First 48 Hours After a DUI Arrest in Arizona: What to Actually Do

The first two days after a DUI arrest are usually the worst part — not because anything is actively happening, but because nothing is, and it’s easy to spend that time spiraling instead of doing the handful of things that actually move your case forward. Here’s a plain, concrete list of what to do, in order, without the legal jargon or the lecture.

First: Nothing Is Decided Yet

An arrest is not a conviction. Whatever happens with the criminal case — plea, trial, dismissal — is separate from the administrative requirements that start now, regardless of how the case resolves. That distinction matters because people often freeze up waiting to see “what happens” before doing anything, when several of the things in front of you don’t wait for the court to finish its process.

Find and Organize Your Paperwork

Whatever you were given at the time of arrest or received in the mail afterward — citation, court date, MVD notice — put it in one place. You’ll need to reference it repeatedly over the next several weeks, and knowing your court date, your assigned court, and whether the MVD has already sent a suspension notice determines almost everything that comes next.

Figure Out If You’re Looking at a Suspension

Most first-time DUI arrests in Arizona come with an administrative license suspension that starts on a timeline independent of your criminal case. If you received a notice, read the date on it. If you didn’t, that doesn’t mean nothing’s coming — contact the MVD directly or check your AZ MVD Now account to confirm your license status rather than assuming.

Decide Whether You’re Getting an Attorney

This is the one genuinely legal decision in this list, and we’re not going to tell you how to make it — that’s not something we’re positioned to advise on. What we can tell you is that many of the compliance steps below (screening, education, treatment) run on their own timeline regardless of whether you hire an attorney, so “wait until I talk to a lawyer” isn’t a reason to delay starting them.

Schedule Your DUI Screening

This is the single most useful thing you can do in the first 48 hours, and it’s also the step people put off longest. The screening is what determines whether you need 16 hours of education or a longer treatment program — and you can’t make any further progress on the compliance side until it’s done. It takes about 30 minutes, can usually be scheduled within days, and starting it early means you’re not racing a court deadline later.

Don’t Assume the Court and the MVD Are the Same Thing

This trips up almost everyone. The court handling your criminal case and the MVD handling your license are two separate systems with two separate sets of requirements. Completing something for one doesn’t automatically satisfy the other. If your paperwork mentions both, plan on dealing with both.

Keep a Simple Record of What You’ve Done

Start a basic log — a note on your phone is fine — of every step you complete: screening date, education start date, any documents you send. When something gets questioned months later (and it sometimes does), having your own record of what happened and when saves you from relying on memory.

What Not to Do

Don’t ignore the mail from the court or the MVD, even if you’re not ready to deal with it emotionally — missed deadlines compound. Don’t assume a requirement goes away because the criminal case is still pending. And don’t wait for someone else to tell you what’s next; between the court, the MVD, and whatever provider you use, nobody is coordinating this for you automatically.

What to Do Next

Pull your paperwork, confirm your license status, and schedule your screening. Those three things, done in the first 48 hours, put you ahead of almost everyone who waits.