Driving under the influence is a crime in all 50 states. Depending on where you live, a DUI charge can bring with it a host of legal penalties, all of which can have long-lasting ramifications on your everyday life.
The severity of the Penalties that you face for a DUI hinges on a number of different factors. You can act in your own best interests and avoid driving under the influence by learning how DUI convictions are punished in most states and what consequences even a single DUI penalty can have on your job, finances, and life with your family.
Civil Fines and Court Costs
The mildest of all DUI Penalties is having to pay a civil fine and court costs after you are convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This minimal punishment is generally reserved for first-time offenders. If you have not been arrested for a DUI in the past, chances are that you may be receive a proverbial slap on the wrist and have to pay a fine as well as the costs for your case to go through the court system.
This penalty is also reserved for people whose blood alcohol content or BAC levels are not much higher than the 0.08 percent used by most states. If your BAC is just slightly higher than that number, you could get away with a misdemeanor DUI charge. Your punishment could be to pay a fine and court costs to the city, county, or state in which you were charged.
However, even the court costs and the civil penalty can take a serious toll on your everyday life. Court costs alone can range in the hundreds of dollars. They are generally added to the fine that you might incur from the court for being found guilty of driving under the influence.
But what happens if you cannot afford to pay the fine or the court costs? Failure to pay either can result in the city, county, or state going after your paycheck and having it garnished to satisfy the obligation. The court may also levy your state or federal tax return to collect the money. Further, you could have a bench warrant put out for your arrest, and you could be detained and taken to city or county jail for failing to pay your civil Penalties.
Most court systems will allow DUI offenders to work out some sort of payment agreement if they cannot pay the total court costs and fines upfront. You will be expected to make regular payments to the court to settle your obligation to society and avoid being arrested for failing to satisfy your DUI sentence. Paying this obligation can take months or in some instances even years to complete.
Suspended License, Loss of Driving Privileges, and Mandatory Breathalyzer Tests
Another penalty that you might incur for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is the loss of your driving privileges. Many states will now punish drunk drivers by taking away their driver’s licenses. Yours might be suspended for a month, two months, or even as long as a year depending on the severity of your DUI charge.
In addition, you may be barred by the court from driving a motor vehicle including a boat, motorcycle, and in some states even a moped or bicycle. If you are caught driving a vehicle, you could be arrested and put in jail for months or longer.
If you lose your privileges to drive, you may experience hardship in your everyday life particularly when you try to go to work or school. You may have no choice but to use public transportation like the city bus or a taxi. If public transportation services are not available where you live, you will have to choose between walking to where you need to go or asking a friend or a relative for a ride. These choices can make living out a productive and normal everyday life difficult or impossible.
Even if you do retain your driving privileges after a DUI conviction, you still may have to submit to a breathalyzer test on a regular basis. You may be sentenced to probation during which you will have to come to the court or to your probation officer’s location and have your breath tested for the presence of alcohol or drugs. If you fail the breathalyzer test, you could face being arrested or having your license and driving privileges suspended for a longer period of time.
Another one of the Penalties incurred by DUI offenders who do not lose their privilege to drive involves having a breathalyzer test installed on their cars’ steering wheels. You have to blow into the test before you can start your car or drive. If you fail the test, the car will not start, and you cannot drive yourself to wherever you need or want to go.
These DUI Penalties are reserved for repeat offenders and people whose BACs are significantly over the legal limit. These offenders generally are those who have not caused damage or loss to property or human life. Even so, they present enough of a danger as habitual DUI offenders that they cannot be rehabilitated by civil fines and having to pay court costs. The judges presiding over their cases may feel that steeper Penalties like suspended licenses and driving privileges are in order for them.
Community Service and Reeducation
Another one of the common DUI Penalties doled out by most states is sentencing a DUI offender to community service or reeducation. This penalty is again reserved for people who are charged with misdemeanor DUI or those who do not cause loss of or damage to property or human life. Still, they may not necessarily be rehabilitated by paying court costs and fines. They need a steeper penalty to catch their attention yet give them another chance to redeem themselves.
Community service generally involves paying back a debt to society through some sort of volunteer work. DUI offenders may pick up garbage, volunteer at a soup kitchen, or serve in some other charitable capacity. Their community service sentences may last for a month or longer depending on whether or not they are repeat DUI offenders or how drunk they were when they drove their vehicles.
Along with doing community service, some DUI offenders also are sentenced to reeducation, meaning that they must complete some sort of classroom and lecture work that teaches them to stay sober and avoid driving under the influence again. The reeducation classes can be taken either online or in person at a vocational college, courthouse, high school, or other location. The classes can last for several weeks or as long as a month in some instances. The people sentenced to reeducation also have to pay for the costs of the classes out of their own pockets.
As with other DUI Penalties, failing to complete community service hours or reeducation opportunities can result in an offender having a bench warrant put out for his or her arrest. This individual could be sentenced to jail time along with having to pay court costs and a civil fine if he or she does not serve out the DUI penalty ordered by the court.
Jail or Prison Time
The severest Penalties for DUI in most states is being sentenced to city or county jail or state or federal prison. Jail and prison sentences are generally doled out to people who are repeat offenders and have received lesser Penalties in the past for this offense. Because they failed to learn their lessons to avoid driving while intoxicated, they are often sentenced to stints in the county or city jail or even in federal prison depending on how many times they have been convicted of this crime in the past.
Jail and prison Penalties are also reserved for people who have either caused significant damage to personal or public property while driving drunk or caused injury or death to another person while intoxicated. The less severe Penalties are not satisfactory for the person and his or her debt to society in these cases. Justice often demands that the offenders are sentenced to months or years in jail or prison to make up for the damages and pain that they have inflicted on others because of their decision to drink and drive.
Once you are sentenced to jail or prison for driving while intoxicated, you will have this blemish on both your criminal and driving record for the rest of your life. If you have harmed person or property during the commission of your crime, you also may find it difficult or impossible to have either record expunged of your conviction. This conviction could follow you for the rest of your life.
It could make living out a normal everyday life extremely difficult especially if you want to apply for a new job after you are released from jail or prison. Your potential employer can see the conviction on your record. The record will also be accessible to people like potential landlords, financiers, schools and universities, and others who could hold sway over how well you can live out your everyday life.
It could make living out a normal everyday life extremely difficult especially if you want to apply for a new job after you are released from jail or prison. Your potential employer can see the conviction on your record. The record will also be accessible to people like potential landlords, financiers, schools and universities, and others who could hold sway over how well you can live out your everyday life.
Given the range of Penalties that you could receive for this offense, it would make sense that you would want to avoid driving while intoxicated in the first place. However, if you are arrested and charged for DUI, it is important to know what steps to take to avoid the harshest Penalties that you could receive in your state.
Retain a Competent Lawyer
If you are arrested and charged with this offense, it is important for you to know that you have the right to retain a lawyer to assist you with your case. You can call and hire a DUI attorney right after you are arrested or arraigned on the charge. Your attorney may be able to secure your bail or bond out of jail so you can start participating in your defense right away.
Your attorney can also speak for and act on your behalf in all of your court appearances. He or she may be able to bargain down the charges against you or possibly even have them dismissed altogether if questions can be raised about your field sobriety test. You may avoid having to pay expensive court and civil fines, losing your ability to drive your car, or being sentenced to jail or prison.
Each state varies in how it punishes driving under the influence. The penalty can range from relatively mild and having to pay a fine to severe and having to serve out months or years in prison.
You do not want to risk your freedom or finances on a lenient judge in your city, county, or state. You might avoid serious legal consequences and avoid having to go to jail altogether by retaining a competent and assertive lawyer to represent you immediately after you are arrested and detained on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.