DUI Dekalb County

DEKALB COUNTY DUI LAWYERS Our Decatur DUI lawyers and DeKalb County DUI lawyers at the Towe Law Firm are available 24 / 7 to discuss your case.  Just call us at 404.993.9172, and you will be able to speak with an experienced DUI attorney directly, not a secretary or paralegal. If you are charged with a DUI in the City of Decatur or DeKalb County, our experienced Decatur DUI lawyers and DeKalb County DUI lawyers at the Towe Law Firm will fight diligently and aggressively to defend you every step of the way.

We are experienced in handling cases in both the Decatur Municipal Court as well as the State Court of DeKalb County. We are experienced DUI attorneys, devoting most all of our practice to DUI and related charges that often accompany DUI charges.  We know the Georgia court system well and practice regularly in both the Decatur Municipal Court and the DeKalb County State Court.  We know many of the judges and prosecutors in both of these courts as well as the police officers and state troopers who are dedicated to the DUI task forces in Decatur and DeKalb County.

Through our relationships and experience, we have been able to maneuver through the Decatur and DeKalb County court system and consistently negotiate favorable decisions for our clients.  View our recent success stories here.  When a trial is necessary, we vigorously and aggressively fight for a favorable jury decision.

If you were charged with DUI, and the officer gave you a 30-day temporary license and notified the Department of Driver Services of your DUI arrest, then you have only TEN BUSINESS DAYS from the date of your arrest to send a letter to request an Administrative License Suspension (ALS) Hearing to try to save your Georgia driver’s license from being suspended.  Otherwise, your Georgia driver’s license will be suspended once your 30-day temporary license expires.   This suspension could be for a full year and could leave you WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF GETTING A LIMITED DRIVING PERMIT.  You can request a free “10 Day Letter” to save your license, and we will email the letter to you:  10 Day Letter Request Page.  Or if you prefer, our firm will send in this “10-day” letter for you for free.  You only need to provide us with the necessary information and pay the $150 fee that the State of Georgia requires for submitting a request for an ALS Hearing.

We offer you a FREE consultation by phone or in person to discuss your DUI case.  If you call our firm, you will speak with an experienced Decatur DUI attorney directly.  We will not hand you off to some junior attorney with whom you have never spoken. We will handle all aspects of your very important case personally. You deserve total representation from the experienced attorney with whom you consulted and hired, not from a junior associate.

We wish to highlight the seriousness of this DUI charge and importance of speaking with a Decatur DUI attorney and DeKalb County DUI attorney.  Regardless of how hopeless you think your case may be, you owe it to yourself to discuss your case with an experienced Decatur attorney / DeKalb County attorney.  We are passionate about working hard to get a favorable result in every case we take on.  Call us at 404-993-9172 now to set up an appointment at your convenience.  You have nothing to lose by calling and potentially a lot to gain.  We look forward to hearing from you and helping put your mind at some ease during this difficult time of yours.

DEKALB MUNICIPAL COURT From Decatur Municipal Court website:  “Decatur Municipal Court’s permanent location is under renovation. During the renovation, court staff and operations have been relocated to 120 West Trinity Place, 3rd Floor, Room 311. This building is the DeKalb County Callaway building in downtown Decatur. Decatur Municipal Court, temporarily located at the Callaway Building, 120 West Trinity Place, 3rd Floor, Room 311, Decatur, Georgia 30030 CalawayBuilding2014

The old facility was a former school building and not designed to house a courtroom. The new facility has been designed to promote safety and security as well as to be functional and effective as a courtroom facility. It is anticipated that court operations will resume in the new facility by Fall 2014.

Overview The Municipal Court holds first appearance and preliminary hearings for felony and misdemeanor charges to determine if enough probable cause exists to bind the case over to Superior or State Court of DeKalb County. The Municipal Court holds trials for traffic charges, some misdemeanors, city ordinance and parking violations that occur within the city limits of Decatur. The judges can assign fines and incarceration if the person is found guilty.

The Municipal Court judges are appointed by the Decatur City Commission. There are four judges that serve regularly and they are Robert N. Leitch (Chief Judge), Berryl A. Anderson, Lindsay R.M. Jones and Rhathelia Stroud. Additionally there are two substitute judges that serve in the absence of any of the regular judges. The substitute judges are Thomas Stubbs and Tisha Tallman. Larry Steele is the City Solicitor. He may be reached by calling 404-373-8000. The Chief Court Clerk, Faye Brantley, oversees the day-to-day operations of the court.

In addition to the Chief Court Clerk, there are two full-time Court Clerks and one part-time Court Marshall who prepare the court calendar, support court hearings, process paperwork after hearings, and accept payments of fines. The Court Clerks are Lori Bell and Courtney Jackson. The Court Marshall is Chardae Chayne. Other services provided by the Court include: Certified Court Dispositions Expungements Pay Fines Request Continuances Contact Information Decatur Municipal Court 120 West Trinity Pl., 3rd Floor, Room 311 (temporary location in the DeKalb County Callaway Building) 678-553-6655 (telephone) 678-553-6660 (fax)

DEKALB COUNTY STATE COURT

Decatur Municipal Court is a court of limited jurisdiction.  Motions to suppress and jury trials cannot be heard here.  Thus, if your case requires motions or a potential jury trial and cannot be settled in Decatur Municipal Court, then a good option and strategy is to bind it over (transfer) to state court, as DeKalb County State Court has jurisdiction to hear motions and jury trials.

DeKalb County Courthouse, 556 N. McDonough Street, Decatur, GA 30030-3356, 404-371-2261

DeKalb County Courthouse

Once transferred to DeKalb County State Court, your case could sit in the Solicitor’s Officer for several months before it gets formally accused.  During this time, your case is in limbo, and you just must wait until it is accused.  Once it is accused, the case get’s a case number and is assigned to one of seven DeKalb County State Court judges and to one of the Solicitors who work in that particular courtroom.

Since each judge has his / her own particular way of handling his / her DeKalb County State courtroom, it is important that your attorney know the nuances and procedures of each judge.  Our DeKalb Count State Court attorneys regularly practice in front of these judges and are well aware of the operations.  We are also familiar with all of the solicitors working in DeKalb County State Court and have good, solid working relationships with them. From the DeKalb County State Court website:

The State Court of DeKalb County consists of seven (7) Court Divisions, the Clerk’s office, the Marshal’s Office and a Probation Office. Each Judge is selected in a county wide election and serves a four (4) year term. Melanie Wilson is the Clerk of DeKalb County State Court.  Information on DeKalb County State Court can be found below (taken from DeKalb County State Court website):

Clerk’s Office: Melanie F. Wilson, Clerk
Location: DeKalb County Courthouse, 2nd Floor, Suite 230
556 N. McDonough Street
Decatur, GA 30030
Main Phone Number: 404-371-2261
Contact Us via eMail: eMail
Hours of Operation: 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m
Monday through Friday (Except Holidays)

ADMINISTRATIVE LICENSE SUSPENSION HEARING If you have been arrested for DUI and blew over the legal limit for someone of your age and drivers license class, then the law requires that the arresting officer give you a temporary license (8.5 x 11 yellow paper).  This temporary license is known as form DS-1205 and also acts to serve notice to you that your license will be suspended 30 days from arrest unless you send in $150 to the Georgia Department of Drivers Services requesting an Administrative License Suspension (ALS) Hearing.

An ALS Hearing is a civil action taken by the State of Georgia to try to suspend your license before the adjudication (resolution) of your criminal DUI case.  The administrative license suspension case is an important and, frequently, a critical part of your DUI case. The hearing upon the administrative license suspension action can provide valuable information in the defense of your Georgia DUI charge. With the filing of a request for hearing within 10 days from the date of arrest, your driving privileges are extended beyond the 30 days, which your temporary permit is valid for. The administrative license suspension case can play a crucial role in how you proceed in the criminal portion of your DUI case.

If you received a yellow 30-day temporary license and your license was confiscated, then you have only TEN BUSINESS DAYS from the date of your arrest to send a letter to the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety to request an administrative license suspension (ALS) hearing to try to save your license from being suspended. Otherwise, your license will be automatically suspended once your 30-day temporary license expires. This suspension could be for a full year and could leave you WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF GETTING A LIMITED DRIVING PERMIT.

Our firm will send in this 10-day letter for you for free. You only need to provide us with the necessary information and pay the $150 fee that the State of Georgia requires for submitting a request for an ALS hearing. If you prefer to mail in the letter yourself, you can download this “10 Day Letter” for free. This “10 Day” Letter contains all of the elements needed to preserve your rights to an ALS hearing.

The strategy on how to handle an ALS Hearing is important, as it can dictate how your criminal DUI case proceeds.  Our Decatur DUI attorneys and DeKalb County DUI attorneys know the strategies and tactics necessary to provide you with solid advice on how to proceed with your ALS Hearing.  We will review your case thoroughly and decide on the strategy that best suits your individual and unique case.  Contact the Towe Law Firm at 404.993.9172 to discuss your DUI case and ALS case with experienced DUI attorneys.

In the overwhelming majority of the ALS Hearing cases that the Towe Law Firm has handled, we have been able to prevent our clients’ licenses from being suspended at the hearing.  Therefore, you will be in great hands if we handle your case.  Call us at 404.993.9172 to for a free consultation on your DUI and ALS cases today.

Click Here To Download The 10 Day Letter