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What You Should Know
About Georgia DUI Laws
Jessica R. Towne
The following constitutes a summary of Georgia's Driving Under the Influence (DUI) laws. It is provided for educational and informative purposes only. The information provided is current as of July 1, 2008, and reflects the most recent changes in Georgia's DUI laws. As of July 1, 2008, the "look-back" period for counting the number of DUI convictions within a time frame for purposes of enhanced punishment changes from five years to TEN years. All arrest dates must be on or after July 1, 2008 to begin the 10-year look-back period.
There are many laws governing DUI
Alcohol has been around for a long time. Cars have been around since the turn of the century. For the past eighty years or so, the American legal system has had to deal with the problem of intoxicated drivers. As cars have gotten bigger and faster, the dangers associated with drunk driving have increased, and the laws have frequently changed. Recent political trends have caused a rise in the conviction rate for DUI, the severity of punishment, and the intensity of enforcement efforts.
The laws governing DUI in Georgia are as follows: (1) the Constitution of the United States, (2) the Constitution of the State of Georgia, (3) the Georgia Code (O.C.G.A.), (4) the Georgia Administrative Code, and (5) appellate decisions on DUI and criminal procedure by the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia. No lawyer should ever take on a DUI case without being familiar with all of the laws governing DUI.
The state and federal constitutions guarantee DUI suspects the same rights granted any American
accused of a crime, including the presumption of innocence, the right against self-incrimination, protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to fully confront witnesses at trial.
The Georgia Code contains the actual laws against DUI, the criminal procedure rules applicable to DUI trials, the license suspension and scholarship disqualification rules triggered by a DUI plea or conviction, the mandatory punishment and alternative incarceration rules, and the rules of evidence applicable to all criminal trials. These are the laws enacted by the Georgia state legislature.
The Georgia Administrative Code contains rules and regulations pertaining to the methods of scientific testing of breath, blood and urine in DUI cases, the certification of qualified police officers to operate breath screening devices, and license suspension regulations. These rules are enacted by the executive branch of our state government, subject to structured public debate under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Decisions from the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia interpret all of the above laws and contain rulings on individual DUI cases that have been appealed. The Supreme Court can also declare a law or rule unconstitutional and strike it down.
Whew! That's legalese for "the law of DUI is complex and ever changing - that is what makes it a specialized, difficult area of legal practice."
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