Driving on a Suspended License

FIRST OFFENSE OF DRIVING ON A SUSPENDED LICENSE

If you drive (even when sober) while your license has been suspended for any reason, there is a mandatory minimum $500.00 penalty and a jail sentence of two days to six months.  The crime is a misdemeanor and the fine may be up to $1,000.00.  Once you plead guilty to, or are convicted of, driving on a suspended license, there is an additional license suspension of at least six months from the date of the conviction or the plea, with no work permit or other exceptions.  If you are still on probation for a DUI when you are arrested for Driving with a Suspended License, a judge can require you to go back to jail for the rest of your DUI sentence.

SECOND OFFENSE OF DRIVING ON A SUSPENDED LICENSE

Upon conviction of, or a guilty plea to driving on a suspended license for a second time within five years, the jail time is ten days minimum, up to one year and the fine is $1,000.00 minimum up to $2,500.00.  This crime is a high and aggravated misdemeanor.  The DDS will also automatically suspend the convicted driver's license for at least another six months.

SUSPENDED LICENSE DUE TO DRUG OR DUI-DRUGS CONVICTION

The license of anyone who pleads guilty to or is convicted of drug possession (including misdemeanor marijuana possession) or a more serious drug offense will be suspended regardless of whether he or she was driving while using drugs. 

Upon the first conviction or guilty plea to drug charges, or a DUI-drugs conviction (O.C.G.A. §40-6-391(a)(2), (4), or (6) in a given 5-year period, the suspension is for a minimum of 180 days.  There is no provision for a limited driving per during the 180 days.  O.C.G.A. §40-5-80(e).  Reinstatement of a driver's license is conditioned upon completion of DUI School, even if no driving was involved. 

Upon the second conviction or nolo plea in five years to drug possession, the suspension is for three years with possible reinstatement after one year.  Upon the third conviction or nolo plea in five years to drug possession, the suspension is for five years with the possibility of a limited driving permit after two years.  If a judge accepts a nolo plea to a drug charge, the driver must submit completion of DUI School to DDS within 120 days of the sentence or the driver's license is suspended "by operation of law," and no further notification has to be sent to the driver. 

You'll note that there may not have been a change in the look-back period for these offenses. 

Anyone arrested for driving after a drug-related suspension is subject to a minimum fine of $750.00 up to a maximum of $5,000.00, and a separate 12-month jail sentence.  If the driver is still under sentence for the case for which the driver's license was suspended, the first sentence may be revoked in addition to any new sentence for driving while suspended.

A Note on Searches and Seizures

DUI cases involve automobiles, and the law has long held that the police have the right to search an automobile without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe that either weapons or illegal contraband (drugs) may be found inside.  Upon walking up to your car, the police are allowed to shine a flashlight into the passenger's compartment and look around, ostensibly for "officer safety."  This is not considered a "search" because you have rolled down your window and you are offering the officer the opportunity to observe things in "plain view" inside your car.  If you have passengers, the officer is permitted to order them out of the car if he feels it is necessary for officer's safety.  If you are pulled over in a "high crime area" or under circumstances where the officer reasonably believes that you may have a weapon or that you pose a threat to his safety, he may be permitted to "pat you down" (feel your body by running his hands over your clothing) under the justification of officer safety.

The police will often ask for your consent to search the car even if there is no probable cause to believe that you have drugs or weapons in the car.  This is because they believe that traffic stops often involve people who are criminals.  The fact is, if the police gain your consent to search your car, they have the right to search everything in the car, including closed containers, until they are satisfied or you tell them to stop searching.  You are never required to give your consent to search.  Please go to our sister site, dontconsenttothesearch.com for more information.

In the context of a DUI, a driver is often placed under arrest at the scene and once he or she is arrested, the police have the right to search the driver's car and person "incident to the arrest." 

Once arrested, a driver should be asked about disposition of the car, that is, whether someone can come and pick it up or whether it has to be towed.  If the car has to be towed, it will be "impounded" and brought to a local wrecker lot.  Whenever a car is impounded, the police are allowed to conduct an "inventory search" of the car to see if anything in the car belonging to the owner is of value and will be at risk in the car while it is stored.  In reality, this is an excuse to conduct a thorough search of everything in the car including the door panels and floors.

In most cases, the police will make mistakes in conducting searches; the law is just too complicated.  The attorneys at Clark & Towne have studied Fourth Amendment law and the complex requirements of a legal search; we will be of great help to you if the police have seized any embarrassing or incriminating evidence from your car.  Evidence seized as a result of an illegal search can be excluded from use at trial.  Once key evidence is suppressed, your case may be dismissed.

If your case involves drugs, a carefully argued motion to suppress evidence is crucial.

Open Container Laws

A driver who permits anyone to possess an open container of an alcoholic beverage in the car may be fined up to $200.00 with two points put on his or her driver's license.  While this is a relatively minor offense and carries no license suspension penalties, open container evidence in a DUI case is damaging and prosecutors will usually add this charge to the formal accusation whenever possible in order to remind the jury of the open container.  The open container is usually a beer.  It can even be an empty beer can rolling around in the bed of a trash-filled pickup truck.  If it is a mixed drink in the console or other drink holder, the police officer usually pours it out and does not save any amount for testing, so the contents of the cup become difficult to prove unless the driver admits to drinking.  Penalties for underage drivers with open containers are more severe and include a driver's license suspensions of 120 days, DUI School and no early reinstatement of driver's license.

Child Endangerment

A driver may be found guilty of the separate offense of child endangerment where he or she is DUI with a passenger-child under 14 years of age in the car.  Punishments vary depending upon whether it is the driver's first DUI conviction, and whether the child was injured or killed.  For a first DUI where the child was simply a passenger and was uninjured, an additional fine, more probation or a jail sentence should be expected.  These offenses are treated like DUIs:  if you are convicted of DUI, and convicted of Child Endangerment for two children in the car at the time of driving, you will be declared Habitual Violator.  The government attorney cannot dismiss or "merge" child endangerment charges into the underlying DUI as a plea bargain.

School Bus Drivers

A conviction or guilty plea to DUI while driving a school bus is a felony and carries a one-year minimum jail sentence up to five years, and a $1000.00 minimum fine up to $5,000.00.

DUI and Drug Courts

Many courts have DUI and Drug Courts.  Drug Courts are generally voluntary and reserved for people charged with felony drug possession where no weapons are involved, or no violence is involved.  To convince people to participate in Drug Courts, prosecutors and judges dismiss the cases of those who successfully complete the program.  The program costs each participant about $3,000 and takes 18-36 months to complete.

DUI Courts are mandatory in some courts for drivers with a prior DUI conviction.  A driver is required to enter a guilty plea to DUI and another offense (like speeding) before starting the program.  The DUI is not dismissed upon successful completion of the $3,000 program that takes 18-24 months to finish.