Chatham County DDS ALS Hearing Guide
How to appeal your Administrative License Suspension (ALS) and protect your driving privileges after a DUI arrest.
Last verified: September 5, 2026
10-Day Deadline
You have exactly 10 business days from your arrest to appeal your Administrative License Suspension (ALS). Miss this deadline and your license is automatically suspended. No exceptions.
Enter your arrest date to see your deadline:
If You Appeal in Time
- * Hearing scheduled with OSAH
- * Chance to keep your license
- * May get limited permit faster
If You Miss the Deadline
- * Automatic 1-year suspension (refusal)
- * No hearing, no appeal
- * Starts on 46th day after arrest
How to Appeal Your ALS
In Georgia, you appeal your Administrative License Suspension through the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) and hearings are conducted by the Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH). You must request the hearing within 10 business days per O.C.G.A. 40-5-67.1.
File Through Attorney
Why: Must be filed properly with DDS
Deadline: Within 10 business days of arrest
Handles both ALS appeal and criminal case
File Pro Se (Self)
Where: Georgia DDS online or by mail
What to File: DS-1205 form + $150 fee
Cost: $150 filing fee
Not recommended - legal complexity
What the Hearing Officer Will Consider
Grounds for Appeal:
- * Officer lacked reasonable grounds for arrest
- * Improper administration of chemical test
- * Officer failed to read implied consent notice
- * Testing equipment not properly calibrated
Documents to Gather:
- * Citation and ticket copies
- * DDS Form 1205 (if received)
- * Any police reports available
- * Witness information
Georgia ALS Suspension Periods
Failed Chemical Test (0.08+ BAC)
- 1st:1-year suspension (eligible for ignition interlock permit)
- 2nd:3-year suspension (within 5 years)
- 3rd+:5-year suspension (habitual violator)
Refused Chemical Test
- 1st:1-year hard suspension (limited permit after 30 days)
- 2nd:3-year hard suspension (within 5 years)
- 3rd+:5-year hard suspension (habitual violator)
Important: 5-Year Lookback for ALS
Georgia looks back 5 years for prior ALS suspensions to determine penalty severity. Criminal DUI convictions have a 10-year lookback.
What to Expect at the Hearing
ALS hearings are conducted by OSAH
The Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH) conducts ALS hearings. These are separate from criminal court proceedings and focus solely on whether your license should be suspended.
Duration
30-60 minutes typically
Who's There
You, your attorney, administrative law judge, arresting officer (sometimes)
What They Review
Reasonable grounds for arrest, proper implied consent reading, test procedures
Evidence That Can Help
- Dashcam or bodycam showing procedural errors
- Breathalyzer calibration records (if not current)
- Witness statements about your sobriety
- Medical conditions affecting field sobriety tests
Should You Hire an Attorney?
With an Attorney
- Can challenge stop legality
- Knows how to challenge test procedures
- Can negotiate limited permit faster
- Handles both ALS appeal and criminal case
Without an Attorney
- State has experience against you
- May not know proper legal arguments
- Harder to get limited permit
- Lower success rate statistically
If You Lose Your Appeal
Losing the ALS appeal isn't the end. You still have options to maintain limited driving privileges:
Ignition Interlock Permit
Drive with device installed
Limited Permit
Work, school, medical, treatment
Georgia DDS Savannah Office
For license reinstatement after suspension ends, or questions about your driving record:
FAQ
Related Guides
The 30-day deadline is the one that ends most Chatham County license losses, and it runs on a separate track from the criminal case. When an officer seizes the license at a DUI arrest, they hand over a yellow DDS-1205 form that works as a permit for 45 days. But the request to fight the suspension has to be postmarked within 30 calendar days of the arrest, mailed with a $150 fee to the Department of Driver Services in Conyers. Miss it and the license suspends on day 46. The alternative, available since 2017, is to skip the hearing, install an ignition interlock right away, and take a limited permit instead.
Handling anything in person means dealing with the Savannah DDS office at 1117 Eisenhower Drive, Suite B, which is closed on Mondays. It's open Tuesday through Friday until 6:30 p.m. and Saturday mornings. A defendant released on a Monday can't touch a license issue there until Tuesday.
Reinstating a license takes three things lined up together: a Risk Reduction Program certificate showing DUI school is done, a reinstatement fee of about $210, and a certified copy of the court disposition. DUI school is a fixed $360 for the standard 20-hour course, usually run Friday evening through Sunday, and showing up even a minute late generally means dismissal and losing the fee. Georgia law also requires a clinical evaluation for nearly every DUI offender, a 60-to-90-minute interview costing $150 to $255 whose recommendation becomes a court order.
Two companies install interlocks in Savannah. Smart Start installs through Sight and Sound Technologies at 7602 Waters Avenue, 912-235-6867. Intoxalock installs at 2313 Abercorn Street, 912-228-4414. Installation runs $70 to $150, then $70 to $100 a month, with a calibration visit every 30 to 60 days and a $50 to $75 fee for a lockout code. Savannah's humidity is hard on the devices, and a recurring complaint is the unit drawing enough power with the car off to kill the battery and trigger a lockout.
For DUI Court participants and high-BAC defendants on bond, the court can also order a SCRAM ankle monitor that samples sweat for alcohol every 30 minutes. It's entirely defendant-funded, about $10 to $15 a day, which comes to $300 to $450 a month.
Sources
Last updated: September 5, 2026
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