Florida D-6 License Suspensions: Defined

Florida’s laws on license suspensions are some of the toughest in the United States. According to recent statistics from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, approximately 30 percent of Florida’s motoring public is currently under some sort of a suspension. That equates to nearly 4.6 million people – many of whom don’t even know it.

D-6 suspensions

According to David Haenel, an attorney based on Florida’s west coast whose practice focuses on Florida suspended license issues, a D-6 suspension is a serious matter and something that many drivers just don’t understand. Haenel explained:

One example of a D-6 suspension would be a failure to appear in criminal court to address a charge. It’s called a D-6 because the court is taking action through the clerk because you didn’t do something with your citation. Let’s say you get a criminal driving while license suspended citation and you don’t show up for your court date.

In lieu of issuing a bench warrant, the judge may say, ‘I’m just going to D-6 his or her license.’ Basically, it’s telling the DHSMV to suspend the license and not to reinstate it until the person comes before that court and gets an order from the judge reinstating the license.

It’s almost in lieu of issuing a bench warrant. In some situations, the D-6 is used interchangeably when somebody didn’t take care of a traffic ticket within a certain time period, then they D-6 the license.

Judges issuing more warrants

While D-6 suspensions are still common, Haenel says that judges seem to be issuing warrants more and more warrants these days. He continued, “Unfortunately, you’re seeing fewer D-6ing of licenses and more warrants. That’s a whole problem in and of itself because that just clogs the court docket even more and clogs the state attorney’s office because now the prosecutor is getting involved and having to put that case or that ticket into a warrants file. So then, that little ticket for $115 now becomes a criminal offense, and if you missed your court date, now you’ve got a warrant and it just goes on and on and on.”

If your license has been suspended in Florida, contact an attorney whose practice focuses on license suspension issues. Click here, to contact a Florida criminal attorney.

Case Studies: Florida D-6 License Suspensions

Case Study 1: Failure to Appear in Criminal Court

John, a resident of Florida, received a criminal driving while license suspended citation. Unfortunately, he failed to appear in court for his scheduled hearing.

As a result, the judge decided to take action through the clerk by issuing a D-6 suspension on John’s license. This meant that his license was suspended until he appeared before the court and obtained an order from the judge to reinstate it.

Case Study 2: Unresolved Traffic Ticket

Sarah, another Florida driver, had a traffic ticket that she neglected to address within the specified time period. As a consequence, the court decided to D-6 her license, suspending it until she resolved the outstanding ticket. Sarah had to take prompt action to rectify the situation and reinstate her driving privileges.

Case Study 3: Escalating Warrant Issuance 

Mark found himself facing an increasingly common trend in Florida. Instead of resorting to D-6 suspensions, judges were opting to issue warrants more frequently. In Mark’s case, he missed his court date for a traffic violation, leading to a warrant being issued against him. What started as a simple ticket soon transformed into a criminal offense, creating a complex legal situation that demanded immediate attention.