A Tampa DUI arrest opens two separate clocks: a criminal charge under Florida Statute 316.193 and an administrative driver license action under Florida Statute 322.2615. They are decided by different bodies on different schedules, and one of them moves in days.
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Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (813) 588-6602Florida Statute 316.193(1) sets out the offense in parts. A person must be driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle within this state, and must either be under the influence of alcohol or a chemical or controlled substance to the extent that normal faculties are impaired, or register an unlawful alcohol level. The statute fixes that level at 0.08 or more grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, and, for breath, at 0.08 or more grams per 210 liters. "Actual physical control" is not a synonym for driving, and "impaired" is tied by the statute to normal faculties rather than to any single roadside observation.
For a first conviction, 316.193 sets a fine in the range of $500 to $1,000, and imprisonment that may not exceed 6 months. A second conviction carries a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $2,000, with imprisonment not exceeding 9 months, and requires an ignition interlock device for at least one year at the convicted person's own expense. Subsection (4) creates a higher band where the alcohol level was 0.15 or higher, or a person under 18 was in the vehicle: on a first conviction the fine becomes not less than $1,000 and not more than $2,000, with imprisonment up to 9 months. A fourth or subsequent violation is a felony of the third degree with a fine of not less than $2,000. DUI manslaughter carries a mandatory minimum term of 4 years. Subsection (6)(a) limits a first-conviction probation term to one year and requires a minimum of 50 hours of community service.
Florida Statute 322.2615 runs on its own track. An officer who lawfully arrests a driver and finds an unlawful alcohol level, or encounters a refusal, takes the license and issues a notice of suspension that also serves as a temporary permit for an eligible driver. The statute states that the permit expires at midnight of the tenth day after issue, and that a review may be requested from the department within that same 10-day window. Blood results, when they arrive later, are to be transmitted within 5 days. Suspension periods are fixed: 1 year for a first refusal and 18 months where the privilege was previously suspended for refusal; 6 months for a first unlawful alcohol level and 1 year where previously suspended on that basis. Day eleven closes the review avenue but does nothing to the criminal charge.
Florida Statute 316.1939 makes a refusal a separate crime where probable cause, a lawful arrest, and a proper warning are established and the driver then refuses. A first refusal is a misdemeanor of the second degree; a second or subsequent refusal is a misdemeanor of the first degree. The statute also provides that the administrative license proceeding does not determine the criminal charge.
Documents issued at the roadside and at booking carry the dates that matter: the citation with its statute subsection, the notice of suspension and temporary permit, any breath result printout with time stamps, and the bond paperwork with its conditions.
This page is general information about Florida law and Hillsborough County procedure. It is not legal advice and evaluates no individual charge. Anyone arrested for driving under the influence should speak with a licensed Florida attorney promptly, because the license deadline is measured in days.
DUI Defense in Tampa: Charges and License Deadlines in Tampa. Call (813) 588-6602 and a Tampa lawyer reviews the claim and the deadline that applies. Nothing is signed on that call.
Call (813) 588-6602Administrative Order S-2025-063 of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit adopts the statewide uniform bond schedule for Hillsborough County without change, effective January 1 through December 31, 2026. The order states the schedule applies only to the booking officer and does not bind a judge. It also excludes a long list of arrests: capital, life, first- and second-degree felonies, homicide, felony battery, domestic battery by strangulation, and domestic violence under Florida Statutes 741.28. The list continues with stalking, robbery, burglary, carjacking, kidnapping, trafficking in a controlled substance, and violation of a protective injunction. It reaches anyone on pretrial release, probation or community control at the time of a felony arrest, and anyone arrested three or more times in the preceding six months.
Why it matters: It decides whether anyone can be bonded out at the jail counter or has to wait for a judge. For every excluded charge there is no pre-first-appearance release, and the judge then makes an individualized determination under Florida Statutes 903.011(6) and 903.046 and Rule 3.131. Prior supervision status and recent arrest history change the answer even when the charge itself is minor.
Source: fljud13.org
The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court states that after a felony arrest the county jail sends the initial paperwork to the Clerk's felony department. That department prepares the official court file, including the original arrest document and any release forms, and forwards it to the Office of the State Attorney. The State Attorney then determines whether to file formal charges. Once charges are filed with the Clerk, the defendant is notified by mail of an arraignment date, sent to the address provided at the time of arrest, and the bail bond agent is also notified if the defendant bonded out. The felony department cannot change a court date once notice has gone out.
Why it matters: An arrest is not a filed charge, and the gap between them is where people assume a case has gone away. The notice that resumes it goes to whatever address was recorded at booking, so anyone who moved, or who gave a temporary address, can miss a court date they never saw. Missing it does not pause the case.
Source: hillsclerk.com
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130 requires that every arrested person not already released in a lawful manner be taken before a judicial officer within 24 hours of arrest, in person or by electronic audiovisual device at the court's discretion. At that hearing the judge must state the charge, provide a copy of the complaint, and advise the person of the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. Rule 3.133 sets a separate 48-hour limit for a nonadversary probable cause determination when the defendant is in custody.
Why it matters: In Hillsborough County that hearing is normally run by video link from the county jail, and release conditions are addressed at it. Rule 3.130(c)(2) also requires the judge to allow a defendant who is hiring counsel reasonable time to send for that lawyer and, on request, to have an officer carry a message to a named lawyer inside the county at no cost. That makes the first day after an arrest the point at which counsel matters most.
Source: flcourts.gov
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