Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor and/or Drug Charges

Incarceration

For a first offense, the judge has the power to impose up to 1 year in jail and a fine of $5,000. In every case, no less than the mandatory minimum sentence must be imposed. If the breath test is under .15%, 1 day in jail is required. If over .15%, 1 days in jail are required. The judge has the power to require this jail time to be served in your home by imposing electronic home monitoring, but if so, the length of detention will be 15 times longer. 1 day of "real" jail can be satisfied by serving no less than 15 days on home detention and 2 days in jail can be served by no less than 30 days home detention. Electronic home monitoring is not cheap, and you will be required to pay the cost of it. 5 years of probation may also be imposed along with a monthly monitoring fee.

The penalties rise dramatically in the case of a subsequent conviction for DUI. For a second conviction within 7 years, where the breath test was under .15%, 30 days in jail followed by 60 days electronic home detention is the minimum. If the breath test was .15% or higher, 45 days in jail followed by 90 days electronic home detention is the minimum.