By Erin K
Recently Gov. Jack A Markell signed two new bills into law to create stricter DUI penalties for people convicted of a DUI offense in Delaware.
House Bill 152: Increased Fines and Jail Time
House Bill 152 increases DUI fines for subsequent offenders, especially drivers with five previous DUI convictions. The bill also called for increased jail time for subsequent DUI offenders and creating a felony DUI for drivers with six and seven DUI convictions.
Last year there were approximately 6,916 DUI arrests, of which 59 people had been previously arrested at least five other times for drunk driving. Since January of this year, 3,213 drivers have been arrested for DUI, with 40 of those people having five or more previous DUI arrests.
House Bill 177: Strict Penalties for First DUI Offense
The second bill signed into law strengthens penalties for a first time DUI offense if the driver has a blood alcohol level of .15% or higher.
If convicted of a DUI with a BAC of .15%, the period of hard revocation for those who are mandated to have an ignition interlock device is increased from 30 to 45 days.
The driver’s license is suspended for six months instead of three, and the ignition interlock device must be used for six months.
The bill limits driving authority of an ignition interlock device licensed driver to work, home, school, alcohol treatment programs and interlock service provider appointments.
Source: Sussex Countian
By Editor
South Carolina DUI convictions now come with stricter penalties. The state’s new DUI law that increases fines and jail time for DUI offenders went into effect on Feb. 10.
Penalties for DUI in South Carolina now increase in severity according to blood alcohol content.
First-Time DUI Penalties
Under the new South Carolina DUI law, a first DUI offense will meana $400 fine and two to 30 days in jail or 48 hours of community service, unless the blood alcohol content is .10% or above.
Drivers with a blood alcohol content of .10 and .15 are now fined $500 and sentenced to three to 30 days behind bars or 72 hours of community service.
If a DUI offender has a blood alcohol content of .16% or higher, they face a $1,000 fine and a jail sentence of 30 to 60 days or 30 days of community service.
Penalties for Second DUI Conviction
The new law calls for repeat DUI offenders to be fined $2,100 to $5,100 and jailed five days to one year for a second offense DUI.
If the offender’s blood alcohol content is .10 to .15, the recommended jail sentence is increased to 30 days to two years. If a person is convicted of a second DUI with a blood alcohol content of .16 or higher, the fine is increased to $3,500 to $6,500 and face 90 days to three years behind bars.
Third DUI Penalties
Drivers convicted of a third DUI now face fines of $3,800 to $6,300 and 60 days to three years behind bars. If the offender’s blood alcohol content is .10 to .15% the fines are increased to $5,000 to $7,500 and a jail sentence of 90 days to four years is recommended.
Fines of $7,500 to $10,000 and jail sentences of six months to five years in jail are recommended for third-time DUI offenders with a blood alcohol content of .16 or higher.
Also under the new law, any driver suspected of DUI who refuses a breath test automatically has their driver’s license suspended.
South Carolina’s DUI laws had long been criticized as too lenient and a reported 43.4 percent of traffic fatalities in the state in 2007 were alcohol-related. In 2008, approximately half of all traffic fatalities in the state were alcohol-related.
The law hasn’t been in effect long enough to test its effectiveness yet. However, already newspapers and law enforcement groups were applauding the new laws.
Rapidly changing laws are just another reason to consult a DUI attorney. They will have knowledge of the any changes to the state laws, and how these changes might affect your DUI case.
By Editor
State DUI laws across the country continue to change at a rapid pace. In the past few weeks, many new laws rolled into effect, while other states began discussing revising their current DUI laws. A quick rundown:
West Virginia: State officials are reviewing the data to test the effectiveness of new DUI laws that went into effect six months ago.
The DMV commissioner reports that the usage of ignition interlock devices is up 30 percent, already. The new law was designed to increase usage of ignition interlocks in more DUI cases as part of efforts to lower jail costs and discourage repeat DUI offenders.
Maryland: In late January, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced plans to push for the creation of more than 20 new state laws. His list included a DUI bill based on recommendations from a state DUI task force.
The changes would include a mandatory one-year driver’s license suspension for second and subsequent alcohol or drug related convictions during a five-year period.
South Carolina: New graduated DUI punishments go into effect on Tuesday, Feb. 10. A first DUI with a BAC between .10 and .15 will face $500 fines and 3-30 days in jail.
A BAC above .16 will get a driver $1,000 and 30-60 days. Penalties increase exponentially for a second and third offense.
By Editor
Being arrested and charged with DUI can be a scary and embarrassing experience. While most people would like to put their DUI arrest in the past, especially in the cases of those who had a one-time, temporarily lapse in judgment, actually doing so hasn’t been that easy for some Arizona DUI offenders.
The new Web site Stopduiaz.com posts the names, mug shots and blood alcohol content levels of people who have been arrested for Arizona DUI. The site has been described as a means to educate the public on DUI penalties and to get across the point that even ordinary citizens can be arrested for DUI and thus subjected to such penalties.
The site is not without controversy, as some people have decried the embarrassing aspects of this campaign. These opponents have specifically pointed out their displeasure with the principle of shaming, in which embarrassment for a crime can be used as part of a sentence.
Read more about the debate surrounding this Arizona DUI Web site in the following article:
Arizona DUI Offenders See Names and Mug Shots Go Online.
By Editor
The Fort Leavenworth Lamp reports that penalties for DUI in Kansas increased on July 1st. A first DUI offender with a blood alcohol level (BAC) below 0.15%, will have his or her license suspended fort 30 days, with a work and school license only, for an additional 330 days.
A second, third, or fourth time DUI offender will suffer a one year license suspension. For a fifth DUI conviction, a driver will have his or her license permanently revoked.
A driver under 21 years of age will have her license suspended for a year for the first DUI offense.
A DUI driver, with a BAC of at least 0.15%, will have her license suspended for a year for his or her first conviction. Following the suspension, he or she will be restricted to another year of driving with an ignition interlock.
Additional 0.15 percent DUI offenses will increase the length of a driver’s license suspension. On a fifth offense, the driver’s license will be permanently revoked.
In Kansas, a third DUI conviction has been and continues to be a felony DUI.
By Tiffany Sanders, ESQ.
Questions often arise as to how long the “look back” period is for purposes of enhancing DUI penalties or elevating DUI charges to felony status.
There’s no easy answer to that question and not only because state laws vary. The number of DUI convictions and the time period considered for enhanced penalties or felony DUI does vary from state to state. However, the realities are even more complex.
In some states, the period runs from date of charge to date of charge–in others, from date of conviction to date of charge. Further, some states have alternate time periods during which a different number of prior convictions qualifies for enhanced penalties or felony treatment.
For instance, in Ohio a drunk driver can be charged with a felony based on four offenses in six years or six offenses in twenty years, meaning that two separate calculations apply to every case.
If you’ve been charged and this is not your first DUI offense, make sure that you talk to a local DUI lawyer and fully understand how the repeat offender statutes apply in your case.
By Tiffany Sanders, ESQ.
This week Nebraska joined the growing number of states increasing DUI penalties if the driver has a blood alcohol content (BAC) in excess of .15%.
Under the new provision, either 2 days in jail or a minimum 120 hours of community service will be mandatory for DUI offenders who cross that threshold.
In addition, the driver’s license suspension is increased to one year for these drivers.
By Tiffany Sanders, ESQ.
The Florida legislature has been very active in DUI matters this year.
Governor Jeb Bush is currently considering a bill that swept through both the House and Senate and will, if signed, amend the statute requiring disclosure to defendants in DUI cases to specifically preclude access to breathalyzer source code.
Another bill, which passed the House but died in the Senate Appropriations Committee this week would have instituted a mandatory minimum two year prison sentence for a fourth (or subsequent) DUI conviction. A judge would have had the authority to substitute treatment for the second year of imprisonment, but could not otherwise reduce the sentence.
The demise of the bill appears to have been based more on the increased costs associated with its enforcement than any philosophical differences, and lawmakers have vowed to re-introduce the idea next session with new cost-cutting measures attached.
If that bill passes, it will make Florida one of the toughest states in the country in sentencing offenders with more than a first DUI offense.