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DUI Penalties Overview

POSSIBLE PUNISHMENT FOR A VENTURA DUI

Ventura County is a tough place to get arrested for DUI. In many other counties DUIs are often reduced to lesser charges if the suspect enters an early guilty plea, but in Ventura the District Attorney’s position is that there are no “plea bargains” in DUI cases.

Depending on your BAC level, whether you have prior DUI convictions, and whether your case involves an accident, the penalties for a DUI conviction in Ventura County will include some or all of the following:

PENALTIES FOR A FIRST-TIME VENTURA DUI

The punishment for your Ventura DUI will depend in part on whether you have any prior DUI convictions on your criminal record. On a standard first-time Ventura DUI, without legal representation the court will typically sentence you to:

  • Forty-eight hours in jail or five days of work release,
  • Fines and fees (totaling over \$3,000),
  • Paid participation in a three-month Drinking Driver Program (alcohol school), and
  • Three years of Summary Probation.

In addition, the California DMV will suspend your license for six months, with credit for any time your license may have been suspended as a result of your DMV hearing.

Penalties for Second, Third and Fourth Ventura DUIs

The possible penalties for a Ventura DUI increase significantly for second, third, and fourth offenses within a ten-year period.

If you have recently been arrested for a DUI in Ventura and have one or two priors that are less than ten years old, you will likely be sentenced to five years of probation and thirty to 180 days in jail, in addition to other penalties. A fourth DUI conviction in any ten-year period is a felony under California law. If you are facing possible conviction for a felony DUI, you are facing incarceration for a significant period of time, and you should contact us immediately to discuss your case.

Ventura County DUI Penalties

The following is a basic summary of typical penalties for DUIs in Ventura County not involving injury or death. Your actual penalties may differ depending on the facts of your case, your record (if any), the judge hearing your case, and any recent changes in the law that may have gone into effect since this summary’s publication.

 FIRST CONVICTIONSECOND CONVICTIONTHIRD CONVICTION
JAIL TIME OR WORK RELEASE48 HOURS IN JAIL OR 5 DAYS OF WORK RELEASE30 TO 90 DAYS IN JAIL120 TO 180 DAYS JAIL
FINES AND FEESIN EXCESS OF $3,000IN EXCESS OF $3,000IN EXCESS OF $3,000
DRINKING DRIVER PROGRAM (ALCOHOL SCHOOL)3 TO 9 MONTHS18 MONTHS18 TO 30 MONTHS
LICENSE SUSPENSION4 TO 6 MONTHS; ONE YEAR FOR CLASS “A” LICENSES2 YEARS3 YEARS
PROBATION3 YEARS3 TO 5 YEARS5 YEARS
IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICE FOR 1 YEARONLY FOR HIGHER BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVELSMANDATORYMANDATORY
ABSTAIN FROM DRINKING ANY ALCOHOLONLY FOR HIGHER BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVELSMANDATORYMANDATORY
Contact a Ventura DUI Defense Attorney

To learn more about the specific penalties you may be facing in your Ventura DUI case, contact Strongest Defense today. Located in Ventura, we serve clients in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, and Santa Barbara County.

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