DUI and Criminal Defense in Dade City
Dade City is the historic heart of East Pasco County, a small city of brick streets and antique shops around the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center, with US-301 and State Road 52 carrying traffic through town. It hosts the county’s East Pasco courthouse and the annual Kumquat Festival.
Because the Sumner Judicial Center is right here, many East Pasco cases are heard in Dade City rather than across the county, and the US-301 corridor and the festival crowds bring their share of DUI, drug, and traffic enforcement. We defend each one by testing the stop, the search, and any chemical testing first.
Having the courthouse in town means East Pasco residents often handle their cases close to home, and we appear at the Sumner Judicial Center regularly. The US-301 and State Road 52 stops common around Dade City turn on whether the officer had a lawful basis for the stop, and a careful review of the video and the records frequently shows the stop does not hold up the way the report suggests. Whatever the charge, the work is the same: get the full file, test the science, and press every issue that protects you.
I am Rory Safir, an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, one of only six in Florida, and a former public defender. I defend DUI and criminal cases across the Sixth Judicial Circuit, including all of Pasco County. On the breath and blood chemistry I am trained in, I read the raw data myself rather than taking the State’s report at face value, and on DNA, digital, and other evidence I bring in the right expert. Learn more about my background.
Historic Dade City and the East Pasco Courthouse
Dade City is the historic heart of east Pasco, a small town of oak-lined streets, antique shops, and seasonal events like the January Kumquat Festival, with St. Leo University just outside town. Its DUI and traffic stops tend to happen along US-301 and the routes through and around the historic downtown.
Dade City is also where east Pasco’s cases are heard. The Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center on Live Oak Avenue handles criminal and DUI matters for the eastern half of the county, so a Dade City case stays local rather than going to the coast, while west Pasco cases are heard at the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey. We handle cases at both, and we test the stop and the testing the same way wherever your case is heard.
How We Help
Whatever the charge, the work starts with the evidence: the stop, the search, the testing, and the witnesses.
What a Charge Can Mean for You
A DUI or criminal charge connected to Dade City reaches well past the courtroom. A conviction can suspend your driver’s license, leave a permanent public record that shows up on background checks, threaten a job or a professional license, and, for a non-citizen, carry immigration consequences that the criminal sentence never mentions. Certain charges can also affect your right to own a firearm and your ability to seal or expunge the record later. These stakes are the reason we treat even a first misdemeanor seriously, and the reason the early decisions, about the stop, the testing, and how the case is resolved, are worth getting right the first time.
Where Your Dade City Case Is Heard
Pasco County sits in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which it shares with Pinellas, and it has two courthouses. West Pasco cases are heard at the West Pasco Judicial Center on Little Road in New Port Richey, and East Pasco cases are heard at the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center on Live Oak Avenue in Dade City. The dividing line is US Highway 41: as a general rule, a stop west of US-41 sends the case to New Port Richey, and a stop east of US-41 sends it to Dade City. Your Dade City case will be heard right at the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center on Live Oak Avenue. If a DUI is involved, the ten-day clock to protect your license through the DHSMV runs from the date of the arrest, and the Sixth Circuit’s DROP program can offer a path to a reduced result for an eligible first offense.
That license side runs separately through the Florida DHSMV. Formal review hearings for Dade City arrests are held at the Tampa Bureau of Administrative Reviews (the BAR) on East Hillsborough Avenue, which also handles Hillsborough, Pasco, and several nearby counties. You have only ten days from the arrest to demand that formal review, which is the only way to fight the suspension and an early chance to question the officer under oath. We file that demand and appear at the Tampa BAR for you.
DUI School and Diversion for a Dade City Case
If a Dade City case ends in a DUI, Florida requires DUI school before your license comes back, and the licensed provider for Pasco County is Pride Integrated Services. For an eligible first DUI, the Sixth Judicial Circuit’s DROP program can reduce the charge to reckless driving after enhanced conditions, and the circuit also runs pretrial intervention, the Adult Pre-Arrest Diversion program, and treatment courts for non-DUI charges, which the Sixth Circuit State Attorney describes on its site. We line the timing up with your court and license deadlines and tell you plainly whether diversion or fighting the charge fits your case.
How We Defend a Dade City Case
We get the full file rather than the summary, test the science with the right expert, press the constitutional issues around the stop and the search, and tell your whole story in negotiation and, when needed, at trial. It is the same forensic-first approach in every part of Pasco County we serve, and it is what separates a case that is merely processed from one that is truly defended.
Common Questions
Do you handle DUI and criminal cases in Dade City?
Yes. We defend DUI and the full range of criminal charges connected to Dade City, including drug, theft, violent, weapons, domestic violence, and probation matters, along with serious injury cases.
Is my Dade City case heard in Dade City?
Yes. Dade City is home to the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center, which handles East Pasco County criminal and traffic cases in the Sixth Judicial Circuit.
What makes your Dade City defense different?
I am one of only six attorneys in Florida recognized as an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, and I read the breath, blood, and urine science myself rather than taking the State’s report at face value. That scientific read is where many cases turn.
How fast should I call after an arrest?
As soon as you can. A DUI arrest starts a ten-day clock to protect your license, evidence can be lost, and the earlier we are involved the more of your case we can protect. The first consultation is free and we are available 24/7.
Is my Dade City case heard locally?
Yes. East Pasco criminal and DUI cases, including Dade City, are heard at the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center on Live Oak Avenue in Dade City, while west Pasco cases go to the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey.
Where is my license hearing held for a Dade City DUI?
The license suspension is handled by the Florida DHSMV, not the criminal court. Formal review hearings for Dade City arrests are held at the Tampa Bureau of Administrative Reviews on East Hillsborough Avenue, which serves Hillsborough, Pasco, and several nearby counties. You have only ten days from the arrest to demand that hearing.
More Pasco Areas We Serve
This page is general information about Florida law and our service area, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Court structure and procedure can change, so confirm details with counsel about your own case. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
