Police Will Take Your License During an Atlanta DUI Arrest

By: Atlanta Criminal Attorney William C. “Bubba” Head

Most of our clients, including those involved in DUI arrests, are unnerved by the fact that their driver’s license was confiscated by the arresting officer and replaced by a piece of paper. This taking of the physical driver’s license is the first step in the arresting officer seeking to impose an administrative license suspension of your driving privileges. No license – no driving – anyone’s car. Why do police officers take your license in the first place? The answer is to try to keep you off the roads until your charges are handled. You should call our Atlanta DUI attorneys today and try to get your license back so you can keep getting to work and school.

This pending suspension can either be for your alleged REFUSAL to submit to the requested breath test the officer wanted, OR for submitting to the requested testing, and being “over the legal limit.” This “loss of license” aspect of a DUI arrest in Georgia strikes terror in the hearts of most drivers facing jail time for suspected DUI.

How Will You Get Your License Back?

Getting around Atlanta via public or private transportation for 30 days or more before your court date is expensive, awkward and can be slow and fairly unpredictable. Not having your license as your most regularly-used vital identification document poses problems traveling out of state, or getting on planes at airports and even for showing identification for issuing or cashing a check. Our attorneys know the value and benefit of protecting your right to drive.

The process of an officer grabbing your plastic license and replacing it with a Georgia DDS Form 1205 is a CRUCIAL issue for any person facing DUI charges, whether in Atlanta or any other place in the state.

Under DUI laws, the driver’s license seizure by your arresting officer is authorized in over 95% of all DUI arrests, to comply with laws on the administrative license suspension. Hiring an experienced and skilled attorney to pursue these important aspects of your DUI arrest and possible loss of all driving privileges is highly important. How else are you going to do community service without a car? Or attend DUI school? A DUI arrest and possible conviction lead to all kinds of financial problems and embarrassment. Your boss may find out. You may not be able to rent a car for business or an RV for vacation. You will most surely pay higher auto insurance premiums for months if not years down the road.

How will you get around town? How can you attend mandatory DUI school when you can’t drive over to DUI classes? How will you get a ride over to your probation officer’s office? How are you going to buy groceries or Christmas presents?

Think about a year from now. Still paying off court fines. Still paying high insurance rates. Still afraid my boss will find out and I will lose my job. We can stop all of this stress by talking to you for 20 minutes on the phone. We return calls the same day.

Remember that administrative license suspension is a civil action totally separate from your criminal case. Your license can be suspended even if you are found innocent in your DUI case. The best DUI lawyers know how to handle both civil matters and criminal matters.

Don’t Get a Second DUI While Your First DUI Is Pending

One very damaging legal situation is when one of my clients gets arrested again for DUI before the first DUI has been processed. Some clients think to themselves that there is no way the cops will pull over their car twice a month. But never say never. I know of a Georgia resident who got pulled over for a second DUI….while he was driving over to get his car out of the impound lot after last night’s first DUI arrest.