Florida Driver’s License Suspension: D6, DUI, and Reinstatement

A Florida driver’s license suspension can be triggered by an unpaid traffic ticket, an insurance lapse, too many points on your record, a DUI arrest, unpaid child support, or certain criminal convictions. To get your license back, you have to resolve whatever caused the suspension — usually with the court or agency that reported the problem — and then pay a reinstatement fee to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) that runs from $45 for a general suspension to $500 for repeat insurance lapses.

Why Your License May Be Suspended

Florida law gives the FLHSMV several independent reasons to pull your driving privilege. Knowing which one applies to you matters, because the fix is different for each.

Too Many Points

Moving violations put points on your record, and the thresholds stack. Twelve points in 12 months brings a suspension of up to 30 days. Eighteen points in 18 months stretches it to three months. Twenty-four points in 36 months costs you your license for up to a year.¹ Points that already triggered a shorter suspension still count toward the longer ones.

Insurance Lapse

Every registered vehicle in Florida must carry at least $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 in Property Damage Liability.² The state tracks coverage electronically, so a lapse reaches the FLHSMV quickly and suspends both your license and your registration. Reinstatement fees climb fast: $150 for a first lapse, $250 for a second, and $500 for any additional lapse within three years of the first.³

Unpaid Child Support

If you fall behind on court-ordered child support, the clerk of court or the state’s child support depository can request a suspension. You’ll get a notice first, and you have to come into compliance and pay a $25 delinquency fee. Ignore the notice and the FLHSMV suspends your license 20 days after mailing the suspension order.⁴ A child support suspension does not qualify for a hardship license.

Non-Driving Criminal Convictions

Some convictions that have nothing to do with how you drive still cost you the license. Driving off from a gas pump without paying carries a mandatory suspension of up to six months for a first offense and one year for a second.⁵ Drug convictions under Chapter 893 also trigger a suspension, with eligibility for a hardship license after six months.

The D6: An Unpaid-Ticket Suspension With No End Date

The D6 is the single most common Florida suspension, and it catches people off guard. It takes effect when you fail to deal with a traffic citation, whether that means missing the fine deadline, skipping a court date, or not finishing a court-ordered driver improvement course.⁶ The clerk of court has 10 days to notify the FLHSMV once you miss the deadline, and the suspension kicks in 20 days after the state mails the order.

What makes a D6 different from a points suspension is that it has no built-in end date. A 30-day or three-month suspension expires on its own. A D6 stays active until you clear the underlying ticket with the court in the county where you got it. If the notice went to an old address, you may be driving on a D6 without knowing it — until a traffic stop or a second citation surfaces it. From that point forward, the state treats you as knowing about the suspension, which changes everything about the criminal exposure if you keep driving.

DUI Suspensions Run on Two Tracks

A DUI arrest triggers an administrative suspension handled by the FLHSMV and a separate criminal case handled by the court. The administrative suspension starts immediately, before any conviction.

For a first offense with a breath or blood alcohol level of .08 or higher, the administrative suspension is six months. Refuse the breath, blood, or urine test and it becomes one year. A second alcohol-level offense brings a one-year suspension; a second refusal brings 18 months.⁷ You can challenge the administrative suspension through a formal or informal review hearing, but the result there does not change your criminal case, and the criminal case outcome does not change the administrative suspension.⁸

Reinstatement after a DUI conviction requires enrollment in or completion of a licensed DUI education program. If you get a restricted license and don’t finish the program within 90 days, the license is canceled again. A first-time DUI offender with a blood alcohol level of .15 or higher must also install an ignition interlock device for up to six months.⁸

How to Get Your Florida License Reinstated

Step One: Check Your Status

Start at the FLHSMV online portal at mydmvportal.flhsmv.gov. You need your driver’s license number to pull your record, and the result will list every active suspension against you.⁹ It is common to find multiple suspensions from different counties, each requiring its own clearance.

Step Two: Clear the Cause

For a D6, contact the traffic court in the county that issued the citation, pay the fine, and finish anything else the court ordered, such as a hearing or driver improvement school. Some counties let you pay online. Once you satisfy the court, the county updates the FLHSMV electronically, usually within 24 to 48 hours. If the county does not file electronically, you’ll need a paper clearance form and a trip to a service center.¹⁰

For an insurance-related suspension, buy a policy that meets Florida’s minimum coverage and have your insurer electronically file an SR-22 certificate with the FLHSMV. If the suspension followed a DUI, you need the more expensive FR-44 instead, which requires $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage plus $50,000 in property damage coverage.¹¹ Those limits are well above what most Florida drivers carry, and premiums rise accordingly.

Step Three: Pay the Reinstatement Fee

Once the FLHSMV’s system reflects that the underlying cause is cleared, you still have to pay the state’s reinstatement fee:¹²

D6 (traffic citation) suspension: $60
General suspension: $45
Revocation: $75¹³
Insurance lapse: $150 first offense, $250 second, $500 for any additional lapse within three years of the first³

You can pay in person at any Florida driver license service center or by phone at 850-617-3000. If you are out of state, mail proof of satisfaction and the reinstatement fee to the Bureau of Motorist Compliance, P.O. Box 5775, Tallahassee, FL 32314-5775.¹⁰ Tax collector offices that handle reinstatements may charge a small service fee of around $6.25. Once your status reads “Valid,” you can order a replacement physical license at the standard replacement fee.

Hardship Licenses If You Can’t Wait

If the suspension would keep you from working or supporting your family, you may qualify for a restricted hardship license. Florida offers two tiers: a “business purposes only” license covering work, school, church, and medical appointments, and a narrower “employment purposes only” license limited to commuting and on-the-job driving.¹⁴

Eligibility depends on the type of suspension:

Points-based suspension: enroll in or complete a 12-hour Advanced Driver Improvement (ADI) course before applying.¹⁵
First DUI, alcohol level .08 or higher: wait 30 days after the suspension takes effect, enroll in DUI school, and apply for a hearing.
First DUI, refusal to test: wait 90 days, enroll in DUI school, and apply for a hearing.⁷
Habitual Traffic Offender revocation: wait one year, complete the ADI course, and apply through the Bureau of Administrative Reviews.¹⁶
Drug-related offense: wait six months and complete a licensed DUI program school.
Child support delinquency: not eligible.

To apply, fill out FLHSMV Form 78306 (Application for Administrative Hearing) and mail it with a $12 filing fee by check or money order to the Bureau of Administrative Reviews office nearest you. Include proof of enrollment in or completion of the required course along with any supporting documents. The bureau may decide your case on paper, though offenses involving death, serious injury, multiple DUI convictions, or a repeat suspension under the same statute require a formal hearing.¹⁷ If you receive a restricted license but do not finish the required course within 90 days of enrollment, the restricted license is canceled.

What Happens If You Keep Driving

The penalty for driving on a suspended license turns almost entirely on whether the state can prove you knew. Without proof of knowledge, it is a moving violation with a fine and no jail time.¹⁸ That defense is narrower than most drivers think. A prior citation for the same offense, a mailed notice, or an admission to an officer all establish knowledge, and the FLHSMV’s record of a prior suspension order creates a rebuttable presumption of knowledge, which covers most D6 situations.

Once knowledge is on the table, the penalties climb:

First offense with knowledge: second-degree misdemeanor, up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.¹⁹²⁰
Second offense with knowledge: first-degree misdemeanor, up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Third offense with knowledge: a mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail.
Third offense when the suspension relates to DUI, test refusal, a crash causing death or serious injury, or fleeing law enforcement: third-degree felony, up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.¹⁸

You can also lose the vehicle itself. If the suspension stems from an insurance violation or a Habitual Traffic Offender designation, you are the registered owner, and you have one prior conviction for driving while suspended, the officer must impound or immobilize the vehicle on the spot. You won’t get it back until you show the arresting agency proof of valid insurance, and after 35 days a lien can attach.²¹ Driving under the influence while your license is already suspended or revoked from a prior DUI exposes the vehicle to outright seizure and forfeiture.

An Out-of-State License Won’t Help

Florida belongs to the Driver License Compact, an interstate agreement that shares suspension and conviction information among member states.²² A Florida suspension follows you to any member state, and member states are supposed to refuse a new license to anyone currently suspended elsewhere. If an out-of-state citation led to your Florida suspension, you’ll need to bring that state’s court-sealed proof of satisfaction to a Florida driver license service center along with the reinstatement fee.¹⁰

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 322.27 – Authority of Department to Suspend or Revoke License
2
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Florida Insurance Requirements
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 324.0221 – Suspension of License and Registration
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 322.245 – Suspension of License Upon Failure to Pay Child Support
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 812.014 – Theft
6
Justia. Florida Code 318.15 – Failure to Comply With Civil Penalty
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.2615 – Suspension of License; Right of Review
8
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Florida DUI and Administrative Suspension Laws
9
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Driver License Check
10
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Traffic Citations or Court Suspensions
11
Florida Senate. Florida Code 324.023 – Financial Responsibility; Proof of Compliance for DUI
12
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Fees
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.21 – License Fees; Procedure for Handling and Collecting Fees
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.271 – Authority to Modify Revocation, Cancellation, or Suspension Order
15
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Advanced Driver Improvement (ADI) Course Providers
16
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Other Common Suspensions and Revocations
17
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Application for Administrative Hearing
18
Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.34 – Driving While License Suspended, Revoked, Canceled, or Disqualified
19
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures
20
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines
21
Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.34 – Driving While License Suspended, Revoked, Canceled, or Disqualified
22
The Council of State Governments. Driver License Compact