After you are arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in Georgia, the state is probably going to automatically take away your driver’s license through administrative punishments unless you fight for it. You have 10 days to schedule an administrative license suspension (ALS) hearing after your arrest. Although, scheduling a hearing is just the beginning – you actually need to attend it and make an argument as to why your license should not be suspended.
No one can predict an emergency or guarantee that they won’t forget an important date, though. So what are you supposed to do now if you miss your scheduled ALS hearing?
Your Presence is Not Required
When you request your ALS hearing, you prompt the state to get the ball rolling to make this happen, but you are in no way in control of it. To this end, if you do not show up to your ALS hearing, it is going to proceed anyway. The presiding judge will handle the hearing as if you are there but just woefully silent and invisible. When they call for arguments as to why your license should not be suspended, only crickets will respond and that will be the end of it – the suspension will continue as planned. To get your ALS hearing scheduled, you may have paid upwards of $150. Do not plan on getting any refunds if you missed your hearing. The state does not care if you couldn’t make it, even if it was due to an unforeseen and unpreventable crisis.
Time Has Not Run Out
The automatic suspension of your driver’s license does not happen when your ALS hearing ends, it happens on the 31st day after your DUI arrest. If you missed your ALS hearing and 31 days have not yet passed, there is a slight chance you could schedule another ALS hearing. Typically, the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) are not known for being lenient, compassionate, or understanding. Being granted a second ALS hearing can be tricky because the state considers that it has done its part to give you a fair chance at defending yourself, and now it would like to shift its attention on one of the probably-hundreds of other people in a similar situation. To get the DDS’s approval, you are probably going to need a lawyer.
At Fox Firm, P.C., our Lawrenceville DUI attorney has more than 20 years of legal experience, including managing and successfully handling ALS hearing concerns. To convince the DDS that you deserve to keep your license, and that a second ALS hearing is acceptable, you will want Mr. Fox’s knowledge of the law and administrative penalties, as well as his persistence to see his cases to the end. Call (770) 884-7469 to talk to us about your case. Remember: you have very limited time to schedule an ALS hearing.