Pleading Nolo in Georgia Traffic Court and DUI Cases

Can I Plead No Contest to DUI in Georgia?

Almost never, so do not expect your DUI attorney to seek a nolo plea to a DUI as a matter of course. A no contest plea is sometimes called a "no contest DUI." In terms of protecting your criminal records, it is all but useless for a DUI in Georgia. This is because the special plea to no contest is based on not "contesting" the DUI in GA at trial, but also not admitting guilt on the record. Georgia's legislature has tightened the DUI laws in GA over the years, and the no contest option narrowed with them. Many old timers, familiar with the looser rule for a DUI no contest case, still search Google for the phrase, "how often can you plead no contest in Georgia?" Drivers new to all of this should start with what a DUI in GA actually involves.

Judge Has Discretion on Whether to Grant a No Contest Plea

The answer is zero, or virtually zero. In the last two decades, the Georgia legislature has greatly restricted access to a no contest plea for any driver's DUI offense. Only when a judge gives permission for DUI no contest, in the best interest of justice, and after the DUI defense lawyer files a written petition verified by the driver who is pleading to the driving under the influence charge, can this be considered. Legislative limitations and barriers have virtually rendered the plea of no contest to drunk driving to be nothing more than a historic footnote, except for rare cases where motorists are facing civil liability for a DUI accident, and the Court allows it. These obstacles show the limited value of a no contest plea: for a driver under 21, Georgia law counts a no contest plea to the other serious traffic offenses as a conviction, so the license suspension follows by operation of law even when a judge accepts the plea. DUI GA drivers whose alcohol concentration was more than 0.15 at any time within three hours of driving cannot utilize a no contest plea for a Georgia DUI. The reading matters because Georgia's less safe and per se DUI law sets the alcohol concentration levels the plea rule measures against. Georgia law also bars the plea outright for any driver under 21 charged with driving under the influence, whatever the breath or blood reading. Where the driver has no DUI conviction and no accepted no contest plea in the previous five years (from date of arrest to date of arrest), the DUI attorney must prepare and present to the Judge a verified petition before the plea may be accepted. The judge can reject it, and the statute puts that call in the sole discretion of the judge, who can simply say "no." Georgia's no contest plea rules for DUI spell out the mechanics behind those limits. The defendant files that verified petition with the court, asking that the plea be accepted. That petition must set out the facts and special circumstances that make accepting the plea in the best interest of justice, and the judge has to review the driver's Department of Driver Services record first. The judge then states the reasons for accepting the plea in the record, under seal. In practice that means a concrete, documented loss, not inconvenience or embarrassment. Even a granted petition does not wipe out the license actions that driving under the influence law requires: an accepted no contest plea to a DUI counts as a conviction for the license suspension, and it counts again as a prior DUI if there is a later charge. Ordinary traffic court works nothing like this. A judge weighing a speeding citation has far more room to accept the plea. The charge, not the courthouse, drives the difference.

What Is a No Contest Plea? Plain-English Definition

A no contest plea is a defendant's response of "no contest" to a criminal or traffic charge. The defendant neither admits nor disputes the allegation but accepts whatever sentence the court imposes.

The phrase comes from the Latin nolo contendere, which translates to "I do not wish to contest." Courts and lawyers shorten it in everyday speech to "no contest plea" or simply "nolo." People searching online sometimes type phonetic versions like "no lo plea" or "no low in court" – all of these refer to the same legal concept.

At an arraignment or plea date, the required answer is guilty or not guilty, but with the judge’s consent and approval a defendant generally has three options. The first is guilty, which means the defendant admits the charge. The second is not guilty, which sends the case toward trial. The third is no contest, which sits between the other two. The defendant gives up the right to a trial without saying "I did it." The judge then moves straight to sentencing.

For sentencing purposes, the judge treats a no contest plea the same as a guilty plea. Fines, probation, community service, classes, and possible jail time all remain on the table. The practical difference is narrow but sometimes important: the plea is generally not admissible as an admission of fault in a related civil lawsuit. Under Georgia law, and except as the law otherwise provides, no contest pleas may not be used against the defendant in any other court or proceeding as an admission of guilt.

A no contest plea is not a right in Georgia. The judge must consent and approve before a defendant may enter one, and the plea is not available at all in a capital felony case. For DUI cases, the restrictions are far stricter – the statute adds a written petition requirement, a best-interest-of-justice showing, and two automatic disqualifiers.

Drivers who want the full breakdown of Georgia's DUI-specific no contest rules – including the BAC cap, the five-year lookback, and the under-21 bar – should read our nolo plea deal FAQ page.

Is a Plea of No Contest of Any Value in GA?

After the many legislative restrictions and changes to Georgia DUI laws, few possible factual situations may find value in obtaining a no contest disposition. Pleading no contest to DUI is rare, and Georgia judges grant it only a handful of times each year. In those few no contest plea dispositions, these hardship cases have been utilized: Related civil litigation from a motor vehicle crash, where the at-fault driver seeks to plead to no contest to mitigate a large civil verdict. The accused drunk driver works in some business or industry for which the regulatory rules or employment manual permit a no contest plea to salvage the accused person's job, or ability to continue in that trade or business (e.g., cosmetologist). The person facing driving under the influence may be on a deferred adjudication program from another state that may require loss of favorable deferral treatment with any "guilty plea" to a serious misdemeanor or felony. Each scenario shares one feature: a documented loss that a guilty plea would trigger and a no contest plea might soften. After a crash, the plea may keep the criminal disposition out of the civil case as an admission of fault. A licensed professional may face a board that reads an admission of guilt far more harshly. A worker with a security clearance may face review the moment a guilty plea posts. A non-citizen should speak with an immigration lawyer first, because federal authorities usually treat a no contest plea as a conviction anyway. None of this comes on request.

Is a No Contest Plea a Conviction, and Does It Stay on Your Record?

Two questions come up more than any others: is pleading no contest a conviction, and does no contest go on your record? For nearly every practical purpose, the answers are yes and yes. When the judge accepts the plea, the judge sentences you just as on a guilty plea, under the same Georgia DUI law penalties. Fines, probation, classes, jail exposure, and the other consequences of a DUI all stay on the table. The arrest, charge, plea, and sentence go to the Georgia Crime Information Center, so your Georgia criminal history shows the case along with any related criminal charges. Georgia carves out two narrow exceptions. Under Georgia law, a no contest plea generally cannot be used against you as an admission of liability in a later civil suit. On a qualifying traffic offense, it can also keep points off your license, but not on a DUI, where the plea still triggers the license suspension. Neither exception touches the administrative suspension that follows a refusal or a failed test under Georgia law, which governs implied consent. Those exceptions do not reach a later criminal court case. A no contest disposition on a DUI still counts as a prior DUI at sentencing on a later charge. The next case is not treated as a first offense DUI, but as a second DUI offense. Georgia law says the plea is not a guilty plea for licensing and other civil disqualifications unless another statute provides otherwise, so a licensing board’s reaction turns on its own governing statute; private employers and immigration authorities draw their own conclusions. Record restriction is the last piece. Georgia restricts records only for cases that end without a conviction. A no contest plea is a disposition, not a dismissal, so it does not clear the arrest.

With an Out-of-State License, Will a GA No Contest Plea Benefit Me?

In reviewing Westlaw cases across the United States, a limited number of other states still seem to permit some use of a plea of no contest, in limited situations involving driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence, including Mississippi, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Oklahoma, California, Tennessee, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Texas, Nevada and Louisiana, so if legal counsel from one of those states verifies some value of a Georgia judge accepting a no contest plea for a DUI in GA, to avoid a "hardship," this might work. The earlier historic reference to federal regulations calling for all states to eliminate "special" dispositions like no contest from its state statutes, or risk losing federal highway funds, has all but wiped out these old laws. As the push by M.A.D.D. and NHTSA (an agency within the Department of Transportation) for safer highways moved forward, the no contest plea was an easy target for these highway safety advocates. Subsequent legislation can neutralize any value or benefit of a plea of no contest to DUI which was entered before the more restrictive new statute was enacted. In Harrison v. Commissioner, Div. of Motor Vehicles, 226 W. Va. 23 (2010), the West Virginia Supreme Court overturned two lower court rulings that blocked the WV DMV from treating a prior no contest plea as a first offense DUI. The two lower court judges believed that the new law only applied prospectively, and could not retroactively eliminate the benefit the two men who were facing the same second DUI offense penalties. The no contest plea for each man was counted as a first DUI offense, which caused much harsher driver's license revocation and criminal penalties.

Talk With Our Lawyers Before You Enter a No Contest Plea

If you have a Georgia traffic citation or a pending DUI charge and you are weighing a no contest plea, timing matters. Plea dates arrive fast, and courts rarely let a defendant withdraw a plea once the judge accepts it. A free consultation with a criminal defense attorney at William C. Head, PC covers the practical questions. We review the citation, pull the driving history, check whether your one no contest option in five years is still open on the traffic side, and tell you whether the plea would help or whether a reduction to reckless driving fits better. Fighting the charge often protects the license better. Cost comes up early too, so we go over fees and attorney payment plans at that first meeting. Atlanta DUI attorney Bubba Head has defended DUI and traffic cases in Georgia for decades, in the municipal, state, and recorder's courts of Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties.

Call 404-567-5515 to talk through your options before your court date, or email our criminal justice attorneys instead. Our attorney ratings and client reviews show how past clients describe that work, and former clients are welcome to submit a law firm client review. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

What Does No Contest Mean in Court?

Searchers often type the question as "what is no contest in court" or even phonetically as "no low in court." All three versions refer to the same thing: the nolo contendere plea in court. The term itself is Latin for "I do not contest," and it describes a specific way a defendant responds to a criminal or traffic charge.

The procedural moment happens at arraignment or on the scheduled plea date. The judge asks the criminal defendant to state a plea on the record in open court. The defendant – usually through counsel – states "no contest." The judge then decides whether to accept or reject the plea. If accepted, sentencing follows. If rejected, the criminal case moves forward toward trial or another plea.

Drivers who ask "what does no contest mean in court" want a plain answer. Nolo contendere is a response where the defendant does not admit guilt but does not fight the charge either. The judge then imposes a sentence just as after a guilty plea. The plea is generally not usable as an admission of fault in a later civil lawsuit. A defendant who pleads guilty admits the charge. A not guilty plea sends the case toward trial. A no contest plea sits in between: you give up the trial without saying you did it. Georgia treats it as a special plea. Georgia's statute governs no contest pleas and their effect statewide, and nothing in it gives a defendant a right to enter one. The judge decides, not the prosecutor. In our experience with citations in metro Atlanta courtrooms, judges vary widely in how readily they accept one, and a driver who used the option within five years is usually turned down.

Pleading No Contest in GA Traffic Court for a Speeding Ticket

Pleading no contest in GA traffic court is a different question from pleading no contest to a DUI. The DUI statute closes the door in nearly every case. Ordinary traffic court leaves it open. Drivers care because of points. The Georgia Department of Driver Services assigns points to most moving violations, and points build toward suspension. Searches like "plead no contest Georgia speeding ticket," "pleading no contest in Georgia speeding ticket," "pleading no contest for speeding ticket in GA," and "pleading no contest to a speeding ticket in GA" almost always come from the same driver: one trying to protect a license. A no contest plea to a qualifying traffic offense may keep those points off the record. A second no contest plea within five years counts as a conviction for point purposes, so in practice the option is good once every five years. Save the option for a citation that would otherwise threaten your license. Drivers under 21 and CDL holders. Georgia treats young drivers and commercial license holders far more strictly. Georgia's commercial driver law counts an accepted no contest plea as a conviction, so the points protection does not apply, and federal rules bar masking a CDL holder's conviction. Expect points and license consequences to follow. How the request works. In the municipal, state, and recorder's courts around Atlanta, your lawyer asks the judge for the no contest disposition at the plea. Fines, surcharges, and court costs still apply. The judge may refuse, and practice varies by county and courtroom. Avoiding points is not the same as hiding the case. Insurers often find the disposition through their own record checks and may raise your premium. Whether the plea helps depends on the charge, the driving history, and the license type.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a No Contest Plea in Simple Terms?

A no contest plea – also called a nolo contendere plea and sometimes misspelled "no lo plea" – is a response to a criminal or traffic charge where the defendant does not admit guilt and does not fight the charge, but accepts whatever sentence the judge imposes. In Georgia, the judge must agree to accept the plea before the defendant may enter one. For sentencing purposes, a no contest plea has the same practical effect as pleading guilty. Fines, probation, community service, and possible jail time all still apply.

Does a No Contest Plea Keep the Case off a Background Check?

No. The arrest, charge, and disposition appear in your Georgia criminal history, so a background check shows the case. Georgia law says the plea is not a guilty plea for licensing and other civil disqualifications unless another statute provides otherwise, and private employers draw their own conclusions.

How Often Can You Plead No Contest to a Speeding Ticket in Georgia?

Generally once every five years for point purposes, and only if the judge agrees. Save it for a ticket that threatens your license.

Can You Plead No Contest to a DUI in Georgia?

Almost never. The statute bars it outright when the driver's alcohol concentration was more than 0.15 within three hours of driving, and the judge alone decides every other case. A driver under 21 cannot get one at all, since Georgia law bars accepting the plea from anyone under 21 on a DUI charge.

Will a No Contest Plea Protect My Insurance Rate?

Maybe not. Points and premiums run on separate systems. Carriers often find the disposition anyway and may still raise the rate.

A no contest plea is entered to a charging document, which in a felony case is an indictment.