The DUI Stop & Field Sobriety

Can I be arrested for DUI at a checkpoint?

Attorney-Reviewed Answer
Reviewed by Christopher Walsh, Criminal Trial Attorney (Fla. Bar #127459). Last reviewed: September 2026
Short Answer
Yes — but checkpoints carry a documentation requirement that produces genuine challenges.

Yes. Sobriety checkpoints operate differently from ordinary stops. There's no individualized suspicion — you're stopped because you drove through a location where vehicles are being stopped.

That's permissible only within limits. Florida requires that checkpoints be conducted under a written operational plan established in advance by supervisory personnel, addressing things like site selection, which vehicles are stopped, the procedures officers follow, and duration.

The purpose of that requirement is removing field discretion. If officers on scene were choosing who to stop based on their own judgment, or if the plan doesn't exist or wasn't followed, the stop is challengeable.

That plan is a document. It can be requested. Whether it exists, and whether it was actually followed, are questions with paper answers rather than testimony answers.

Every checkpoint case starts the same way — where's the written plan? ---

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This page answers a common question for general informational purposes and is not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed by reading it. Florida law changes; while this answer is reviewed by a licensed Florida attorney, the right answer depends on the specific facts of your situation — consult an attorney. Serving Martin, St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties.