Florida DUI 10-Day Rule Calculator

Under FL § 322.2615, when you are arrested for DUI and either blow 0.08 or higher or refuse the test, your license is suspended on the spot and the citation becomes a 10-day temporary permit. You have those same 10 days to request a formal or informal review hearing with the DHSMV Bureau of Administrative Reviews. If you do nothing, the suspension takes effect on day 11 — six months for a first breath-test suspension, one year for a first refusal.

The statute counts 10 days after the date the notice of suspension was issued, which is the date on your DUI citation. This calculator treats the arrest date as day zero and the deadline as day 10. Because the Bureau of Administrative Reviews is closed on weekends and state holidays, a deadline that lands on a Saturday or Sunday should be treated as the preceding Friday. There is no extension for any reason.

A formal review is a hearing where a DHSMV hearing officer decides whether the suspension was lawful; you can subpoena and cross-examine the arresting officer and the breath-test operator, and if the suspension is invalidated your full license comes back. Waiving the review under FL § 322.271(7) is only available on a first offense: you give up the hearing, enroll in DUI school, and get a business-purposes hardship license immediately with no 30- or 90-day no-driving period. The waiver cannot be undone.

Usually, but the timing depends on what you do in the first 10 days. First offense with the review waived: immediately. First breath-test suspension without a waiver: after a 30-day no-driving period. First refusal without a waiver: after a 90-day no-driving period. Second or subsequent refusal: no hardship license is available for the administrative suspension at all. DUI school enrollment is required in every case.

No. The administrative suspension is handled by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; the DUI charge is prosecuted separately in county court under § 316.193. They run on different clocks, in different buildings, before different decision-makers. You can win the hearing and still face the criminal charge, and a conviction in court carries its own license revocation of at least 180 days on top of the administrative one.

The suspension is in effect and cannot be challenged administratively. What remains: applying for a hardship license once the no-driving period runs (30 days for a breath-test suspension, 90 for a first refusal), and fighting the criminal case, where the same problems with the stop or the test can still be raised. Do not drive while suspended — driving on a DUI-suspended license is a separate criminal charge.

Requests go to the DHSMV Bureau of Administrative Reviews office serving your county; Orange County is served by the Orlando office. The request can be made in person or in writing within the 10 days, and a defense attorney can file it for you the same day you call. Check flhsmv.gov for the current office address and hours before you go.