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Under-21 DUI Defense
Florida gives drivers under 21 two completely different alcohol problems, and families routinely confuse them. One is the zero-tolerance .02 rule — an administrative license suspension that is not a crime at all. The other is an actual DUI charge under the same statute as adults, with the same penalties and the same permanent record. Which track a stopped 19-year-old ends up on depends on the numbers, the officer, and — more than anyone admits — on how the next ten days are handled.
If your son or daughter was stopped after drinking, call or text 407-846-8008 before any hearing deadline passes.
Track One: The .02 Administrative Suspension (§ 322.2616)
A driver under 21 with a breath or blood alcohol level of .02 or higher — roughly one drink — faces:
• A 6-month license suspension (1 year for a second occurrence); refusing the test brings a 1-year suspension (18 months with a prior refusal);
• No crime, no arrest, no criminal record — the statute says so expressly. The detention isn't an arrest and the violation isn't even a traffic infraction;
• A reading of .05 or higher adds a mandatory DUI-program substance abuse course before the license comes back, with parents notified for drivers under 19;
• The same 10-day clock as adult DUI: a temporary permit and 10 days to demand a formal review of the suspension — a hearing where the stop, the request, and the reading can all be challenged. The department must schedule that hearing to be held within 30 days of receiving the request, and its failure to do so invalidates the suspension — a statutory deadline worth policing. Hardship licenses are available on their own timeline.
This track is often worth fighting: portable breath devices, the basis for the stop, and procedural deadlines all give real openings — and keeping a clean license matters enormously at 18.
Track Two: Real DUI — Same Statute as Adults
Nothing about being under 21 prevents a full criminal DUI charge under § 316.193 when impairment or a .08+ reading is alleged. Same fines, same jail exposure, same permanent unsealable record, same license revocation — see First-Time DUI. Officers choose the track; marginal cases become criminal when a young driver performs roadside exercises badly, admits “a couple of beers,” or panics. Everything on our breath test and field sobriety page applies with extra force to nervous 19-year-olds on a roadside at 1 a.m.
Underage cases also sprout companion charges that need handling in the same defense: possession of alcohol by a minor, fake ID charges (a felony for forged, counterfeit, or altered licenses; showing someone else's real license as your own is a separate, lesser charge), open container, and the social-media evidence teens helpfully generate.
Why These Cases Deserve a Real Defense
A criminal conviction at 19 shadows college discipline, scholarships, first security clearances, nursing and teaching licensure, and insurance for a decade. Diversion programs, reductions, and the zero-tolerance track's administrative exits can keep the record clean — and a withhold of adjudication can too, though only on a reduced non-DUI charge, since Florida law bars withholds on DUI itself. Those outcomes are far less likely when the case is pled instead of worked. The family's goal isn't surviving this week; it's the application your kid files at 24.
Frequently Asked Questions
My daughter blew .04. Is that a DUI?
Under 21, it's a .02-rule suspension — administrative, not criminal — unless the State pursues impairment DUI. Protecting that line, and fighting the suspension, is the job.
Is the .02 suspension really “not a record”?
It's a driver-license action, not a criminal case — but it lives on the driving record insurers see. The formal review is the chance to keep even that clean.
He refused the portable breath test at the car.
The roadside portable device and the station test carry different rules and consequences for under-21 drivers — the details decide these cases, and the 10-day deadline doesn't wait.
Should we just do the suspension and move on?
Sometimes — after a lawyer confirms there's no criminal exposure, no better administrative outcome, and no hardship need. Confirming takes one consultation; assuming costs a semester of driving.
Ten Days. One Call. Everything to Protect.
Call or text 407-846-8008 for a free consultation with former prosecutor Chad Seibel. Office visits are by appointment only.