Gordon Fenderson is an attorney in Jacksonville, Florida specializing in personal injury accident claims and DUI defense. After receiving a degree in Political Science from Appalachian State University, Fenderson went on to earn his J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law. He is currently the owner of the Fenderson Law Firm, and a member of the Florida Bar, Jacksonville Bar Association, Middle District of Florida, and Florida Justice Association. In this article, he discusses administrative hearings and how they apply in a DUI case.
By the time you are facing an administrative hearing, you have obviously already had your driver’s license suspended. What the authorities are determining during an administrative hearing is really whether they should uphold the suspension of your license. Now, one of the biggest reasons people need to know about the administrative hearings themselves is because you do not get granted one of these hearings automatically. In fact, that is one of the reasons you should hire a lawyer to help you through your DUI case, because he or she will be able to make sure you get the administrative hearing you need in a timely manner.
Hiring an attorney as soon as possible after being arrested for driving under the influence can help you in many ways, but one of the biggest reasons you should hire an attorney would be so that he or she can ask for your administrative hearing. After doing so, your lawyer can go in and make arguments as to why your administrative suspension should not be upheld.
During the administrative hearing itself, what is going on is that officials are reviewing the suspension of your license and determining whether that suspension should be upheld. By the time you have this hearing, your license has already been suspended—which is why the hearing itself is simply a time to review the suspension and a time when your attorney can attempt to get that suspension overturned.
So having someone to do that for you, and argue the case on your behalf, is a great benefit of hiring an experienced professional. A qualified lawyer will be able to make sure you get an administrative hearing within a reasonable amount of time. This time can vary, but the courts are required to give you an administrative hearing within 30 days of the time it is requested, which means most of these hearings happen within 30 to 40 days after the initial incident.
These administrative hearings are important because the suspension of your driver’s license is almost always a serious problem for people. After all, people need their driver’s license to get to work, school, and just to live their everyday lives and partake in everyday activities. Especially here in Florida, where there is not a particularly convenient public transpiration method, it is important that people get their driver’s license back as soon as possible.
Additionally, administrative hearings can be an early way to determine whether any flaws happened during the arresting process or bring out technicalities that were not followed by police at the scene. These irregularities and technicalities can get your administrative suspension overturned, but only if you have a qualified attorney fighting for your case. So with the help of an attorney who specializes in DUI cases, you will definitely improve your chances of having the administrative suspension of your driver’s license revoked, and ultimately getting your freedom to drive back.
One thing that should be noted, however, is that administrative hearings should always be distinguished and separated from criminal hearings. This is because administrative hearings are not criminal proceedings, which will happen later on in the development of the case. Rather, this hearing is a civil administrative meeting that is held by the Department of Motor Safety and Highway Vehicles to determine whether you should have your license suspended or not. It is important that people understand the differences between these two types of hearings.
