For a DUI arrest in Pinellas, Pasco, or the Twelfth Circuit counties of Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto, the administrative side of your case runs through the Clearwater Bureau of Administrative Reviews. This is our home BAR office, and it is where we file formal review demands, secure driving permits, and contest suspensions for clients across the region.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | 4585 140th Avenue North, Suite 1002, Clearwater, FL 33762 |
| Phone | (727) 507-4405 |
| [email protected] | |
| Hours | Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., unless posted otherwise |
| Counties served | Pinellas and Pasco, and the Twelfth Circuit counties of Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto |
| How to demand a hearing | Form 78065 with the $25 filing fee, within 10 days of arrest; an attorney can submit it electronically with a credit card authorization |
The Clearwater office serves the firm’s home region and the Twelfth Circuit. We file formal review demands here for clients across Pinellas, Pasco, and the Sarasota-Manatee-DeSoto area. Procedures and figures last verified June 2026.
One office for a wide region
The Clearwater office is one of the eight Bureau of Administrative Reviews offices that remained open after the 2019 reorganization, and it serves more than Pinellas. Formal review hearings for arrests in Pasco and in the Twelfth Circuit, Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto, are handled here. When we represent a client arrested in DeSoto County, for example, the Form 78065 demand goes to the Clearwater BAR.
How we handle the Clearwater filing
The demand has to reach the Clearwater office within ten days of arrest, on Form 78065 with the $25 fee. We submit it electronically with a credit card authorization and obtain the 42-day business-purposes permit so you keep driving. The office then schedules the hearing within thirty days, where we put the Department to its proof. The formal review hearing and invalidation pages explain how those hearings are won.
What the Clearwater hearing decides
A formal review at the Clearwater office runs the same way as anywhere in the state. After the demand, the office schedules the hearing within about thirty days and issues a temporary permit, and at the hearing the Department officer decides, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the stop and the arrest were lawful and whether the breath, blood, or refusal proof holds up. The scope of review and the winning defects are detailed on the formal review hearing and grounds to invalidate pages.
The counties it covers
The Clearwater BAR office serves a wide region, including Pinellas and Pasco in the Sixth Judicial Circuit and the Sarasota and Manatee area in the Twelfth, so most of our DUI cases outside Hillsborough are reviewed here. For a Hillsborough arrest, the filing goes to the Tampa office instead, and getting that venue right inside the ten days is part of handling the case.
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. I demand the formal review hearing in DUI cases and appear at the Tampa and Clearwater Bureau of Administrative Reviews offices, because that hearing protects your license and locks in the officers early. Learn more about my background.
Clearwater BAR questions
Where is the Clearwater BAR office?
The Clearwater Bureau of Administrative Reviews is at 4585 140th Avenue North, Suite 1002, Clearwater, FL 33762, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It handles DUI administrative suspension hearings for Pinellas and Pasco and for the Twelfth Circuit counties of Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto.
Does the Clearwater BAR cover the 12th Circuit?
Yes. Formal review demands for arrests in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties are handled through the Clearwater office. We routinely file Form 78065 demands to the Clearwater BAR for clients across Pinellas, Pasco, and the Twelfth Circuit.
How do I request a hearing at the Clearwater BAR?
Within ten days of your arrest, submit Form 78065 with the $25 filing fee to the Clearwater office. An attorney can submit it electronically with a credit card authorization and request your 42-day driving permit at the same time. The 30-day clock to schedule the hearing begins once the fee is paid.
What happens at the Clearwater BAR hearing?
The hearing officer reviews the documents and any testimony and decides by a preponderance of the evidence whether to sustain, amend, or invalidate the suspension. If the arresting officer or breath technician is subpoenaed and fails to appear, the suspension shall be invalidated. The hearing is also where your attorney questions the officers under oath, early in the case.
Can I get a hardship license at the Clearwater BAR?
Yes. The Clearwater office handles hardship license applications and waiver reviews as well as formal review hearings. A first-time offender can file a waiver review there for immediate reinstatement, though that path leaves the suspension on the driving record. The hardship and waiver tradeoffs are covered on the hardship and 10-day pages.
Related: the formal review hearing, how a suspension gets invalidated, the Tampa BAR office, the hardship license, and the license and interlock overview.
This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Florida administrative suspension and review process is governed by sections 322.2615, 322.2616, and 322.64, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 15A-6 of the Florida Administrative Code, and license revocation, hardship, and reinstatement are governed by sections 322.271 and 322.28. Deadlines are short and the rules change, so confirm current requirements with the DHSMV or an attorney. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
