If you have been convicted of a second DUI within five years, you may be eligible, as of January 1, 2013, for a special limited Ignition Interlock permit. Under the old law, drivers would have to wait a full twelve months before being eligible to drive. Now, there is a new provision in the law that permits those same drivers to receive a limited permit.
ONLY CERTAIN DRIVERS QUALIFY
There are three requirements that must be satisfied before you can apply for this new permit.
First, 120 days must have elapsed from your plea/conviction date.
Second, you will have to be in either a DUI Court program, or be enrolled in clinical treatment as defined in O.C.G.A. §40-5-1. Prior to enrollment, you must complete a clinical evaluation from a provider approved by the DUI Intervention Program of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities prior to enrolling in clinical treatment. Information about approved evaluation and treatment providers can be found on the DUI Intervention Program’s website, www.mop.uga.edu, which can also be reached via the DDS’ website, www.dds.ga.gov.
Third, you will have to complete a DUI School program.
DRIVING RESTRICTIONS
Once you have received the Ignition Interlock permit, O.C.G.A. §40-5-64(c.1)(2) permits you to drive for the following purposes:
(A) Going to your place of employment;
(B) Attending a college or school at which you are regularly enrolled as a student;
(C) Attending regularly scheduled sessions or meetings of treatment support organizations for persons who have addiction or abuse problems related to alcohol or other drugs, which organizations are recognized by the commissioner; and
(D) Going for monthly monitoring visits with the permit holder’s ignition interlock device service provider.
Related information: What you should know about ignition interlock devices in Georgia