best option available to you. This is the only option that allows you to invalidate the suspension so that it’s removed from your driving record. Unless you get the administrative suspension invalidated, it will remain on your driving record for the next 75 years. This remains true even if you get the DUI reduced to reckless driving or receive a not guilty verdict at trial.
There is one exception to this rule. If you get a not guilty verdict at trial in a case involving a breathalyzer test, the administrative suspension will be removed from your driving record (Florida Statute § 322.2615(14)(b) & (16))
Those who demand a formal review hearing are entitled to a 42-day permit so that you can continue to drive for hardship purposes, so long as your driving privileges were valid prior to the DUI arrest.
If the arresting officer fails to appear at the formal review hearing, the suspension will be invalidated. The administrative suspension would be removed from your driving record. Then you can get a duplicate driver’s license and avoid paying the reinstatement fee.
Talk to an Orlando, FL, DUI Lawyer Today
FL DUI Group represents the interests of Orlando residents who are facing DUI charges. Call our Florida DUI defense lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing your next steps right away.
