Fayette County DUI Lawyer

A Fayette County DUI is not one case. It is two, running at the same time, in two different places, on two different clocks. One decides whether you are convicted. The other decides whether you can drive while that plays out — and it moves first.

Ben Sessions is one of a small number of Board-Certified DUI defense lawyers in Georgia. We handle DUI cases in Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone and the rest of Fayette County.

Where a Fayette County DUI case is actually heard

Which courtroom you end up in depends on who stopped you.

State Court of Fayette County — 1 Center Drive, Fayetteville. This is where most misdemeanor DUI cases go. Judge Jason B. Thompson presides, and the case is prosecuted by the Fayette County Solicitor General rather than the District Attorney. The court runs a separate traffic division.
Municipal courts — Fayetteville, Peachtree City and Tyrone each have one. A city officer’s DUI charge often starts here. A municipal court case can be bound over to State Court, and whether you should ask for that is a real strategic decision, not a formality.
Superior Court of Fayette County — part of the Griffin Judicial Circuit. Felony charges go here: fourth DUI within ten years, serious injury by vehicle, vehicular homicide.

Fayette County also operates accountability courts, including a DUI/Drug Court. Whether that is a good outcome for you depends entirely on the facts, your record, and what you do for a living. It is not automatically a win.

The deadline that runs before your first court date

Nothing above happens quickly. The license side does. After a Georgia DUI arrest you have 30 days to act, or your license suspends automatically on day 46 — before most Fayette County cases have had a single substantive hearing.

Inside that window there are two options: request an administrative license suspension hearing for a $150 fee to DDS, or install an ignition interlock device and take a limited permit, which waives the hearing. Picking one gives up the other. We walk through the whole decision in what has to happen in the first 30 days after a DUI arrest.

Yes, you can be charged with DUI on a golf cart in Peachtree City

Peachtree City is built around roughly a hundred miles of multi-use paths, and golf carts are ordinary transportation there. Georgia’s DUI statute, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391, reaches anyone in actual physical control of a moving vehicle. A golf cart is a vehicle. Peachtree City officers make these arrests, and the conviction carries the same license consequences as one in a car.

These cases also tend to involve weaker evidence than a roadside stop on Ga. 54 — no radar, no weaving-in-lane observation, often no video worth watching. That matters.

What the State has to prove

In a “less safe” case the solicitor does not have to produce a number. They have to convince a jury that alcohol or drugs made you a less safe driver. In practice that means the officer’s testimony, the field sobriety tests, and the video.

Field sobriety testing is where a great many of these cases are won. The tests have standardized administration requirements, and officers frequently depart from them. We have written about the HGN eye test, the walk-and-turn test, and the one-leg-stand test in detail.

Refusal changes the whole picture

A first offense over 0.08 carries a one-year suspension with a limited permit available after DUI school. A first-offense refusal carries a one-year hard suspension — no limited permit, no driving at all. If you refused, the license side of your case is more urgent, not less.

Frequently asked questions

Will my Fayette County DUI be heard in Fayetteville?

If a Fayette County Sheriff’s deputy or a state trooper arrested you, most likely yes — State Court at 1 Center Drive. If a Peachtree City, Tyrone or Fayetteville officer arrested you, your case may begin in that city’s municipal court instead.

Do I have to appear at every court date?

Usually yes on the substantive dates. Some administrative settings can be handled by your lawyer. We tell you which is which rather than having you burn a vacation day to sit in a hallway.

I have a professional license. Does a DUI have to be reported?

Often, and frequently before conviction. See what a Georgia arrest means for your professional license.

Is a golf cart DUI really the same as a car DUI?

For license and sentencing purposes, yes. The evidence available to the State is usually quite different, which is where the defense lives.

Talk to a Fayette County DUI lawyer before the 30 days run

We try these cases. We will tell you honestly what we think the video shows and what your realistic options are. You can review our results and the profile of Ben Sessions first.

(470) 225-7710 — free consultation.

More: our Georgia DUI lawyer page and our Atlanta DUI lawyer page.

This page is provided for informational purposes and does not create an attorney-client relationship or constitute legal advice about your case.