DUIs can be expensive

Driving while intoxicated can be an expensive endeavor, with fines up to $2,100 for a first offense.
On a fourth DUI conviction within five years, the fines can be up to $10,100 and the charge becomes a felony offense. Prosecutors are unhappy about the five-year period, according to Tom Anderson.
Anderson is a 12th Judicial Circuit assistant district attorney and he said limiting the time period to within five years is “problematic to prosecutors because those who may really need to receive felony-level punishment might not be subject to it.”
The Enterprise Police Department made 238 DUI arrests last year, according to Capt. Mike Lolley. To date this year, there have been 107 DUI arrests, Lolley said Friday.
DUI charges in Alabama can be prosecuted under one or both of two theories, Anderson said. DUI charges can be brought against someone who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs and it relates to the driver’s impaired ability to drive a vehicle. Alabama DUI arrests can also be based on violation of Alabama’s “per se laws,” which make it a crime to drive with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or higher. This type of charge can be brought based on body chemistry, and not necessarily on the way the person is actually driving their car, Anderson said.
When someone is arrested for DUI, or a related drunk driving offense, there is the court case, involving the possibility of jail, fines, community service and other punishments, and there is the Alabama Department of Motor Vehicles case, where the person's driver's license is in jeopardy, Lolley said.
The DMV case is triggered by the arrest, Lolley said. The law enforcement officer takes away the license, and sends it to the DMV. Unless a hearing is requested on a timely basis, usually within just a few days, the driver's license will be suspended automatically and the length of the suspension can depend on whether the arrest is a first offense.
Laws vary from state to state, Anderson said. He said 45 states, not including Alabama, permit some offenders to drive only if their vehicles have been equipped with ignition interlocks, he said. These devices analyze a driver's breath and disable the ignition if the driver has been drinking. In 30 states, multiple offenders may forfeit vehicles that are driven while impaired by alcohol, Anderson said.
Alabama’s DUI law creates additional punishment and penalties for anyone who refuses to take a chemical test of their blood, breath or urine following their arrest for drunk driving, Lolley said. A refusal to be tested carries an automatic 90-day driver’s license suspension, he said.
On a second DUI conviction within five years, a person could be fined up to $5,100 and jailed for not more than a year, Anderson said. That conviction includes a mandatory sentence of not less than five days in jail, or at least 30 days of community service. A third DUI conviction carries a fine up to $10,100 and a minimum of 60 days in jail, he said. “In addition, driving privileges or license will be revoked for three years.”
And, Anderson said, when a person over age 21 is convicted of DUI and a child under age 14 was in the vehicle, the person’s minimum sentence is doubled.