DUI Penalties

DUI Penalties can range from fines, jail time, community service, license suspension, and DUI classes. The DUI consequences can stack up each time you commit another offense within a 10 year period.

The fines usually range in the thousands, starting around 1100 dollars. These fines pay for the administrative fee, and have no relation to fees you might have to pay if the judge believes you can help pay for the public defender. There is a misconception that the court appointed attorney is free. The court will have you fill out a form with your income and expenses, and if they deem you able to pay for the public defender, they will.

Jail time for a first offense DUI will be atleast 48 hours. Depending on the blood alcohol level you had at the time of arrest could determine how lenient the judge will be. When you are sentenced with a number of days, you actually serve 2/3rds of the time. For instance, your DUI penalty 45 days in jail. You will actually be in the jail for 30 days, which is 2/3rds what the sentence is.

If you are not able to pay for your fines as one of the DUI penalties, you can opt to serve community service. These can include helping the town where you live, the school, or other public entities.

Your license can be suspended as a penalty. This is not the same thing as a restricted license. A suspended license means you cannot drive. Period. Besides serving jail time, this is the next worse penalty. You will no longer be able to drive to work, or any other place as long as you have a suspended license.

Also, as a DUI penalty you will have to enroll in DUI classes where they show movies, have group sessions, and face to face meetings with a counselor. These appointments are usually once a week.

Your DUI penalties will get much worse each time you commit a repeat offense. If you already got a first offense dui, hopefully you learn a valuable lesson from these DUI penalties.

DUI Charges

When you get arrested for a DUI or what some call DWI, some of your first thoughts when you're sober is: What am I going to be charged with? Well this varies state by state. Some DUI Charges for California are a suspended license for 6 months, which after one month of full suspension, you might be eligible for a restricted license. You will have to pay court fines around $1,400, serve mandatory jail time of 48 hours minimum, and a DUI class that is usually a 9 month program. Some DUI Charges can be negotiated with, and I suggest that if you do not hire an attorney, you should elect to have a public defender. A lot of public defenders are, to put bluntly, garbage compared to one you hire yourself. Either way, having an attorney can help reduce your DUI Charges.