Brandon DUI Lawyer

A DUI Arrest in Brandon Starts a Clock

A DUI arrest starts a countdown before it starts a criminal case. Florida gives you just 10 days to protect your driver’s license, no matter how the rest of this turns out. What you do during those 10 days can matter as much as anything that comes later. You need to know what this means for your license, your job, and the record you will carry once it is behind you.

Paul Figueroa has spent eight years as a public defender, rising to Felony Division Chief in Hillsborough County’s 13th Judicial Circuit, after growing up in Brandon and graduating from Brandon High School. As a Brandon criminal defense lawyer, he has litigated more than 140 jury trials. Tell us what happened at the stop, and we will tell you where your criminal DUI case stands and what to do about the 10-day clock before it runs out.

DUI Charges We Defend for Drivers Arrested in Brandon

Every DUI case out of Brandon moves through the same Hillsborough County courthouse, but the charges themselves vary widely, and the strategy changes with them. We help clients facing:

• First-time DUI arrests, where the goal is often keeping a conviction off a record that follows you for the next decade or longer.
• Second and third DUI charges, which carry mandatory jail time and steeper license consequences under Florida law, especially when the new charge comes soon after a prior conviction.
• DUI with property damage or injury, where the penalties for the DUI itself get more serious, and separate charges like reckless driving or criminal mischief can also apply.
• DUI Refusal cases, where a breath or urine test was declined.
• Underage DUI, where a much lower blood alcohol threshold applies to drivers under 21.
• Felony DUI, filed when a person is convicted of a third DUI within 10 years of a prior DUI conviction, when a person is convicted of a fourth or subsequent DUI regardless of how much time has passed since the priors, or when the crash causes serious bodily injury to someone else.

How a Brandon DUI Case Moves From Arrest to Resolution

Many people facing a first DUI have never been through the criminal process before. After the arrest, you are booked and a bond is set, and you typically wait at least eight hours before you are released to sober up. From there, the case moves toward an arraignment, where you enter a plea, and toward a decision about whether the evidence against you holds up. Along the way, Paul reviews the stop itself, the field sobriety tests, and the breath or blood results, because a DUI case is often won or lost on whether that evidence was gathered correctly.

What a Brandon DUI Can Cost You and When

Your license is suspended automatically after a DUI arrest in Florida, and you have 10 days from that suspension to request a formal review before your temporary permit runs out and the full suspension takes effect. Missing that window will not change the outcome of your criminal case directly, but it can leave you without a license for months while the rest of the process plays out.

Under Fla. Stat. § 322.2615, that suspension and the 10 day review window are automatic, separate from whatever happens in your criminal case.

Under Fla. Stat. § 316.193, a first DUI conviction can mean up to six months in jail, fines starting at $500, and a license suspension of at least six months. A second conviction adds a mandatory ignition interlock device for at least a full year, and if it comes within five years of the first, it also raises the minimum jail time and triggers a five-year license revocation. A third conviction within ten years of a prior conviction becomes a felony, carrying a mandatory minimum jail sentence and a 10-year license revocation.

Beyond the fines and the interlock device sits the part that lasts the longest: a conviction that shows up on background checks for jobs, professional licenses, and even some apartment applications, years after the case itself is closed. Florida does not allow a DUI conviction to be sealed or expunged, which is part of why the decisions made in the first few weeks matter so much.

Cases that come from DUI arrests made in Brandon are heard at the Hillsborough County Courthouse Annex in downtown Tampa. That is the same courthouse where Paul spent eight years as a public defender before opening his own practice.

Questions Brandon Drivers Ask After a DUI Arrest

What is the 10 day rule for a DUI arrest in Brandon?

Florida suspends your license automatically after a DUI arrest and gives you 10 days from that suspension to request a formal review hearing. Ask for the review inside that window, along with a temporary permit, or the suspension runs its full course without you getting a chance to contest it.

Can a first time DUI in Brandon be reduced or dismissed?

It depends on how the stop, the field sobriety tests, and the breath or blood testing were handled.

Do I have to go to jail for a first DUI in Hillsborough County?

Not automatically. A first conviction allows for up to six months in jail, but many first offenses resolve with probation, fines, and a license suspension instead. The sentence often depends on the blood alcohol level, your driving record, whether anyone was hurt, and your defense.

Will a Brandon DUI show up on background checks for years afterward?

Yes. Florida does not allow DUI convictions to be sealed or expunged, so a conviction stays visible to employers, licensing boards, and landlords who run a background check, which is part of why the days after an arrest carry so much weight.

Talk to a Brandon DUI Lawyer Before the 10 Days Run Out

You do not have to sort out your license status, your court dates, and your next step on your own. Contact Paul Figueroa Law to walk through what happened and find out exactly where your case stands, while there is still time to defend yourself.