Be careful of administrative hearings. Two types of these hearings I’m familiar with are ALS hearings and CAR hearings. ALS stands for Administrative License Suspension hearings and CAR stands for Child Abuse Registry Hearings. Do not attend these hearings without competent counsel. I have rarely felt that legal proceedings are stacked against the ordinary citizen, but when you are in front of an administrative law judge in the state of Georgia, you can expect to see your right to a thorough and fair hearing significantly challenged. The consequences of a loss at any such administrative hearing can be severe, and the burden of proof that the state must bear is only proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
Imagine the scales of justice, with both sides of the scale perfectly empty. Then imagine a feather is placed on one side. That side tilts the least bit and the case is won by whichever side dropped the feather. It has been my experience that the State, with the assistance of the administrative law judge, has very little trouble producing evidence that wins the case by a preponderance of the evidence. So, again, do not participate in these hearings without competent legal counsel. You will get steamrolled if you do.