DUI: Formal Review Hearing

When you are charged with Driving Under the Influence ( DUI), your license may be automatically suspended for six (6) months if you had a breath test result of .08 or greater, or 12 months, if you refuse to take a breath test. In such a case, a Formal Review Hearing may be requested to challenge the suspension of your driver’s license by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (the driver license administrative agency). This administrative suspension is separate from the suspension you might face if the judge orders it as part of your penalties if you are convicted of the criminal charge of DUI.

Requirements:

• Notice: DUI ticket is the notice and it indicates you have ten (10) calendar days of your arrest to file documents to request a formal review hearing.
• Due Process: Right of accused to be heard post administrative action (suspending your license) within a reasonable period of time. A hearing must take place within thirty (30) days of requesting a formal review hearing.

If your License was administratively suspended and you otherwise had a valid driver’s license, your DUI ticket is a valid driver’s license for ten (10) days. However, if you request a Formal Review Hearing your driving privileges will be extended for and additional forty-two (42) days, to allow the Formal Review Hearing to take place. If your Formal Review Hearing is won your driver’s license will then be valid again. In most cases, if the formal review hearing is lost there is a mandatory thirty (30) days of no driving for a six months suspension, and ninety (90) days of no driving for a one year suspension. Once the no driving period is over you may apply for a hardship license, which restricts your driving privileges to necessities (i.e. driving to work).

When you hire the Orlando DUI attorneys at Longwell Lawyers to represent you in a DUI, we also request a Formal Review Hearing on your behalf and represent you the day of the hearing. Formal Review Hearings are challenging and you should hire an experienced attorney to represent you. Contact Longwell Lawyers for a free consultation.