DUI Arraignment in Sarasota and Manatee: Do You Have to Go?

If you have hired a lawyer for a misdemeanor DUI in Sarasota or Manatee County, you usually do not have to go to your arraignment. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.160(a) lets your attorney file a written plea of not guilty at or before the arraignment, and once that plea is filed the arraignment is deemed waived. That is how this firm handles it: once retained, we file the notice of appearance and the written plea, you stay at work, and we tell you if any later court date requires you to be there. If you have not hired a lawyer, you must appear, and what you say at that hearing can shape the rest of the case.

What an arraignment is

Arraignment is the first formal court date in a criminal case. The judge confirms the charge the State Attorney has filed, confirms that you have a lawyer or want one appointed, and takes your plea: not guilty, guilty or no contest. It is not a trial. No evidence is heard, the officer is not there, and nothing about the stop or the breath test gets decided. For most people it lasts a few minutes, after a wait that can run much longer.

What makes the date matter is everything that gets set in motion there. A not guilty plea starts discovery and the pretrial schedule. A guilty or no contest plea to DUI ends the case on the spot, and under section 316.656 a DUI plea cannot be withheld or later sealed, so the conviction is permanent. The DETER diversion program is also entered at or around arraignment, which means the decision whether to fight the case or take the program needs to be made before that date, not after.

When the arraignment happens

After a DUI arrest the court date is printed on the citation or notice to appear, or the Clerk mails a notice once the State Attorney files the formal charge. In Sarasota and Manatee County the arraignment is commonly set several weeks after the arrest, though the timing varies with the agency, the court's calendar and whether the State files on the arrest charge or a different one. Always check the date yourself: Sarasota cases are searchable on the Clerk's ClerkNet system and Manatee cases on the Manatee Clerk's records search. The Sarasota criminal court guide and the Manatee criminal court guide walk through both.

One deadline comes before the arraignment and has nothing to do with the court: the request to review your license suspension is due within 10 days of the arrest. Most people's arraignment falls after that window has closed, so waiting for the court date to "see what happens" costs you the hearing.

Where DUI arraignments are held

Sarasota County, downtown: the Lynn N. Silvertooth Judicial Center, 2002 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota. Misdemeanor DUIs from the city of Sarasota and most of the county, and all felony DUIs, are heard here.
Sarasota County, South County: the South County Courthouse, 4004 South Tamiami Trail, Venice. Under the Twelfth Circuit's current administrative order, misdemeanor DUIs arising south of Blackburn Point Road, which covers Venice, North Port, Nokomis, Osprey and Englewood on the Sarasota side, are assigned here.
Manatee County: the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Avenue West, Bradenton, for Bradenton, Palmetto, Lakewood Ranch, Anna Maria Island and the rest of the county.

Arrive early if you are appearing in person. Security screening, parking and finding the courtroom take longer than people expect, and a late arrival can be recorded as a failure to appear.

How you got to arraignment affects what to expect

There are three paths to the first court date. Some drivers are released from the jail with a notice to appear or citation that lists the arraignment date. Others post a bond and receive the date from the jail or the Clerk. People who were held until first appearance saw a judge within 24 hours of the arrest under Rule 3.130, had release conditions set, and then received an arraignment date. In every case the release conditions set by the jail or the first-appearance judge stay in effect through the arraignment, so a no-alcohol or monitoring condition does not end just because you have a lawyer.

If you miss the arraignment

A missed arraignment in a case where no written plea was filed produces a capias, which is a warrant for your arrest, and in a DUI case it can also mean a bond revocation and a new failure-to-appear charge. If you have already missed the date, the fix is to get a lawyer in front of the judge quickly, before a traffic stop turns the warrant into another night in jail. See warrants and failure to appear in Sarasota.

Why the arraignment is the decision point

The reason to have a plan before arraignment, rather than after, comes down to three things that happen there:

DETER enrollment. For a first-time, non-aggravated DUI in Sarasota, Manatee or DeSoto County, the State Attorney's diversion program is signed up for at arraignment, with a waiver of speedy trial. The program leads to a reckless driving plea with adjudication withheld, but it also means giving up the chance to win the case. Whether the stop and the breath test hold up should be known first. See can a first DUI be reduced in Sarasota.
Speedy trial. A misdemeanor must be brought to trial within 90 days of arrest under Rule 3.191 unless the defense waives it. The waiver is routine and usually the right call, because the video and breath records take longer than that to collect, but it is a choice, not a formality.
The plea itself. A plea of guilty or no contest to DUI at arraignment locks in the license revocation under section 322.28, the fines and probation under section 316.193, and a record that cannot be sealed. Prosecutors are not offering reduced charges at a misdemeanor arraignment; those negotiations happen later, after discovery.

Felony DUI arraignments

A felony DUI, such as a third DUI within 10 years, a DUI with serious bodily injury or a fourth DUI, is arraigned in circuit court rather than county court. The written plea procedure still exists, but circuit judges in the Twelfth Circuit more often expect the defendant to be present or to have an appearance waiver on file, so the answer to "do I have to go" is case specific. Ask before you assume.

Questions people ask

My citation says to appear. Can my lawyer still handle it without me?

For a misdemeanor DUI, yes. The written plea of not guilty under Rule 3.160(a) waives the arraignment, and the date on the citation is satisfied by the filing. Confirm with your lawyer that the plea has been filed before you decide to skip the date.

Can I just plead no contest at arraignment and get it over with?

You can, and it is almost always a mistake. A no contest plea to DUI is a conviction with the same license revocation, interlock, impoundment and permanent record as a guilty plea, and it cannot be withheld or sealed. Reductions to reckless driving happen through DETER or negotiation, not at a first-time arraignment.

Will the judge ask me about the facts of the arrest?

No. Arraignment is about the charge and the plea, not the evidence. If you are appearing without a lawyer, say as little as possible beyond your plea and your request for time to hire counsel or apply for the public defender.

What is the difference between first appearance and arraignment?

First appearance happens within 24 hours of arrest, only for people still in custody, and deals with probable cause and release conditions. Arraignment is the later date where the formal charge is read and a plea is entered. People released on a citation or bond skip first appearance and go straight to arraignment.

I am from out of state. Do I have to fly back for arraignment?

Generally not for a misdemeanor. The written plea covers the arraignment, and many later stages can be handled by counsel or by video. See out-of-state drivers arrested for DUI in Sarasota.

Does the arraignment affect my license suspension?

No. The administrative suspension runs on its own schedule through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the formal review hearing has to be requested within 10 days of the arrest regardless of when the arraignment is set.

Call or text (941) 920-5514, nights and weekends too, or request a free consultation by phone or video with former prosecutor Daniel D. Nawara before your arraignment date. For what happens in the weeks that follow, see how long a DUI case takes in Sarasota and Manatee County.