DUI Penalties

In 2004, the Pennsylvania legislature enacted a new DUI law which set forth mandatory penalties for DUI convictions based upon the defendant’s blood alcohol content, whether or not there was an accident involved in the DUI, and whether or not there was a controlled substance present in the defendant’s blood.

First offenders with no prior convictions or criminal record may qualify for the Accelerated Disposition Program (A.R.D.), which allows an individual to avoid jail time, avoid driver’s license suspension or reduce the length of license suspension, and earn a dismissal and expungement of their charges.

Second and subsequent offenders face mandatory minimum jail sentences of as little as five days incarceration to at least one year in a state correctional institution. Driver’s license suspensions for second and subsequent offenses range from a mandatory one year suspension to eighteen month suspensions, plus mandatory installation and use of ignition interlock devices, which prevent operation of motor vehicles with alcohol in the driver’s system.

Often, sentencing alternatives which permit an offender to avoid serving his/her sentence in jail but rather serve the sentence in an alternative housing facility or on house arrest.

If you are faced with a first or fifth DUI charge, call us today for your free consultation.