Home › DUI DMV hearing costs
DUI DMV hearing costs: the second case that starts at arrest
A DUI arrest opens two cases, and only one of them is in a courtroom. This page prices the other one: the administrative licence case — California's Admin Per Se hearing, Texas's ALR hearing and Florida's DHSMV review — with its own deadlines, its own published fees, and a suspension that runs even if the criminal charge is later reduced or dismissed.
Two cases, two clocks, two fee schedules
The administrative case exists because the licence consequence of a DUI arrest does not wait for a conviction. In California, the DMV's Admin Per Se programme suspends on the arrest itself, and the driver has 10 days from receipt of the Order of Suspension or Revocation to request a hearing to show the suspension is not justified — a deadline printed in the DMV's own APS guidance and missed at the cost of the hearing itself. In Texas, the Department of Public Safety's ALR programme gives the driver 15 days from service of the DIC-25 notice to request a hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings; if no hearing is requested, the suspension takes effect on the 40th day after service. In Florida, the DHSMV Bureau of Administrative Reviews runs the formal and informal review track priced in our Florida breakdown. Three states, three different windows — 10 days, 15 days, and Florida's own review timetable — and in each state the window is the first cost of the case, because losing it loses the only chance to contest the suspension before it starts.
The published money in the administrative case is modest and specific, and this page reports only what the agencies publish. Texas DPS states the ALR reinstatement fee directly: $125, required before renewal or issuance of the licence after an ALR suspension, charged per enforcement-action type alongside any other reinstatement fees owed. California's DMV guidance states a $125 reissue fee under Vehicle Code § 14905 to reinstate after an APS suspension, and a $120 fee for a department review of the hearing decision under §§ 14105.5 and 14907. Neither agency publishes a fee for the hearing itself, and Florida's DHSMV publishes no hearing fee in its DUI summary — so no hearing fee is quoted for any of the three states on this page.
The administrative case, state by state
What the hearing can and cannot do matters as much as its price. Winning the administrative case sets aside the administrative suspension; it does not dismiss the criminal charge, refund criminal-court costs, or prevent a separate suspension that follows a conviction. Losing it starts the administrative suspension on the agency's timetable, independent of the criminal court's. The suspension lengths themselves — 90 days for a first Texas ALR failure and 180 days for a first refusal, California's APS terms, Florida's administrative terms — are priced with their statutes in the state breakdowns and the refusal guide, and are not re-totalled here.
| DUI component | Published amount |
|---|---|
| Texas — ALR hearing request window (DPS ALR programme; Transp. Code chs. 524, 724) | 15 days from service of the DIC-25 notice; no hearing requested means the suspension takes effect on the 40th day after service; hearings are held by the State Office of Administrative Hearings |
| Texas — ALR reinstatement fee (DPS published fee) | $125, required before renewal or issuance after an ALR suspension, in addition to any other outstanding fees; DPS charges a reinstatement fee per enforcement-action type |
| Texas — ALR suspension lengths (DPS published summary) | First failure 90 days; first refusal 180 days; second failure 1 year; second refusal 2 years |
| California — APS hearing request window (DMV APS guidance) | 10 days from receipt of the Order of Suspension/Revocation to request a hearing; telephone hearing unless an in-person hearing is requested |
| California — APS reissue fee (Vehicle Code § 14905) | $125 to reinstate the driving privilege after an APS suspension or revocation, per DMV guidance, plus proof of financial responsibility maintained for 3 years |
| California — department review fee (Vehicle Code §§ 14105.5, 14907) | $120 for a written department review requested within 15 days of the hearing decision's effective date, per DMV guidance |
| Florida — DHSMV administrative review (Bureau of Administrative Reviews) | Formal and informal review of the administrative suspension through DHSMV; no hearing fee is published in the DHSMV DUI summary, so none is quoted |
Sources: Texas Department of Public Safety, Administrative License Revocation (ALR) Program and ALR FAQ (reinstatement fee $125; 15-day request window; suspension lengths); California DMV Admin Per Se guidance (10-day hearing window; $125 reissue fee under § 14905; $120 department review fee under §§ 14105.5 and 14907); Florida DHSMV DUI and Administrative Suspension Laws summary. Last verified: October 2026.
The fine is one line in a longer stack — court costs, program fees, interlock, supervision and reinstatement all bill separately. Price the layers that apply to your case in the calculator.
Open the DUI cost calculatorWhat the agencies do not publish
No agency priced on this page publishes a fee for the hearing itself, a price for representation at it, or a single figure for the administrative case as a whole — and the largest cost of losing it, months of lost driving eligibility, is measured in time rather than money in every published source. Attorney fees for an administrative hearing are private arrangements with no published schedule. There is also no published agency figure for the effect of an administrative suspension on car insurance prices, and none is estimated here; the financial-responsibility filing that follows reinstatement is priced, from its own sources, in our SR-22 guide.
Read the deadlines in the table as the operative figures. A driver who requests the California hearing on day 11, or the Texas hearing on day 16, has not paid a late fee — they have lost the hearing, and with it the only pre-suspension contest the programme offers. The $125 fees in both states are what reinstatement costs after the suspension runs; the windows are what it costs to fight it first. Full licence consequences are priced in our reinstatement guide and the state breakdowns for California, Texas and Florida.
Common questions
- How long do you have to request a DMV hearing after a DUI arrest?
- 10 days from receipt of the order in California's APS programme, and 15 days from service of the notice in Texas's ALR programme. Florida's review runs through the DHSMV Bureau of Administrative Reviews on its own timetable.
- How much is the Texas ALR reinstatement fee?
- $125, per the Texas Department of Public Safety, payable before renewal or issuance of the licence after an ALR suspension and charged per enforcement-action type.
- Does winning the DMV hearing end the DUI case?
- No. It sets aside the administrative suspension only. The criminal case, and any suspension that follows a conviction, proceed separately.
Related cost guides: licence suspension and reinstatement fees, DUI test refusal costs, SR-22 costs and filing fees, hardship and restricted licence costs.
Sources: Texas Department of Public Safety ALR Program and FAQ; California DMV Admin Per Se guidance and Vehicle Code §§ 14905, 14105.5 and 14907; Florida DHSMV DUI and Administrative Suspension Laws summary. Last verified: October 2026. This page is educational information about costs only — not legal advice. Laws and fees change; confirm current figures with your court and your state's driver-licensing agency.