Out of State Suspensions/Violations
Florida Traffic Attorneys and License Suspension Lawyers
Our office often receives phone calls from drivers whose license is suspended because of something that has occurred outside the State of Florida. Years ago you could receive a traffic ticket in Florida and hope that the issuing State would never report the violation to your home state or that you would get lost in the “system”. Due to advances in technology and State mandates to report suspensions it is becoming increasingly more difficult to hide from your past.
Florida is a member of the National Driver Registry (“NDR”). The NDR links all of the states together through a national database. Therefore, when you are suspended from one state, any other state will honor that suspension and not issue you a driver’s license. Recently we have been dealing with people who have out of state suspensions that date back 10-15 years. Although you may have a valid Florida license in your possession, you will not be able to renew that license once it expires unless you clear up the out of state suspension(s). The best way to determine which state has a hold on your license is to contact DHSMV in Tallahassee at 850-922-9000 and give them your driver’s license number. They will then provide you contact information for the DMV that is issuing your suspension.
One common question that our office receives deals with out of state violations and whether those citations will appear on their Florida driving records. The quick answer is that out of state violations will usually appear on your driving record. If you hold a Florida license and have received a ticket in another state, that State will send Florida the ticket information and it will be added to your record. You will receive points on your license if the ticket is a point-accessible violation according to Florida Statute 322.27(3). Florida law does not allow any school or program to remove points for a ticket received in another state. Any unpaid ticket reported by another state will result in the suspension of your Florida license.
