Arrested When you Visited The Out of State Drivers Guide to Georgia DUIs

Arrested When you Visited The Out of State Drivers Guide to Georgia DUIs

Atlanta is a busy metropolis that receives millions of tourists annually on business meetings, holidays and family meetings. However, a visit to the city may easily become a nightmare when you get pulled over and arrested due to driving under the influence. The arrest panic is swiftly succeeded by an ensuing logistical panic as to how you will manage a criminal case hundreds or thousands of miles away. In the case of visitors, the legal complexities are compounded, and it is extremely important to have a highly qualified Atlanta DUI Attorney who is knowledgeable about the complexities of interstate legal issues.

Among the greatest misconceptions out of state drivers make is that whatever transpires in Georgia, remains there. This is just not the case. Georgia is one of the states that is a member of Interstate Drivers License Compact. It is an accord among states to exchange information on traffic offences and license suspensions. In case of a drunk driving offense conviction in Georgia, the conviction will be reported to your home state licensing authority. Then your home state will impose its own penalties on your license, which frequently reflect, or are more, severe than those you got in Georgia. To negotiate this cross border communication, it will take the skill of a special DUI Attorney Atlanta to reduce the effect on your driving privileges in the home country.

The physical distance between your home and the jurisdiction that you have been arrested poses an enormous challenge. The regular criminal proceeding will entail numerous court appearances, such as arraignment, calendar calls, motion hearings and a trial may be held. To do all these dates you have to fly in and out of Georgia; this is incredibly expensive, time consuming and this is highly disruptive to your career and family life. Fortunately, much of this load can be relieved by having local counsel. As an example, when you have Atlanta DUI Attorney James Yeargan with Yeargan & KERT LLC, you can frequently have the legal team file waivers of appearance on your behalf. This will enable the lawyer to represent you through most of the initial court sessions, i.e. you just need to go back to the state when it is absolutely crucial to have an evidentiary hearing or trial.

The other extreme and very urgent concern of out of state drivers is the administrative suspension of the license. The Georgia police have a procedure that allows the arresting officer to suspend your driving privileges in the state at the time of your arrest. Thirty days after the day of arrest are all you have to file an appeal and seek an administrative hearing to defend your right to drive in Georgia. Unless you do this, you will be suspended in your right to drive in Georgia and under the interstate compact, your home state will probably also suspend your actual physical license. The only thing to protect your daily commute in your home state is to have a proactive DUI Lawyer Atlanta with you to cover this thirty day deadline.

The key to dealing with an out of state legal crisis is playing chess and focusing on not only your criminal history, but your comfort. Trying to control the court clerks, the prosecutors, and the interstate licensing agencies out there is a disaster in the making. By engaging the services of an experienced Atlanta DUI Lawyer, you are getting a local lawyer in the courtroom that knows the local judges, the local court procedures, and can handle the complexities of your case, when you are at home. You should be looking forward to your life and your job, and your local counsel is laboring to save your record and your liberty.