Third DUI Penalties in Florida

A third DUI can be charged as a felony offense if any prior conviction occurred within the past ten (10) years. Additionally, a third DUI conviction within 10 years of any prior DUI conviction will result in a 10-year revocation of the driver’s license. According to DHSMV Bulletin #001/2005, the ten-year revocation is triggered when the third DUI offense date is within ten years from any previous conviction date.

Keep in mind that not all DUI arrests will result in a conviction. Avoiding that DUI conviction may save you thousands of dollars from both direct and indirect consequences that would otherwise be required by a conviction.

To help avoid the conviction, your attorney needs to take advantage of all avenues of attacking the allegations. For example, you only have ten (10) days after your arrest to demand a formal review hearing to challenge the administrative suspension of your driver’s license. The formal review hearing is one of the most important parts of your case because it allows your attorney to gather evidence early in the case.

Also, by challenging the administrative suspension, your attorney might convince the hearing officer at the DHSMV to remove that notation from your driving record, restoring your full driving privileges while you fight the criminal charges in court.

Attorney for a 3rd DUI in Tampa, FL

If you are facing a third DUI in Florida, contact an experienced attorney to discuss your case. You only have 10 days after the arrest to retain an attorney to demand a formal review hearing and secure your 42-day driving permit. If you already have two DUI convictions on your driving record, you will not qualify hardship driving privileges unless your attorney demands the formal review hearing.

The attorneys at Sammis Law Firm represent clients accused of refusing to submit to a chemical test of their blood, breath, or urine. Our DUI defense attorneys know how to fight to keep the chemical test results out of court at trial.

Find out more about fighting to reduce the DUI charges to reckless driving to avoid a driver’s license suspension and other more serious DUI penalties.

With offices in downtown Tampa in Hillsborough County, New Port Richey in Pasco County, and Clearwater in Pinellas County, FL, we fight drunk driving cases throughout the greater Tampa Bay area.

Call (813) 250-0500.

10 Day Rule for Demanding a Formal Review Hearing

You only have ten (10) calendar days after the arrest to demand a formal review hearing. Demanding the formal review hearing within that 10-day deadline is the only way to challenge the administrative suspension of your driver’s license after a third DUI arrest.

For a third DUI, there is never a good reason not to request a formal review hearing. If you have any prior DUI conviction or administrative suspension triggered by a DUI arrest, you are not qualified for immediate reinstatement. That means there is no downside to requesting the formal review hearing.

Act quickly to hire an attorney to demand your formal review hearing and help you obtain a 42-day permit so you can continue driving for hardship reasons why your criminal defense attorney fights the case.

Is the 3rd DUI a Felony or a Misdemeanor?

If you enter a plea to a charge of DUI in Florida and you have two prior DUI convictions on your driving record, then your case could be prosecuted as either a felony DUI or a misdemeanor DUI. In some states, this type of offense that can wobble between a felony or a misdemeanor is called a “wobbler.”

After the arrest in Hillsborough County, FL, the State Attorney’s Office in Tampa will review the police reports and your prior record to determine whether the case should be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony.

In most cases, the prosecutor will make this filing decision within the first 21 days after the arrest. Therefore, in these cases, it is particularly important to hire an attorney as quickly as possible after the arrest.

If you were not represented by an attorney for one of the prior DUI offenses, then the prosecutor may have a difficult time using that prior plea for purposes of charging you with the felony DUI offense.

The prosecutor might also be reluctant to file the third DUI as a felony if any of the prior convictions are particularly old or occurred out of state because obtaining the certified records is more complicated.

Court Ordered 10 Year Driver’s License Revocation

If you are convicted of DUI offenses on three separate occasions, with the latest offense occurring within ten years of the prior conviction, then the court will impose a ten (10) year driver’s license suspension.

Florida statutes do not require an in-state DUI conviction in order to impose a ten-year revocation of driving privileges if a driver has had three convictions for DUI within a ten-year period. Florida Statute Section 322.24 provides:

“The department is authorized to suspend or revoke the license of any resident of the state, upon receiving notice of the conviction of such person in another state or foreign country of an offense therein which, if committed in this state, would be grounds for the suspension or revocation of his or her license.”

Florida Statute 322.28(2)(a)(3) provides in pertinent part:

“Upon a third conviction for an offense that occurs within a period for 10 years after the date of a prior conviction . . ., the driver license or driving privileges shall be revoked for at least 10 years.” and section 322.28(2)(a) provides: “for the purposes of this paragraph, a previous conviction outside this state for driving under the influence . . . will be considered a previous conviction for violation of s. 316.193.”

Article IV of the Driver License Compact provides:

“the licensing authority in the home state, for the purposes of suspension, revocation, or limitation of the license to operate a motor vehicle, shall give the same effect to the conduct reported, pursuant to article III, as it would if such conduct had occurred in the home state.” 322.44, Art.IV(1).

Consider the fact that regardless of whether the judge and the prosecutor treat the third DUI as a third DUI at sentencing, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) might still consider the offense a third DUI when imposing a suspension or revocation on your driver’s license.

If the third DUI offense that later results in a conviction occurred within ten (10) years of any prior DUI conviction listed on your driving record, then the DHSMV will trigger a ten (10) year revocation of your driver’s license (even if the court neglected to do so).

This 10-year revocation will occur even if one of the DUIs occurred out of state and was not known to the court or prosecutor at the time of sentencing.

Third DUI in Florida Outside of 10 Years

The first determination is whether your newest DUI case will be considered a third DUI within ten (10) years or outside ten (10) years. The 10-year determination is made by looking at your most recent DUI conviction and determining whether it occurred within ten (10) years of your newest DUI arrest. See DHSMV Bulletin #001/2005.

Under Florida law, if the third DUI occurs outside ten (10) years of any prior DUI conviction, then you will be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor offense. The penalties and punishments are generally the same as a first DUI, except that the statutory maximum jail term is 12 months, and the ignition interlock device is required for two years.

Third DUI in Florida Within 10 Years

If the third DUI occurs within ten (10) years of any prior DUI, then under Florida law, the prosecutor has the discretion to charge the offense as either a felony or a misdemeanor. If the offense is charged as a felony, it is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The court must also impose a 10-year driver’s license revocation.

Even if the prosecutor charges the offense as a third DUI within ten (10) years as a misdemeanor, the following penalties apply:

• Jail Time: At least 30 days with at least 48 hours being served consecutively and up to 364 days in jail;

• Fine: At least $2,000 but up to $5,000 (with a blood or breath alcohol reading of .15 or higher or minor in the vehicle, then the fine will not be less than $4,000);

• Vehicle Impoundment: The court must order the vehicle to be impounded for ninety (90) days;

• Driver’s License Revocation: For a third DUI conviction, the court must impose a minimum ten (10) years revocation and not eligible for a hardship reinstatement for at least the first two years;

• Mandatory ignition interlock device: The court must impose a requirement that you install the ignition interlock device for at least twenty-four months;

• DUI School: The court will require the driver to complete DUI school as a condition of probation, which includes both classroom instruction, a substance abuse evaluation, and completion of any recommended follow-up treatment.

Hardship Reinstatement after a 10 Year Revocation for a 3rd Within 10 DUI

If you have a 10-year revocation after a DUI conviction triggered by §322.28(2)(a)(3) and §322.271(2)(c), then before you are eligible for reinstatement for hardship purposes, you must do the following:

• serve two years of the revocation; and
• completion of DUI school.

If you meet those requirements, then you can submit an application for a hardship license to your local DHSMV Bureau of Administrative Review (BAR) office to request a hearing to determine your initial eligibility for a hardship license. I

f you are granted eligibility to proceed to apply, the the Bureau of Administrative Review (BAR) will issue a Eligibility Letter if you meet the initial eligibility criteria. Within 30 days from issuance of that letter, you must submit to the pre-screening process. During the pre-screening process you must provide:

• the Eligibility Letter from the Bureau of Administrative Review within 30 days of when that letter was issued;
• a valid photo ID with current address;
• the certificate of completion from DUI School attendance following last conviction or a duplicate copy that can be purchased from the last DUI school that you completed;
• a certificate of completion from substance abuse treatment following last conviction or proof of current participation in treatment; and
• the $25 pre-screening fee (payable by cash, money order or credit/debit card).

Upon completion of your pre-screening, your pre-screening documents will be reviewed. If you are eligible to proceed with the registration process, you will be contacted to schedule your registration appointment. The following must be hand-written or typed and provided at this appointment:

• complete names and mailing addresses of the records departments for any of the following that you’ve received services in the last one (1) year;
• medical providers to include doctors, hospitals, clinics or dentists;
  • permanent revocation applicants: provide the last five (5) years;
• treatment agencies to include substance abuse and mental health;
  • permanent revocation applicants: provide the last five (5) years;
• name and mailing address of your DUI substance abuse treatment agency following last conviction.
  • You will need to contact the above mentioned agencies to obtain their mailing addresses where requests for records must be sent.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure the addresses you provided are accurate.
  • Otherwise, your application might be delayed.
• list of names of three (3) character references (non-related to you) that have known you for more than one (1) year which might include friends, employer, co-workers, neighbors, etc.
  • permanent pevocation applicants: for more than five (5) years.
• pay $351 to include the registration fee and any objective testing (payable by cash, money order or
  credit/debit card)
  • Please note that a service fee will apply if using a credit/debit card.
• after your registration appointment, you will be contacted to schedule your 2-hour evaluation appointment.
• after the evaluation appointment, you will be notified of the disposition of your case via certified mail and the DHSMV will also be notified of the disposition of your case.

Registration in the DUI Special Supervision Services is voluntary and NOT a guarantee of approval. Any decision by the DHSMV based on a non-recommendation by the DUI SSS program is appealable under the provisions of Sec. 322.31, Florida Statutes. No fee waivers or refunds will be granted.

The following fees are incurred if accepted into the SSS program:

• $55 monthly appointment fee required to schedule
• $10 monthly fee required to access and review IID reports
• $39 twice yearly for FDLE and MVR required processing fees
• $15 yearly for State Anniversary fee
• Other fees apply for chemical testing when required
• Medical record fees charged by medical providers (if applicable during the application process and/or while enrolled in the program). Florida Statute 395.3025 states that charges for copies of medical records are allowed. Any fees for said records will be your financial responsibility.

The following requirements, at a minimum, will apply if accepted into the SSS program:

• attend all scheduled appointments;
• make all required payments;
• maintain sobriety and abstain from all illicit drug use;
• maintain a safe driving record;
• cooperate with all requests made by the program including chemical testing and treatment attendance, if recommended;
• participate in support group activities/self-help meeting

This article was last updated on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.