If you have recently been arrested for DUI in California, there are many essential things you need to be aware of. Here are some of the basic things you need to be well informed of: court proceedings, state laws, penalties, about hiring a defense lawyer, effects on auto insurance, employment and driving privileges and still many more that you will come across in the course of the DUI process.

As the title indicates, this article is going to inform you only about the DUI penalties in California. The penalties for DUI in California are license suspension, probation, attending mandatory alcohol classes, fines, possible jail time, loss of auto insurance or higher premiums, use of ignition interlock device, community service and vehicle impoundment. The severity of penalties varies according to the kind of charge the person is facing. For example, the person charged with felony DUI has more increased penalties than the person charged with misdemeanor. Also there are more aggravating factors that significantly increases the penalty such as having a prior DUI conviction, having a child under the age of 14 in the car, driving above the speeding limit, having a high BAC of over 0.20%, refusing to submit to chemical testing and driving on a suspended or restricted  license.

When you are arrested for a DUI you have either been charged as a misdemeanor or felony. First, second and third DUI arrests are charged as misdemeanor. A fourth DUI within 10 years as well as if there is an accident involving death or severe body injury is charged as felony.

Penalties:

Penalties for DUI first offense:

License suspension:

Under 1st DUI offense, the license suspension period is for 6 months and you are not allowed to drive in this period of time. If you are under 21, the suspension period is for 1 year.

Probation:

The probation period is for 1 to 5 years and you are not allowed to drink and drive during this period.

mandatory alcohol classes:

Depending on your BAC level, you will need to attend mandatory alcohol classes from anywhere of 3 to 9 months.

Fines:

You will need to pay the fines of $390 to $1000. You may even request to do community service to work off some of your fees.

Possible Jail time:

First offense DUI, may requires 48 hours of jail time but not more than 6 months. You can request community service instead of a jail time.

Auto insurance:

There will be a loss of auto insurance or higher premiums.

Ignition interlock device:

You may be ordered to use the ignition device.

Vehicle impoundment:

The court may impound your vehicle.

Community service:

You will need to do the community service.

Penalties for DUI second offense:

License suspension:

Under 2nd offense DUI, your license will be suspended for 2 years.

Probation:

The probation period for 2nd offense DUI is 1-5 years.

Mandatory alcohol classes:

You may need to attend alcohol classes for 18 months.

Fines:

You will be fined $390.00 to $1,000.00. You can request to do community service to work off some of your fees.

Possible jail time:

You will need to spend 96 hours to 1 year in jail. You can request community service instead of a jail time and there may be chances for you to spend only for a few days in the jail.

Auto insurance:

There will be a loss of auto insurance or higher premiums.

Ignition interlock device:

You will be ordered to use the ignition device on your vehicle.

Vehicle impoundment:

The court will impound multiple offender’s vehicle.

Community service:

You will need to do the community service for 10 days.

Penalties for DUI third offense:

License suspension:

Under third DUI offense, your license will be suspended for 3 years.

Probation:

The probation period for third DUI offense is 1-5 years.

Mandatory alcohol classes:

You will need to attend alcohol classes for 18 months if you haven’t already completed one.

Fines:

You will be fined $390 to $1000. You can request to do community service to work off some of your fees.

Possible jail time:

You will need to spend your time in jail for 4 months to 1 year.

Auto insurance:

There will be a loss of auto insurance or higher premiums.

Penalties for fourth DUI offense:

License suspension:

Under fourth DUI offense, your license may be either suspended or lost permanently.

Probation:

The probation period for fourth DUI offense is 1-5 years or state prison.

Mandatory alcohol classes:

You will need to attend alcohol classes for 18 months if you haven’t already completed one.

Fines:

You will be fined $390 to $1000

Jail time:

You should spend the time in jail for 6 months to 3 years in state prison.

Auto insurance:

There will be a loss of auto insurance or higher premiums.

The information in the DUI Process Manual helps you if you have been recently pulled over and cited for DUI as well as if you have older DUI conviction record and are hoping to expunge or clear your record. You can get very useful and researched information on expunging your DUI record, getting your driver’s license back, saving money on your auto insurance and even saving money throughout your whole DUI process no matter what state (US) you are located in.

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