Florida's DUI 10-Day Rule: What Happens to Your License

Florida's DUI 10-day rule is this: if you were arrested and either blew 0.08 or higher or refused the test, your license was suspended that day, and you have 10 days from the date on your notice of suspension to ask the state to review it or to apply for a restricted license instead. The citation in your hand is a temporary permit that dies at midnight on the 10th day. Our free DUI 10-day deadline calculator turns your arrest date into the exact dates below.

The license suspension is not the criminal case. It is an administrative action by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles under FL § 322.2615 (opens in a new tab), and it moves on its own clock whether or not the State Attorney ever files charges.

One thing to unlearn before you read further: a lot of what is published about this rule says that requesting a hearing gets you a 42-day driving permit. The statute does not say that. It says the opposite. More on that below.

The Timeline, From the Statute

Every step here is from the 2026 text of the statutes. Where a step depends on a date, it is the date on your notice of suspension, which in most breath-test and refusal arrests is the arrest date.

1. 1.Day 0 — the arrest

   If you blew 0.08 or higher or refused a breath, urine or blood test, the officer takes your license and hands you a notice of suspension and, if you are otherwise eligible, a 10-day temporary permit. The suspension legally starts on the date the notice is issued.

   § 322.2615(1)(a), (1)(b)2.

2. 2.Days 1–10 — the window

   You may request a formal review, an informal review, or a review of eligibility for a restricted license under § 322.271(7). You can also send the department any materials relevant to the suspension.

   § 322.2615(1)(b)3., 5.

3. 3.Midnight of day 10

   The temporary permit expires. A review request does not extend it.

   § 322.2615(1)(b)4., (9)

4. 4.Within 30 days of your request

   For a formal review, the department must schedule the hearing within 30 days of receiving the request. If it does not, it must invalidate the suspension.

   § 322.2615(6)(a), (9)

5. 5.7 working days after the hearing

   The department must send the hearing officer's decision: sustain, amend, or invalidate. For an informal review, the decision must go out within 21 days after the temporary permit expires.

   § 322.2615(5), (6)(d)

6. 6.30 or 90 days after the last permit expires

   If the suspension is sustained, you become eligible to apply for a business-purposes-only license: 30 days for a 0.08 suspension, 90 days for a refusal. A driver with two or more refusal suspensions cannot get one.

   § 322.2615(10); § 322.271(2)(a)

7. 7.6 months, 1 year or 18 months

   The administrative suspension runs out, counted from the date of the notice. A conviction in the criminal case brings a separate court-ordered revocation.

   § 322.2615(8); § 322.28(2)(a)

How Long the Suspension Lasts

The 30- and 90-day waits are counted from the expiration of the last temporary permit issued, not from the arrest. If you were never given a 10-day permit because you were not otherwise eligible to drive, they run from the date of the suspension.

A worked example. A first-time driver is arrested on a Saturday, October 3, blows over 0.08 and gets the notice that night. The permit runs out at midnight on Tuesday, October 13, which is also the last day to ask for review. If the driver requests a formal review and loses, they can apply for a business-purposes license 30 days after the permit expired, around November 12. The 6-month suspension itself runs from October 3. If the driver had used the waiver route instead, and qualified for it, there would have been no 30-day gap.

The Choice You Make Inside the 10 Days

There are three things you can ask for, and you have to pick. The Bureau of Administrative Reviews, the FLHSMV unit that handles these, takes the request.

The statute adds one protection to the waiver: it "may not be used as evidence in any other proceeding." Taking it is not an admission in your criminal case.

Which one is right depends on facts no article can see: whether the stop and the arrest paperwork hold up, whether you can go 30 or 90 days without driving, and whether you have a prior. That is the conversation to have with a lawyer before day 10, not after.

The 42-Day Permit: What the Statute Actually Says

Search this topic and you will read, again and again, that requesting a formal review gets you a 42-day driving permit so you can keep driving while you fight. We could not find that number in the statute, and the statute's own words cut against it. Section 322.2615(9) reads: "A request for a formal review hearing or an informal review hearing shall not stay the suspension of the person's driver license."

The same subsection names the two situations where a permit does issue. If the department continues your hearing on its own initiative, or you go to court to enforce a subpoena, it "shall issue a temporary driving permit that shall be valid until the hearing is conducted," limited to business or employment driving. A driver who asked for and got a continuance is not eligible.

What FLHSMV actually hands a particular driver is a matter of agency practice we cannot see from here. The safe rule: plan on not driving after day 10 unless you are holding a permit from FLHSMV that says otherwise, and drive only within its terms.

What the Hearing Officer Decides, and What They Don't

The review is narrow on purpose. Under § 322.2615(7), the hearing officer decides by a preponderance of the evidence only these questions:

• Every case: whether the officer had probable cause to believe you were driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence.
• A 0.08 suspension: whether you had a blood- or breath-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher.
• A refusal suspension: whether you refused after being asked, and whether you were told the refusal would suspend your license for 1 year, or 18 months for a second refusal.

Guilt is not on the list. Neither is the jail exposure. If you request a formal review and do not show up without just cause, the right to the hearing is waived and the suspension is sustained. A decision against you can be appealed by petition for certiorari in circuit court, but the appeal does not stay the suspension either.

The material the police send in counts as self-authenticating. That includes the officer's affidavit, the test results or refusal affidavit and, if submitted, a crash report and video of the field sobriety tests. If you want the hearing officer to see something else, § 322.2615(1)(b)5. lets you submit it.

Two Cases, Two Clocks

The license review and the criminal DUI case under FL § 316.193 (opens in a new tab) are kept apart by statute, in both directions.

• The department's decision cannot be considered at the DUI trial, and neither can the written statement in your review request. § 322.2615(14)(a)
• If you are found not guilty at trial, the department must invalidate a 0.08 suspension. § 322.2615(16)
• The outcome of the criminal case does not affect a refusal suspension. § 322.2615(14)(b)
• A DUI conviction brings its own court-ordered revocation: at least 180 days and not more than 1 year for a first conviction not involving a death. § 322.28(2)(a)1.

So the 10-day decision is about your license in the next few months. It does not settle the criminal charge, and losing the license review does not mean losing the case.

Refusing the Test Is Now a Crime the First Time

Until October 1, 2025, a first refusal in Florida cost you your license but was not itself a crime. HB 687 (Chapter 2025-121) (opens in a new tab), approved by the Governor on June 6, 2025 and effective October 1, 2025, changed that. Under the current FL § 316.1939 (opens in a new tab), a driver who refuses a breath or urine test after being warned commits a second-degree misdemeanor on a first refusal and a first-degree misdemeanor on a second or later one.

The maximums are up to 60 days and a $500 fine for a second-degree misdemeanor, and up to 1 year and $1,000 for first-degree, under §§ 775.082 and 775.083. The refusal is also admissible in the DUI prosecution under § 316.1932. None of this replaces the license suspension; it stacks on top of it. The two run independently: § 316.1939(2) and (3) say neither outcome affects the other.

Three Situations That Change the Count

A blood test. When blood is drawn, the result is not known at the roadside. The agency sends it to the department within 5 days of receiving it, and if the department finds 0.08 or higher it issues the notice of suspension and a 10-day permit itself under § 322.2615(3). Your 10 days run from that notice.

A commercial license. FL § 322.64 (opens in a new tab) disqualifies a CDL holder from commercial vehicles after an unlawful-alcohol arrest or a refusal, even in a personal car, and the 10-day permit covers noncommercial vehicles only. A prior § 322.64 disqualification also rules out the § 322.271(7) waiver.

A weekend deadline. The statute counts 10 days and says nothing about weekends. Do not plan on an extension. File on a business day before the 10th.

The Hardship License, Briefly

The license Florida calls "restricted to business purposes only" is defined in FL § 322.271 (opens in a new tab) as driving necessary to maintain a livelihood: to and from work, on-the-job driving, school, church and medical purposes.

For a § 322.2615 suspension, the department requires proof of enrollment in a licensed DUI program substance abuse education course, including evaluation and treatment if referred. If the course is not completed within 90 days after reinstatement, the department cancels the license until it is. Enrollment is required in both routes, so there is no reason to wait on it.

If the Arrest Followed a Crash

Anyone hurt in the crash, including you, has a separate set of deadlines that do not wait for the DUI case: the 14-day medical-care rule for PIP benefits among them. Our guide on what to do after a car accident in Florida covers those. If someone else was injured, assume you will hear from an insurer, and do not give a statement about the crash without advice; the same facts are evidence in the criminal case.

Florida DUI 10-Day Rule — FAQ

Sources

Every period, deadline and penalty on this page comes from the 2026 Florida Statutes as published by the Florida Senate. Verify any of it yourself:

• Fla. Stat. § 322.2615 (2026) — Suspension of license; right to review (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 322.271 (2026) — Authority to modify revocation, cancellation, or suspension order (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 322.28 (2026) — Period of suspension or revocation (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 322.64 (2026) — Commercial driver license holders; unlawful blood-alcohol level; refusal (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 316.1932 (2026) — Implied consent; refusal (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 316.1939 (2026) — Refusal to submit to testing; penalties (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 316.193 (2026) — Driving under the influence; penalties (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 775.082 (2026) — Penalties; misdemeanor sentences (opens in a new tab)
• Fla. Stat. § 775.083 (2026) — Fines (opens in a new tab)
• Florida Senate — CS/HB 687 (2025), Chapter 2025-121, effective 10/1/2025 (opens in a new tab)

This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your case, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes change and individual facts matter.