The Suspension That Starts at the Refusal
A refusal triggers an administrative suspension of your driving privilege that is entirely separate from the criminal case. A first refusal suspends your license for one year. A second or subsequent refusal suspends it for eighteen months. The suspension runs through the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, not the court, and it starts on its own clock the day of the arrest, with the citation serving as notice.
| First refusal | Second or later refusal | |
|---|---|---|
| Suspension length | One year | Eighteen months |
| Hard time with no driving | 90 days | 90 days, and a second refusal is also a crime |
| Deadline to demand a hearing | 10 days from arrest | 10 days from arrest |
The hard-time period is the stretch with no driving at all before any hardship license can issue.
The Ten-Day Window Comes First
The single most time-sensitive step in a refusal case is the ten-day deadline to demand a formal review hearing. Miss it and the suspension simply runs. Demand it in time and you keep driving on a temporary permit while the challenge is pending, and you force the officers to answer under oath early. Because this deadline and this hearing live in the license side of the case, the mechanics are covered in depth in the license section. The ten-day decision page lays out the choice, and the formal review hearing page explains how the hearing is run and won.
A Refusal Suspension Stands Only If the Arrest Was Lawful
Here is the defense that belongs to refusal cases in particular. A refusal suspension can be sustained only if the refusal was incident to a lawful arrest. The Florida Supreme Court held as much in Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. Hernandez, 74 So. 3d 1070 (Fla. 2011), and again in Wiggins v. Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 209 So. 3d 1165 (Fla. 2017), confirming that a hearing officer can invalidate the suspension after finding the arrest itself unlawful. The stop is judged by an objective standard from Dobrin v. Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 874 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 2004). If the arrest does not hold up, neither does the refusal suspension.
Getting Back on the Road
If the suspension stands, the law still leaves a path to driving. After the hard-time period, a driver can apply for a hardship license for business or employment purposes, subject to the requirements and the waiting period for the offense. And if the hearing officer finds a defect in the paperwork or an unlawful arrest, the suspension can be invalidated outright, which the grounds to invalidate page details. The point is to treat the license as its own case from day one, because the deadline does not wait for the criminal court.
Related: The ten-day decision, The formal review hearing, Grounds to invalidate a suspension, and Implied consent and refusal.
I started out as an Assistant Public Defender in Florida’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in Tampa, and today I am one of six ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientists in Florida. A refusal case runs on two tracks at once, your driving privilege and a separate criminal charge, and I fight both, demanding the formal review hearing and testing whether the stop, the arrest, and the implied consent warning hold up. Learn more about my background.
Common Questions
How long is my license suspended for a refusal?
A first refusal suspends your Florida driving privilege for one year. A second or subsequent refusal suspends it for eighteen months. The suspension is administrative, runs through the Department, and is separate from the criminal DUI and the criminal refusal charge.
How long before I can drive after a refusal?
A refusal suspension carries a hard-time period of 90 days with no driving at all. After that period, and if you qualify, you can apply for a hardship license for business or employment purposes. Demanding the formal review hearing within ten days affects whether you get a temporary permit in the meantime.
What is the ten-day rule?
You have ten days from the arrest to demand a formal review hearing to challenge the suspension. Missing the deadline forfeits the hearing and lets the suspension run. Demanding it on time generally gives you a temporary permit while the challenge is pending.
Can a refusal suspension be invalidated?
Yes. A refusal suspension can be sustained only if the refusal was incident to a lawful arrest, so an unlawful stop or arrest can invalidate it, as can a defect in the sworn paperwork or a no-show by the officer. The Florida Supreme Court confirmed the lawful-arrest requirement in Hernandez and Wiggins.
Is the suspension the same as the criminal refusal charge?
No. They are two different things from the same refusal. The suspension is an administrative penalty on your license decided by the Department, while the criminal refusal charge under Trenton's Law is decided in criminal court. You can win one and still have to fight the other.
This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Florida’s implied consent law is section 316.1932, Florida Statutes; the criminal refusal offense is section 316.1939; blood testing in serious-injury and death cases is governed by section 316.1933; the impairment presumptions are in section 316.1934; and the administrative suspension process is in sections 322.2615 and 322.2616. Trenton’s Law (House Bill 687, Chapter 2025-121, Laws of Florida) took effect October 1, 2025, and these rules continue to change, so confirm current requirements with an attorney. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
