If This is Not Your First DUI in 5 Years

SECOND DUI IN TEN YEARS (all arrests after July 1, 2008)

* Fine:  $600.00 minimum, to $1,000.00 maximum, plus mandatory surcharges and probation supervision fees; AND

* Jail:  90 days to 12 months, all but 72 hours of which may be suspended, stayed or probated.  In reality, judges often impose 30 to 90 days in jail on a second DUI in ten  years.  If the sentencing phase of your trial is prepared and conducted correctly, the judge has the discretion to permit all of part of the jail time be served as "alternative incarceration" that is, in a halfway house, a drug or alcohol rehab, in home confinement, or in work release which allows you to go to work during the day.  In order to get alternative incarceration, the attorney must know the judge's history in sentencing DUI cases, and must be familiar with the prosecutor, and must carefully prepare a good defense so that there is a viable threat by the accused of going to trial and gaining an acquittal.  Alternative incarceration is extremely difficult to get for DUI cases.  Probation cannot be terminated early; AND

* Community service:  30 days mandatory minimum; AND

* Alcohol & drug clinical evaluation:  Mandatory completion of mental health evaluation and treatment at the offender's expense; AND

* Publication in newspaper:  Upon the second conviction within ten years, a notice of conviction is published in the local legal newspaper.  The notice includes the driver's photograph taken at the time of his or her arrest, the driver's name and address, the date, time and place of arrest and disposition of the case.  The driver must pay $25.00 to the Clerk to cover the cost of publication.  The size of the photo and written notice is one column wide by two inches high; AND

* Ignition Interlock Device:  After a second DUI conviction, a driver can petition the DDS for a limited driving permit one year after conviction, conditioned upon completion of alcohol treatment and completion of DUI school.  DDS will require the driver to buy or rent an ignition interlock device that will not let the driver's car start if alcohol is on the driver's breath.  Installation and maintenance of the device must be made a condition of probation and must be at the driver's expense.  The recommended time for the IID is six months, but there is no reason why a judge cannot order a driver to keep the IID on his car for the full term of probation.  After a second DUI conviction, a driver cannot obtain a reinstated driver's license until he or she provides proof that an ignition interlock device has been "maintained" for 6 months; AND

* License plate surrender:  After a second conviction in ten years for DUI, a driver must surrender all license plates for all vehicles owned by the driver, until the driver is eligible for a limited driving permit, a probationary license, or is eligible for reinstatement.  There are limited hardship exceptions to this provision, but few car owners will qualify; AND

* License suspension:  A 3-year suspension is mandatory.  There is no immediate "work permit" available for any driver.  The sentencing judge can order that there be no license for 18 months, or for a limited permit in 12 months if the driver has already met the conditions listed above in the Ignition Interlock section.  Reinstatement may be applied for after 18 months, provided the driver has complied with all conditions.  The reinstatement fee is $210.00 at the DDS offices and $200.00 through the mail.

THIRD DUI IN TEN YEARS (all arrests after July 1, 2008)

* Fine:  $1,000.00 minimum to $5,000.00 maximum, plus surcharges and probation supervision fees; AND

* Jail:  120 days to 12 months, all but 15 days of which may be served on probation.  In real life, the jail sentences are from 120-180 days; more for multiple lifetime  offenses.  A driver with three DUIs in ten years is pretty much going to have to show  the judge that he is going straight into a residential alcohol rehabilitation program in order to get out of jail time.  AND

* Community Service:  30 days mandatory  minimum.   AND

* License Revocation:  5-year license revocation (not suspension).  The driver is declared a HABITUAL VIOLATOR.  After two years, the driver may apply for a probationary license, which is discretionary with the Department of Driver Services.  There are stringent reinstatement requirements.
There are never any "work permits".  AND

* Ignition Interlock Device:  A driver must buy or rent an ignition interlock device that will not let the driver's car start if alcohol is on the breath, as a condition of a probation license requested two years after revocation.  The Ignition Interlock Device must remain on the licensee's car for a minimum of six months.  Installation and maintenance of the device must be at the driver's expense; AND

* Publication in newspaper:  upon the third conviction, a notice of conviction is published in the local newspaper.  The notice includes the driver's photograph taken at the time of his or her arrest, the driver's name and address, the date, time and place of arrest and disposition of the case.  The driver must pay $25.00 to the Clerk to cover the cost of publication.  The size of the photo and written notice is one column wide by two inches high.  AND

* Special license plate:  Anybody declared a habitual violator must surrender the license plates from his or her car and apply for special license plates containing a code of numbers and letters that will tell police that the driver is a habitual violator.  The law provides that when the police see such a license plate, they cannot stop or detain the driver based solely upon the habitual violator code in the license plate, but don't count on it.

A FOURTH DUI IN TEN YEARS is a FELONY.

Expungement

I get hundreds of calls each year asking how a driver gets a DUI conviction expunged.  In Georgia, an expungement is reserved for those who are arrested for a crime but never prosecuted for some reason.  If a formal charge is filed against you (an indictment or accusation), you cannot legally have that arrest expunged from your criminal record.

If you are originally charged formally with DUI and your attorney convinces the prosecutor to dismiss the DUI by entering a plea to Reckless Driving or some other violation, you cannot legally have the DUI arrest expunged from your record.

If you have been arrested and later acquitted by a judge or jury for that offense, you may have the arrest removed or pardoned by application to the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

There is no way to legally remove a DUI charge from your criminal record.  Your record will be supplemented with the information of what happened in court:  dismissed, acquitted, convicted, pled guilty.