You were cited for DUI but were not given a court date

Many people who are pulled over and cited with DUI do not receive a court date right away. After you are cited for DUI, the arresting officer and any other officer’s involved will compose their police reports and turn them into the Prosecutor’s Office. Your police report may sit on the Prosecutor’s desk for a while as they have many cases to go through and charge, in addition to yours. Ultimately, the prosecutor’s office has up to two years from the date of your violation to file charges against you. This two-year time limit is called a Statute of Limitations. Once the Statute of Limitations on your case has passed, the Prosecutor’s Office is not able to file that specific charge, stemming from that citation, against you.

Usually what happens, is  your case will be filed and charges will be brought against you within a couple of weeks to a couple of months of your citation date: it may take longer, but remember, the prosecutor’s office has up to two years to file charges against you.  This does not mean that you should wait to meet with an experienced DUI attorney until your case is filed.  It is in your best interest to obtain as much information regarding the consequences you may be facing from a DUI charge as well as the proactive steps you can take to help your case. Additionally, while your case may not yet be charged, the Department of Licensing is working on suspending your license and there is a time line involved (you have 20 days from the date of your citation to request an administrative hearing, allowing you to fight your license suspension), I’ll explain more about the Department of Licensing Administrative Hearing in Monday’s blog.

Remember….

• While you may have been cited for DUI from a law enforcement agency, your case may not actually be filed/charges be brought against you until a later time.

• The Statute of Limitations for a DUI charge is 2 years from the date of your violation. Just because you have not received a court date right away – does not mean you will not be charged.

• There is another case that comes with a DUI and that with the Department of Licensing – the clock starts ticking on this case the day you receive your citation (not to be confused with charge and not to be confused with your court case), you have 20 days from the date of your citation to request this hearing or you license will be suspended for a certain period of time.

• Do not wait to meet with an experienced DUI attorney regarding your DUI citation. It is important to obtain all the information you can in regards to your DUI charge.