Traffic Offenses - Traffic Offenses - Orlando Criminal Defense Lawyeer and Criminal Attorney

Criminal Law

Loss of Your Driver's License

Florida law now allows a police officer to confiscate your drivers license on the date of your arrest for DUI in two situations. The first situation is when you refuse to take a blood, breath, or urine test as lawfully requested by the officer. The second situation is where you agree to take the test but fail the test.

If either of these two situations occur, the officer is empowered to take your license and, assuming you had a valid driver's license, the citation for DUI will constitute a temporary license to allow you to legally drive for a period of time in order to get your affairs in order. Upon the expiration of the temporary drivers license, your license will be considered revoked or suspended and should you continue to drive, you could be subject to additional penalties including additional fines and imprisonment.

As explained to you on the back of your citation, you are entitled to request a formal or informal hearing before a hearing officer. The hearing officer is not a judge. The hearing officer is an employee of the Drivers License Bureau. It is very important to remember that you have only a set number of days from the date of your citation to request a hearing.

The purpose of a hearing is to have a neutral individual review the situation and determine if the police officer was acting correctly in taking your drivers license. A formal review hearing or an informal review hearing are not to be confused with a request for a hardship license and that should be handled by a separate procedure.

Because many people get confused about the administrative remedies available when a drivers license is taken and because most people are also facing the criminal charges of DUI in addition to the administrative suspension of their license, it is strongly recommended that you consult with an attorney experienced in handling DUI and drivers license suspension cases.