Administrative Hearing

At the Whited Law Firm, in Daytona Beach, we are a full-service DUI law firm. When we take your case, we handle all aspects of it, including your defense in criminal proceedings as well as administrative hearings to protect your driver's license.

There are two types of license hearings at the DMV:

• Formal Review hearing: This hearing is to determine if the license suspension is lawful. It must be requested within 10 days of arrest or the hearing is waived.
• Hardship hearing: This hearing occurs to see if the DMV will allow you to drive on a limited basis.

The Formal Review Hearing

Florida statutes allow the arresting officer to summarily suspend the driver's license of a person who is arrested for DUI and either refuses a breath, blood or urine test, or takes a breath or blood test and has an illegal blood/breath alcohol level. The person whose license is suspended may file a request with the DMV within 10 days of the suspension to have the suspension reviewed.

What We Do to Prepare for the Formal Review

Shortly after the request for a formal review, we make a request for all documents filed with the DMV by the arresting officer to support the suspension. These documents are reviewed by all the lawyers in the firm to determine if the suspension can be supported based on what has been provided by the DMV. Remember: Two heads are better than one. In this case, there are four experienced lawyers reviewing all the documents. In case of a dispute regarding the better plan of action, all ties are broken by Mr. Whited.

If it is the conclusion of the group that a defense can be argued by not subpoenaing the officers, then we will not do that and make our arguments based on what is in the DMV file and any testimony we may offer.

If it is decided that we need to subpoena an officer to support a defense to the suspension, then we will do so. If it is ultimately decided that the officer has provided sufficient information to support the suspension and we have no defense to begin with, the general plan is to subpoena the officers to see if they show for the hearing.

If they fail to show and do not show just cause for their failures, the suspension will be set aside.

If they show, we will take their testimonies regarding the lawfulness of the stop and arrest and probable cause. Their testimonies may support grounds for setting the suspension aside, and may be useful at a later date if suppression motions are filed in the criminal case. The Interstate Driver's Compact does not apply to pre-conviction administrative suspensions. But, a non-resident of Florida may still suffer a driver's license suspension in his or her home state.

At the Whited Law Firm, in Daytona Beach, we are a full-service DUI law firm. When we take your case, we handle all aspects of it, including your defense in criminal proceedings as well as administrative hearings to protect your driver's license.

There are two types of license hearings at the DMV:

• Formal Review hearing: This hearing is to determine if the license suspension is lawful. It must be requested within 10 days of arrest or the hearing is waived.
• Hardship hearing: This hearing occurs to see if the DMV will allow you to drive on a limited basis.

The Formal Review Hearing

Florida statutes allow the arresting officer to summarily suspend the driver's license of a person who is arrested for DUI and either refuses a breath, blood or urine test, or takes a breath or blood test and has an illegal blood/breath alcohol level. The person whose license is suspended may file a request with the DMV within 10 days of the suspension to have the suspension reviewed.