What To Do Immediately After a DUI Arrest in Reno: DUI Attorney Reno Guide

Getting pulled over and arrested for DUI is a disorienting experience, and the hours immediately following that arrest are more important than most people realize in the moment. The decisions you make, or fail to make, in those first hours can have a direct impact on how your case unfolds, whether your license gets suspended, and what your options look like when you finally sit down with an attorney. If you are reading this right now because you or someone close to you was just arrested, the most important thing to understand is that you still have choices, and acting on them quickly matters.

One of the most urgent and least-known facts about a DUI arrest in Nevada is that you have a small window from the date of your arrest to request a DMV hearing to challenge your license revocation. Most people do not know this deadline exists at all until it has already passed, and missing it carries automatic consequences. If you fail to request that hearing within this window, your license will be automatically temporarily revoked.

The DMV hearing and your criminal case are two separate proceedings, and you need to fight both. The criminal case addresses whether you are convicted of DUI and what penalties follow from that. The DMV hearing is specifically about your driving privilege, and it moves on its own timeline entirely independent of the courts. Requesting the hearing does not guarantee you will keep your license, but it preserves your right to make that argument, and that opportunity disappears permanently if the deadline passes. A DUI attorney in Reno who handles these cases regularly will request the hearing on your behalf as one of the first steps after taking your case.

Mayhew Law understands the urgency of this deadline and acts on it immediately for clients who reach out after a DUI arrest. The firm serves clients in Reno, Sparks, and Carson City, and attorney Jennifer Mayhew brings nearly a decade of criminal defense experience to every case, including the specific procedures surrounding Nevada’s DMV hearing process. Missing the window is one of the most common and most preventable mistakes that DUI defendants make simply because they did not know the clock was running. The sooner you contact a DUI attorney Reno drivers trust, the sooner that deadline gets protected.

Many drivers do not realize they are not legally required to perform field sobriety tests during a DUI stop in Nevada. Field sobriety tests are the roadside tasks an officer asks you to perform, such as walking in a straight line, standing on one leg, or following a light with your eyes. These tests are voluntary, and politely declining to perform them is within your rights. Officers rarely explain that these tests are optional because the results, if you agree to take them, become part of the evidence against you in court.

Field sobriety tests are also notoriously subjective. The officer conducting the test evaluates your performance based on their own observations, and factors completely unrelated to impairment, including nervousness, fatigue, a medical condition, or simply an uneven road surface, can cause a person to appear impaired when they are not. Results from these tests are regularly challenged in court, and in many cases, they form a significant part of the prosecution’s evidence against a defendant. Avoiding them entirely removes a layer of evidence that prosecutors would otherwise have at their disposal.

This is distinct from Nevada’s implied consent law, which requires drivers to submit to a chemical test, either a breath or blood test, after a lawful DUI arrest. Refusing a chemical test after arrest carries its own separate penalties under Nevada law, including license revocation. The distinction between declining a roadside field sobriety test before arrest and refusing a chemical test after arrest is an important one, and understanding it clearly is part of why having a DUI attorney Reno residents can reach quickly makes such a practical difference. If you are unsure what was required during your stop and what was not, reviewing the specifics of your situation with an attorney is the right first step.

Your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney both apply immediately when interacting with the police officer. The test is whether under the totality of circumstances you are not free to leave. Anything you say from that point forward can be used as evidence against you, and that includes statements made during the arrest, in the police vehicle, at the jail, and in any informal conversation with officers before an attorney is present. The instinct to explain yourself, provide context, or cooperate in the hope that it will help your situation is understandable, but it almost always makes things worse from a legal standpoint.

Invoking your right to remain silent is as simple as stating clearly that you are choosing not to answer questions without an attorney present. You do not need to be impolite, confrontational, or evasive; you simply need to be clear and consistent. Once you have invoked your right to an attorney, officers are required to stop questioning you until counsel is provided. If they continue questioning after you have made that request, anything said in response may be suppressible, which is a significant potential benefit to your case.

Mayhew Law is available to take calls from clients who have been arrested and need immediate guidance. Reaching out to a DUI attorney Reno defendants can rely on as early as possible, including from the jail if that is feasible, gives your attorney the opportunity to advise you on exactly what not to say and what steps to take before any additional interactions with law enforcement or prosecutors occur. The early hours of a DUI case matter more than most people realize, and having legal guidance during that window is one of the clearest advantages available to you.

Once you have invoked your right to silence and reached out to an attorney, one of the most useful things you can do for your own defense is write down everything you remember about the stop and arrest in as much detail as possible. Memory fades quickly, and the specifics that seem clear right now will become harder to recall accurately within days. Write down what prompted the stop, what the officer said and did, whether you were asked to perform field sobriety tests and how you responded, what the conditions were like, and anything about the interaction that struck you as unusual or inconsistent.

Details that seem minor in the moment can become meaningful in the context of a legal challenge. Was the roadway uneven where you were asked to perform a test? Were the instructions for a test given clearly and consistently? Did the officer provide the required advisements before requesting a chemical test? Were there witnesses present who saw the stop? These are the kinds of questions your attorney will ask, and having your own contemporaneous notes gives them more material to work with when building your defense. Courts look favorably on specific, documented accounts, and your account is the foundation of your defense team’s investigation.

The paperwork you received at the time of arrest also deserves careful attention. Your citation or arrest paperwork will include court dates, case numbers, and information about your license status, all of which are important for your attorney to review as quickly as possible. Do not set it aside assuming you will deal with it later. Bring everything you have to your consultation with Mayhew Law so the team can assess the full picture of your situation from the earliest possible moment and identify the strongest available defenses.

A DUI arrest in Reno does not have to define what comes next, but how you respond in the first hours and days has a direct effect on the options that remain available to you. The DMV hearing deadline runs whether you know about it or not. The statements you make can and will be used if you make them. The documentation you create now will support your defense later. Every part of the process benefits from having experienced, attentive legal representation in place as early as possible.

Mayhew Law handles DUI defense for clients throughout Reno, Sparks, and Carson City with the same combination of legal skill and genuine commitment to client outcomes that the firm brings to every case. The team understands how DUI cases move through Washoe County courts, how prosecutors approach these charges, and what arguments carry weight in challenging evidence, breath test results, and officer conduct.

Jennifer Mayhew has been recognized as the top DUI and Defense Lawyer in 2025 from the Las Vegas Review Journal’s “Best of Sierra Nevada”, Top 25 Women Trial Lawyer and Top 10 by the National Latino Trial Lawyers. Recognition that reflects the quality of the advocacy her clients receive. Call (775) 484-3007 or visit mayhew.law to request your consultation right now, because the clock on your license is already running.