Polk County License Hearing Guide
How to request your Administrative License Hearing and protect your driving privileges after a DUI arrest.
Last verified: September 6, 2026
30-Day Deadline
You have exactly 30 days from your arrest to request a hearing. Miss this deadline and your license is automatically suspended. No exceptions.
Enter your arrest date to see your deadline:
If You Request in Time
- • Temporary permit until hearing
- • Chance to keep your license
- • Gather evidence for defense
If You Miss the Deadline
- • Automatic 90-180 day suspension
- • No hearing, no appeal
- • Starts after waiting period
How to Request Your Hearing
Online Request
Fee: Typically $50-$125
Available: 24/7
Instant confirmation
Phone Request
Fee: Same as online
Hours: Business hours only
Expect hold times
Information You'll Need
From Your Notice:
- • Driver License Number
- • Date of Arrest
- • Arresting Agency
- • Arresting Officer Name
Personal Information:
- • Full Legal Name
- • Current Address
- • Date of Birth
- • Phone Number & Email
After You Request
Temporary Permit
ImmediateDrive legally until your hearing
Hearing Notice
20-40 daysDate, time, and format mailed to you
Prepare Defense
Before hearingGather evidence, hire attorney
Attend Hearing
Scheduled dateUsually phone or video
Decision
Same dayWin: keep license. Lose: suspension starts
Temporary Permit
Immediate
Drive until hearing
Hearing Notice
20-40 days
Date mailed to you
Prepare
Before hearing
Gather evidence
Attend Hearing
Scheduled
Phone or video
Decision
Same day
Win or suspension
What to Expect at the Hearing
Most hearings are by phone or video
You usually don't need to travel. When you receive your hearing notice, it will specify whether it's phone, video, or in-person.
Duration
30-60 minutes typically
Who's There
You, your attorney (optional), state attorney, hearing officer
What They Review
Probable cause for stop, proper arrest procedure, test validity
Evidence That Can Help
- Dashcam or bodycam footage 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 subpoena arresting officer
- Knows how to challenge evidence
- Uses hearing to strengthen criminal defense
- Higher success rate at hearings
Without an Attorney
- State has experienced attorney present
- May not know proper objections
- Can't effectively cross-examine officers
- Lower win rate statistically
If You Lose Your Hearing
Losing the hearing isn't the end. You still have options to maintain limited driving privileges:
Ignition Interlock
Drive with device installed
Occupational License
Limited driving for work/essentials
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Guides
The Cedartown DDS office is closed Sundays and Mondays. It's open Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. If your 30-day license deadline lands on a Monday and you were planning to file in person, you can't. Use the DDS online portal, or mail the request certified with a return receipt well ahead of any weekend or Monday deadline.
A DUI arrest starts a civil case against your license, run by the Department of Driver Services, entirely separate from the criminal case. Winning or dismissing the criminal case doesn't undo the administrative suspension.
The 30-day deadline
If your BAC was 0.08 or higher, or you refused the state's test, the officer took your license and gave you a DDS Form 1205, a permit to drive for 45 days. Your deadline to act is 30 calendar days from the arrest. Do nothing and the suspension is automatic once that permit expires. For a refusal, the suspension is a minimum of one year with no limited driving permit available.
Two options:
Request an ALS hearing to contest the suspension, usually on procedural grounds like whether the officer had probable cause for the stop. File with the Office of State Administrative Hearings through the DDS portal, by mail, or in person, with a $150 fee. The standard of proof at that hearing is a preponderance of the evidence, lower than the criminal standard, but the hearing also lets your attorney question the officer under oath early.
Or waive the hearing and install an ignition interlock device to keep restricted driving privileges. This decision changes your criminal defense strategy, so make it with an attorney.
DUI school, interlock, and treatment
A conviction requires the 20-hour Risk Reduction course, fixed at $360 statewide: a $100 assessment based on a 130-question survey, a $235 course, and $25 for materials. The 20 hours have to be attended in person, in a group. Online versions and uncertified schools are rejected by both the DDS and the court. There's a provider in Rockmart and one in Cedartown; the class directory on this site lists them.
For the interlock, a Cedartown facility doubles as a tow lot and an authorized installer, so you can retrieve an impounded car and get the device put in at one stop. Other authorized installers operate in Cedartown and in Cartersville. Installation runs $70 to $150, then $70 to $80 a month. Georgia's approved brands include Intoxalock.
After the course comes a clinical evaluation by a state-approved provider; referrals and monitoring for Polk County run through the county probation office. If it recommends counseling, completing it is required for license reinstatement.
Continuous alcohol monitoring, the ankle bracelet, gets ordered for repeat offenders, extreme-BAC cases, or as a condition of the Drug Intervention Program. A court-approved monitoring provider handles it; the directory on this site lists options.
A conviction also requires an SR-22 certificate before reinstatement, filed with the state electronically by your insurer.
Last updated: September 6, 2026
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