Out of State DUI

This article is not intended to give legal advice. Sometimes, our clients ask where they should enroll in DUI school after getting arrested for DUI in Hillsborough County. The answer depends on where they live, work, and attend school. The answer might also depend on whether they held a Florida driver’s license at the time of the arrest. One common scenario involves a person coming to Hillsborough County on vacation from another state. While in Hillsborough County, they are arrested for DUI. At the time of the arrest, they held a valid out-of-state driver’s license. In that case, we might give the following advice:

If you are arrested for DUI in Florida, but live in another state and hold a driver’s license issued by that other state, you should attend DUI school where you reside in the other state (hereinafter “home state”). Each county in Florida has different requirements for enrolling in that county’s DUI school. You are not allowed to enroll in DUI school in that county in Florida unless you live, work, or attend school in that county in Florida, where you are enrolling in DUI school. If you were arrested for DUI in Florida but reside in another state and hold a driver’s license in that state, you must enroll in DUI school where you live, work, or attend school in your home state.

For example, if you get a DUI anywhere in the United States, but live or work in Hillsborough County (and held a Florida driver’s license at the time of the DUI arrest), then you can enroll in DUI school in Hillsborough County, FL.  On the other hand, if you don’t live, work, or attend school in Hillsborough County, then you are not allowed to enroll in DUI School here. Instead, you should complete DUI in your home state and attend the same DUI school you would have attended had you gotten arrested for DUI right outside your home or office.

There are three reasons why DUI school might be required:

1. If your license is administratively suspended in Florida (you can’t drive in Florida without a hardship license, but that administrative suspension does not impact your driving on a valid license issued in your home state in any state outside of Florida. Additionally, your home state will take no action based on the administrative suspension.
2. If you get convicted of DUI, the court in Florida imposes a court-ordered revocation of your privileges to drive in Florida. Additionally, that DUI conviction and court-ordered revocation will be reported to your home state. Then your home state will require you to complete DUI school in your home state, as if the DUI had occurred in your home state
3. If you enter into a plea agreement for a reduced charge of reckless driving, that requires you to complete DUI school as a special condition of probation. If so, your probation officer will allow you to complete DUI school in your home state because you are not even allowed to enroll in DUI school in Florida since you don’t reside here.

No matter how you look at it, you are not allowed to enroll in DUI school in Florida if you do not live, work, or attend school here. But you might still need to complete DUI school. If so, you should enroll in DUI school in your home state.

Read more about attending DUI school in Tampa or Hillsborough County, FL.