A Golf Cart, a Refusal, and the Hearing Most Drivers Never Request

Where the Case Stands

The State dropped the golf cart DUI, refusal, and resisting charges

The license win was only half of it. The criminal case still carried three charges: DUI, refusal to submit to testing, and resisting an officer without violence. The State has now filed a nolle prosequi on all three, which means it dropped the case. There was no plea, no conviction, and no trial.

The formal review hearing is a big part of why. At that hearing the deputy who made the stop testified under oath that the in-car camera captured the maneuver and that the video speaks for itself. The video shows the vehicle ahead signaling and turning left and the golf cart passing it on the right, on the pavement. That’s the situation section 316.084(1)(a) allows in so many words. I built my motion to suppress on that sworn testimony and the video.

The State didn’t drop the case at first. I filed an amended motion to suppress, the court set it for a hearing, and the State dropped every charge after reviewing it, before the hearing date arrived.

Many folks skip the formal review hearing because it’s “only” about the license. This case shows what it’s worth. It’s the one early chance to put the officer under oath, and what the officer says there follows the criminal case. If you already have a lawyer, ask whether a formal review hearing was requested and whether the officer was subpoenaed. Here are five more questions worth asking.

A recent client of mine was stopped while driving a golf cart and arrested for DUI. Florida treats a golf cart as a vehicle for DUI purposes, so the arrest carried everything a car arrest carries, including the part most people never see coming: an administrative suspension of his driver license for an alleged refusal to submit to testing.

That suspension is the second case. It does not wait for the courtroom. It runs through the DHSMV on its own track, in front of a hearing officer rather than a judge, and unless the driver demands a formal review hearing within ten days of the arrest, it simply takes effect. No argument, no cross-examination, no test of the evidence. Most drivers never learn the hearing exists until the window has closed.

What a formal review hearing actually does

Demanding the hearing changes the shape of the case. The Department has to assemble its evidence into a packet, the officers can be subpoenaed and cross-examined under oath, and the hearing officer has to decide whether the record actually supports the suspension. It is a narrow proceeding with its own rules, and it rewards preparation over volume: the transcript of that cross-examination exists forever, whatever else happens later.

In this case I demanded the hearing inside the window and appeared ready to proceed. I cross-examined both deputies. Then I filed a written closing and a motion to invalidate, walking through the record point by point: what the documents said, what the testimony established, and where the two together could not carry the suspension.

The stop itself was the battleground

The stop rested on two observations: the golf cart had no license plate, and it passed another vehicle on the right. Neither carried the weight the suspension needed.

Florida does not require a golf cart to display a license plate, so a missing plate on a golf cart is not a violation at all. And passing on the right is not automatically improper: section 316.084, Florida Statutes, expressly permits it in defined circumstances, and the statute’s language disqualifies the maneuver only when the driver leaves the pavement. I laid the statute next to the deputies’ own account and argued that the maneuver described was one the law allows.

That framing matters because a traffic stop must rest on an actual violation or a reasonable suspicion of one. When the conduct described is conduct the statutes permit, the stop rests on a mistake about what the law forbids, and everything built on the stop, including the suspension, inherits that problem. That was the heart of my written motion.

Why this matters beyond one golf cart

A refusal suspension is not a slap on the wrist. A first refusal suspends the license for one year, and a second refusal runs eighteen months. And since October 1, 2025, under Trenton’s Law, any refusal is also chargeable as its own crime, a second degree misdemeanor the first time and a first degree misdemeanor after a prior. And the suspension does not care what you drive for a living or how you get to work.

There’s a second reason I fight every refusal suspension, and it’s the one that bites later. An unchallenged suspension stays on your record as a prior refusal, and under section 316.1939 a second refusal is a first degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, instead of a second degree misdemeanor capped at 60 days. How the criminal case ends doesn’t change that. Say your DUI gets reduced to reckless driving. You walk away without a DUI conviction, but the refusal suspension is still on your record. If you’re ever arrested again and refuse, you’re facing a first DUI and a second refusal, and the State can prove the prior with the Department’s own records, which the statute treats as proof unless you rebut them. In my experience, prosecutors almost always want jail on a second refusal, and it’s an easy charge to prove.

The deeper point is structural. An unchallenged suspension is an untested one. The evidence behind it is never assembled, the witnesses are never questioned, and the record is never examined, because nobody asked. The formal review hearing is the asking, and it comes with a ten day fuse that starts burning the night of the arrest.

The outcome

The hearing officer found the evidence insufficient to support the suspension and set it aside. The refusal suspension came off the client’s record, and he kept his driving privilege. The criminal case ended later, as described at the top of this page. Both results also appear on the case results page.

Common questions

Can you get a DUI on a golf cart in Florida?

Yes. Florida’s DUI statute, section 316.193(1), applies to anyone driving or in actual physical control of a “vehicle,” and section 320.01(22) defines a golf cart as a motor vehicle. A golf cart DUI arrest carries the same criminal charge and the same administrative license suspension as a car arrest, including the suspension for refusing a breath test.

Does a golf cart need a license plate in Florida?

No. A golf cart, which section 320.01(22) defines as a vehicle built for golf course use that can’t go faster than 20 miles per hour, isn’t required to be titled, registered, or plated. A low-speed vehicle, which can reach 25 miles per hour, is different, because section 316.2122 requires titling, registration, and insurance. Some cities also require their own golf cart decal. A missing plate on a true golf cart isn’t a violation.

What is a DHSMV formal review hearing?

It is the administrative hearing where a driver challenges the license suspension that follows a Florida DUI arrest. It runs through the DHSMV in front of a hearing officer rather than a judge, the Department must assemble its evidence, the officers can be subpoenaed and cross-examined under oath, and the hearing officer decides whether the record supports the suspension.

How long do you have to request a formal review hearing in Florida?

Ten days from the arrest. Miss that window and the suspension takes effect without anyone testing the evidence behind it. The demand also matters because it is the only way to put the officers under oath this early in the case.

What happens when a suspension is set aside at formal review?

The suspension is invalidated and comes off the driving record, and the driver keeps the driving privilege. The administrative result is separate from any criminal case, which runs on its own track with its own standards.

Can a traffic stop rest on an officer’s mistake of law?

A stop needs an actual traffic violation or a reasonable suspicion of one. When the conduct an officer describes is conduct the statute expressly permits, the defense can attack the stop’s legal foundation, and a suspension or arrest built on that stop can fall with it. Courts do allow some room for reasonable mistakes, which is exactly why the statutory text and the specific facts decide these fights.

Can a formal review hearing help the criminal DUI case?

It can. The formal review hearing is often the first time the arresting officer answers questions under oath, and those answers are recorded. In this case the deputy’s testimony about the in-car video became the foundation of my motion to suppress in the criminal case. The hearing officer’s decision itself can’t be considered at a DUI trial under section 322.2615(14)(a), which is why the value of the hearing lies in the testimony, not the ruling.

What does it mean when the State files a nolle prosequi?

A nolle prosequi is the prosecutor’s formal notice that the State is dropping a charge. In this case the State filed one on all three charges, so the case ended with no plea, no trial, and no conviction.

Does a refusal suspension still count if my DUI is reduced to reckless driving?

Yes. The refusal suspension is a separate administrative record, and section 322.2615(14)(b) says how the criminal case ends doesn’t affect it. If you’re arrested again and refuse, that prior suspension makes the new refusal a first degree misdemeanor under section 316.1939, and the Department’s records are enough to prove it unless you rebut them. That’s why a refusal suspension is worth challenging at the formal review hearing.

Related reading: when a stop begins as a welfare check, DUI on private property, and DUI on vehicles that are not cars.

This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own record, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.