Georgia DDS – Tips from a DUI Attorney in Atlanta, Georgia

By William C. Head, DUI Lawyer Georgia

Most people have no contact with the GA Department of Driver Services after passing their driving test or standing in line to obtain a driver’s license. However, being arrested for DUI in Georgia will almost certainly cause you to have a renewed interest in DDS Georgia. All arrests for criminal charges of drunk driving (or driving under the influence of drugs) will trigger an administrative license suspension for refusing to be tested after a DUI arrest. This is true for all REFUSAL cases, and for any DUI alcohol per se cases under Georgia DUI law.

Georgia Department of Driver Services is the State of Georgia agency tasked with issuing, suspending, revoking, or restricting driver’s licenses in Georgia. The rules and guidelines applicable to DDS in Georgia are rigid, and cannot be altered or modified by staff or employees of Georgia DDS. Therefore, any criminal lawyer seeking to “improve” your Georgia DDS license status must typically resort to trying to reopen or amend your traffic court case disposition, so that the driver’s license impediment with DDS in Georgia can be rectified.

Go to dds.ga.gov, the Georgia Dept. of Driver Services website, to find important phone numbers, get online Georgia driver’s license status, print off a certified or non-certified copy of your recent DDS Georgia history, or print off an ALS appeal form for contesting your DDS refusal or your per se alcohol pending administrative license suspension action. Even in our DUI law firm’s cases where an original charge of DUI reduced to reckless driving occurs, “risk reduction” classes (DUI school) is often required, and a list of DUI schools in Georgia can be found on the DDS GA website.

DUI attorney Bubba Head of Atlanta, GA has handled in excess of 20,000 client interviews for DUI in Georgia, and has been writing books on DUI laws in Georgia and NATIONALLY since 1991. He has spoken at hundreds of seminars on drunk driving and criminal defense in most of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. He has also spoken in the Dominican Republic, on several cruise ships, and in the Bahamas.

When facing a driving under the influence charge, hire a DUI lawyer who takes the time to explain the relationship between the criminal case for driving while intoxicated, as well as the related administrative license suspension that requires these 3 time-sensitive steps to appeal:

1. Filing the appeal within 10 business days after your arrest. The day of arrest does not count as day one, but the next “business day” does. Business days, generally, are weekdays that are NOT a STATE holiday in Georgia.
2. Enclosing a check for $150 payable to “Georgia DDS” for the required ALS appeal filing fee.
3. Send the appeal paperwork and the required filing fee via U.S. mail, use certified mail delivery, and keep this receipt in case (for any reason) you need to prove delivery. The POSTMARK date is the “delivery date” for DDS Georgia purposes.