Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog
After an arrest for drunk driving in Jacksonville, Florida the police officer is going to take your driver’s license away. If you are otherwise authorized to drive (i.e. your license is not suspended or revoked), the police officer will give you a ticket that will serve as a temporary driver’s license that lasts for 10 days. After ten days after your arrest for DUI, your temporary privilege to drive expires. However, even though your license will be suspended following the ten days after your arrest, you still can apply for a hardship license that allows you to drive in certain circumstances.
After your arrest for DUI in Jacksonville, there is also a procedure that allows you to challenge the suspension of your license with a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) officer. You must apply for a hearing within ten days of your arrest.
If that appeal of the suspension of your driver’s license after the DUI is unsuccessful, that does not affect your ability to get the hardship license. The procedure for getting the hardship license is as follows. If you submitted to the breath or blood alcohol test and your blood or breath alcvohol level was 0.08 or greater, you have to wait 30 additional days after the initial 10 day temporary driving period after your arrest to petition for the hardship license. So, on the 41st day after your DUI arrest, you may have the hearing to obtain the hardship license. If you refused to submit to a blood or breath alcohol test, you have to wait 90 days after the initial 10 day temporary driving period to try to get the hardship license. So, on the 101st day after your DUI arrest, you can go to the hearing to get a hardship license.
There are two types of hardship driver’s licenses. A business hardship license allows you to drive to and from work, for necessary on-the-job trips, for educational purposes, for meeical purposes and for church-related purposes. An employment hardship license allows you to drive to and from work and for necessary on-the-job trips only.
In Jacksonville, Duval County, the hearings are typically set about seven days in advance. So, around the 34th day after a DUI arrest if you bloew 0.08 or higher, or around the 94th day after an arrest if you refused to submit to a blood or breath alcohol test, call the administrative office in Duval County at (904) 777-2132 and set up the appointment for the hearing. At the hearing, you will need to show that you need a hardship driver’s license for the reasons indicated above and that you will not drink and drive again. The hearing officer will also look into any criminal record you may have. It would also be a good idea to bring any proof of employment, enrollment in school and any other documentation that supports the need for a hardship license.