ALS Hearing After Georgia DUI Arrest

A driver arrested for DUI in Georgia who refuses testing or tests over the limit faces two proceedings: the criminal charge and an administrative license suspension (ALS) under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1. Contesting the suspension takes a written request and a $150 fee within 30 days of the suspension notice. In the same 30 days, an eligible driver can instead take a one-year ignition interlock permit and give up the hearing.

When the 30 days start

The clock runs from the suspension notice, not from the arrest. Under § 40-5-67.1(f)(1), the officer personally serves the notice of intent to suspend “at the time of the person’s refusal to submit to a test or at the time at which such a test indicates that suspension or disqualification is required”, takes the license, and issues a 45-day temporary driving permit. When the officer has not given notice, as can happen when a blood result arrives later, the Department of Driver Services suspends the license and mails the notice; under § 40-5-67.1(f)(2), “The notice shall be deemed received three days after mailing.”

Section 40-5-67.1(g)(1) then requires the $150 filing fee and a written hearing request “within 30 days from the date of personal notice or receipt of notice sent by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, or the right to said hearing shall be deemed waived.”

What the hearing decides

The hearing is held under the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act and recorded. By § 40-5-67.1(g)(2), its scope is limited to:

1. whether the officer had reasonable grounds to believe the person was driving or in actual physical control of a moving vehicle under the influence and lawfully arrested the person for DUI, or whether the person was in a crash resulting in serious injury or fatality;
2. whether the officer gave the implied consent notice when requesting the test;
3. whether the person refused, or whether a test showed 0.08 grams or more (0.02 for a driver under 21, 0.04 in a commercial motor vehicle); and
4. whether the test was properly administered by a person holding a valid permit from the GBI Division of Forensic Sciences, on an approved instrument “operated with all its electronic and operating components prescribed by its manufacturer properly attached and in good working order”.

The hearing officer sends a decision to rescind or sustain the suspension within five calendar days after the hearing.

A request does not stop the suspension by itself

Under § 40-5-67.1(g)(3), “The request for a hearing shall not stay the suspension of the driver’s license”. The exception: if the hearing was timely requested and is not held before the temporary permit expires, and the delay is not the driver’s reasonably avoidable fault, the suspension is stayed until the hearing officer decides.

A timely request also extends the temporary permit. The Department of Driver Services rule on temporary permits provides in Rule 375-3-3-.09(1)(b): “If the person files an appeal of the license suspension within 30 days, the Department shall extend the temporary driving permit for an additional 90 days, but not beyond the date when the person’s driving privilege is suspended or revoked.” The extension is a DDS form that serves as the permit together with the driver’s copy of DDS Form 1205, the 45-day permit the officer issued. DDS may extend it again when the Office of State Administrative Hearings documents that a final decision will not be entered before the permit expires (Rule 375-3-3-.09(1)(c), (d)).

The ignition interlock permit as the alternative

Section 40-5-64.1 offers an ignition interlock device limited driving permit to a driver facing a test-result suspension under § 40-5-67.1(c) or a refusal suspension under § 40-5-67.1(d), if the driver has no DUI conviction within five years, measured from the dates of the earlier arrests to the current arrest. The permit is not available to a driver who is under 21, not licensed in Georgia, holds a commercial driver’s license, is suspended for a crash with injuries or fatalities, or whose license is suspended, revoked, or canceled for any other reason.

Step	Requirement
Timing	within 30 days from the date notice was given
Waiver	the driver surrenders the license and signs an affidavit waiving the hearing
Fee	$25
Length	valid for one year
Use	limited to listed purposes, including work, scheduled medical care, school, and court-ordered programs

Taking the permit waives the hearing (§ 40-5-67.1(g)(1)). The two routes also end differently if the criminal case does not produce a conviction. A driver who took the permit after a test-result suspension has the permit revoked and the license reinstated without a fee. A driver who took it after a refusal must keep the permit for the monitoring term required by § 42-8-110.1 even after an acquittal (§ 40-5-67.1(g)(4)(B)).

How the criminal case affects the suspension

The two proceedings are separate, but they connect at the end. Under § 40-5-67.1(g)(4)(A), if the driver is acquitted of DUI or the charge “is initially disposed of other than by a conviction or plea of nolo contendere,” the suspension is terminated and deleted from the driving record, subject to the interlock rule above. A plea of nolo contendere is entered on the record and counts as a conviction for future DUI cases. A driver who loses at the hearing may seek judicial review, but the suspension is not stayed while that appeal is pending (§ 40-5-67.1(h)).

How long the suspension lasts depends on its basis: one year for a refusal under § 40-5-67.1(d), and the period set by § 40-5-67.2 for a test result. Whether the refusal itself can be used in the criminal trial is a separate question, covered in Georgia implied consent law and test refusal. A commercial driver faces disqualification on top of the suspension, explained in CDL holder DUI consequences in Georgia.

The 30-day decision

• Find the notice date: the day of the stop if the officer served it, or the day a mailed notice was received (three days after mailing for regular mail).
• Check permit eligibility: age 21 or older, Georgia license, no commercial license, no injury or fatality crash suspension, no other suspension or revocation, no DUI conviction within five years.
• Choose before day 30: a hearing request with the $150 fee, or the interlock permit with the waiver affidavit.
• After a timely hearing request, keep the DDS 90-day extension form with the driver’s copy of Form 1205, and note the date the extension ends.

Sources

• O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1(c), (d), (f), (g), (h) (2024 Georgia Code).
• O.C.G.A. § 40-5-64.1(a), (c), (d), (e) (2023 Georgia Code; no later amendment listed in the Legislative Counsel summaries for 2024 through 2026).
• Department of Driver Services, Rule 375-3-3-.09, extension of temporary driving permits (Georgia Administrative Code, Chapter 375-3-3, read October 21, 2026).

General information about Georgia criminal law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.