Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

There are many crimes that a person can be arrested for in Florida. The great majority of arrests in Jacksonville are for driving charges. About 60% of the arrests in Jacksonville are for driving on a suspended license. (also called DWLS) Even though DWLS arrests rarely carry any jail time and are non-violent, JSO officers still make these arrests.

In order to prove the crime of driving on a suspended license in Jacksonville, the prosecutor has to prove the person was driving and that their license was suspended. An officer just has to run tags to see if the person who is registered to the car has a suspended license. Once they pull the car over and discover the person driving does not have a good license, the officer can issue a ticket or make an arrest. Overwhelmingly, officers arrest. A typical arrest usually takes about 2 hours when you consider pulling the person over, searching the car, writing the report, taking the drive downtown to the Police Memorial Building, and filling out jail intake paperwork. A JSO officer could fill up his or her whole day on a few DWLS arrests. After all that, the person usually gets out of jail the next day and is told to get their license.

The other most common driving arrest in Jacksonville is DUI. (Driving Under the Influence) These arrests are more complicated than DWLS arrests and carry more severe consequences.

In the past few years, JSO has been cracking down on car racing on Jacksonville's streets. If you are caught racing, you can be arrested in Florida for a misdemeanor. For a first offense, you are facing up to one year in jail and a fine between $500 and $1000. If you get a conviction, the DMV will suspend your license for 1 year.

If you are arrested for racing within 5 years of another violation, it is still a misdemeanor in Jacksonville, but your license can be revoked for 2 years.

To be convicted of racing, the prosecutor has to prove that you drove a vehicle in any race or acceleration contest on any highway, road, or parking lot or participated in ANY way with the race. This includes videotaping the race or being a passenger in the seat of a racing car.