This Update Includes the Latest Changes in Georgia DUI Laws Effective July 1, 2008
This update on Georgia Driver’s License Administrative License Suspension Law is written AFTER the latest change in Georgia DUI laws effective for all arrests made July 1, 2008 and after. Unless specially stated in these video clips, the SAME law (for administrative suspensions) also applies to all arrests made since July 1, 2001 (this was another major revision of Georgia’s DUI statutes). The new D.U.I. law in Georgia starting with arrests made July 1, 2008 and after changed the CRIMINAL PENALTY “lookback” term to 10 years, but did not change the Georgia Administrative License Suspension [ALS] Laws, which still utilize a 5 year “lookback” period in determining whether a driver is a “repeat” offender. See Mr. Head’s copyrighted “DUI Punishment” Grid available on full color for your review or easy download and printing off of a personal copy at www.DUI.tv/galaws.pdf.
An Administrative License Suspension [ALS] Form Should Be Issued in ALL DUI Arrests
If you are ultimately convicted of DUI, a license suspension or revocation WILL occur in 100% of DUI cases, if your arresting officer follows Georgia laws. Hence, before the criminal case ever gets started and before you have made a “first appearance”, other Georgia laws relating to breath testing, blood testing or urine testing (or, if the arresting officer requests, two or more types of tests) trigger one of TWO TYPES of pre-trial administrative suspension “action” against the licenses of virtually every person arrested for DUI in Georgia. This rule is applicable whether you possess a Georgia driver’s license or one issued by another state, the arresting officer is required to confiscate (pick up) your plastic operator’s license. This administrative suspension can be and often IS more devastating to an accused impaired driver in GA than the potential suspension that occurs in the criminal case for DUI first offender, if a DUI conviction does later happen. If arrested for D.U.I. in the State of Georgia, statutes mandate that you should be issued one of two types of notices of suspension of your license. You will either be issued a Form DS-1205 (issued in about 97% of DUI arrests) OR a Form DS-1127 (issued in about 2% of DUI arrests). The forms look and ARE completely different in their APPEARANCE and their PURPOSE.
The Most Commonly Issued ALS Form is the Yellow-Colored DS-1205 Form
When a DUI arrest is made in Georgia, the arresting officer is compelled by State laws to take away (confiscate) your plastic license and issue a pre-conviction, written notice of a proposed, IMMEDIATE driver’s license suspension action. Usually, it is the Form DS-1205. This form is commonly referred to by lawyers who are DUI specialists (and by police officers who handle DUI arrests) as “a 1205 form” or “a DS-1205 form.” Click on the hyperlink to see an sample of this State-issued pre-printed, 8½” by 11”, yellow-colored form (called a DS-1205) [CLICK on this link to see the PDF version of this blank form, plus a copy of the Arresting Officer’s Instructions to follow in completing and filing the Form Ds-1205 and the Arrested Driver’s Instructions]. This form can be compared to the papers you received (or should have received) after your arrest, so you can read the notice — front and back — to see what you are facing.
