If you’ve been pulled over, tested and arrested on charges of a DUI, you may have experienced your first taste of being treated like a common criminal. If you have no idea what to expect and fear your freedom could be taken away, it may help to know what charges come with the possibility of jail time as a standard.
The good news is, if you have no other charges in addition to a first offense DUI charge, you should not have any worry of being put in jail for any length of time. However, if this is your second offense or greater, the possible jail time varies.
For a second offense, jail time ranges from a maximum of a year to a minimum of one month if your second offense was within five years of the first offense. If the offense was committed after five years but within a decade of the first offense, you are looking at a minimum of 10 days in jail.
Third offenses naturally give steeper penalties, with a 6-month minimum for an offense happening within a 5-year span of the most recent prior. A 90-day minimum awaits anyone with a third offense falling within the decade of the most recent prior, but longer than five years since the last.
Once you are at a fourth offense, you are facing a 1-year minimum in jail.
If you have been charged with a DUI or other driving-related charge, you need a strong defense and a defense attorney familiar with Virginia’s court system and potential ways to refute the charges or minimize your penalties.