The 10-Day Rule for California DUIs

Learn More From a Southern California DUI Attorney

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence in California, you are subjected to a restriction known as the 10 day rule. It is important to keep this rule in mind because failing to adhere to it could have serious consequences for your freedom and ability to drive. What is the 10 day rule? Simple: you only have 10 days after your arrest (including holidays and weekends) to contact the local Driver Safety Office to request an APS hearing and a stay on the license suspension. Otherwise, your license will automatically suspend 30 days following the date of arrest. The clock begins on the date of your initial arrest, so for example, if you were arrested on July 1st you would only have until July 11th to make your request. Thus, it is vital you or your attorney contact the local Driver Safety Office within 10 days to ensure your right to the APS hearing and stay are invoked. Upon request of the stay you will maintain full driving privileges pending the outcome of the hearing.

Attorney Kellee Parker Harris of Parker Law Center has the knowledge and skillset to defend your rights and fight for your driving privileges at the APS hearing. She is a fierce advocate who is seasoned at the processes and procedures of both the APS hearing and court. Whether you are dealing with a DMV hearing or your DUI charges in criminal court, you can trust Attorney Parker’s knowledge and experience to provide you with a rigorous defense.

Why Request an APS Hearing?

Upon your release from custody following a DUI arrest, the law enforcement agency should provide you with a number of documents. One of these documents is a pink piece of paper which provides notice for the APS hearing and serves as the temporary driver’s license. It can be overwhelming trying to decipher all of the different documents provided at release. Many people do not realize there are two separate entities (criminal court and the local driver safety office) ready to take action following your arrest. The criminal court proceedings are entirely separate from the DMV/ APS proceedings. In fact, most people do not realize that there are two separate license suspensions they can be subjected to due to the DUI arrest. One suspension results due to conviction in criminal court. The suspension which most people are not familiar with is the one that is triggered immediately upon arrest. In order to fight this initial license suspension an APS hearing must be requested within 10 days of arrest at the local driver safety office. The request for hearing can be made by either yourself or your attorney. A stay must also be requested in order for you to maintain full driving privileges.

Should you retain our office within 10 days of the arrest date then we will contact the local driver safety office to request your hearing and ensure the stay on the license suspension is placed. Failure to request the APS hearing within 10 days will result in your license being suspended 30 days from the date of arrest. If the hearing and stay are requested timely then the DMV will issue you a new temporary license and you will maintain full driving privileges pending the outcome of your hearing.

In addition to maintaining full driving privileges while your hearing is pending, the APS hearing provides us with early access to your discovery (arrest reports, blood alcohol results, traffic collision reports, etc). In addition to obtaining the initial discovery, we are afforded an opportunity to then subpoena additional items (audio, video, maintenance and calibration records, blood lab packet, 911 calls, etc) prior to your court case. This allows us an opportunity to start evaluating the evidence and crafting our defense. Without an APS hearing we would have to wait until after the initial court date to obtain these documents.

Should we win the APS hearing then at this point there will not be a suspension on your license. If the action is upheld then we want the suspension to be reinstated as close as possible to the time that the criminal court concludes as to overlap any suspensions due to court conviction. The APS penalties are harsh especially for someone who is designated as a refusal. The suspension period can range in length between 4 months (first offender, non-refusal) to a three year revocation for a third or higher offender deemed as refusal. Attorney Kellee Parker Harris is well versed with the rules and procedures of the APS hearing. At the hearing, Attorney Parker will defend your rights and present evidence to maintain your driving privileges.