DUI Penalties in Arizona
Arizona keeps its rule strict when it comes to DUI. This means every driver who passes the legal limit of .08% will be arrested, with no exceptions.
Indeed, the best way to avoid this is always to drive your vehicle completely sober.
Penalties for 3 Types of DUI
There are three types of DU; each includes blood alcohol concentration tests. It’s important to mention that if you have passed the legal limit of .08% you’ll face an arrest, license suspension, and high fines. The offense degree would depend on things such as speed, if there were minors in the vehicle, whether you had previous convictions, etc.
First Offense DUI
This is the standard DUI, where the driver has passed the legal limit (more than .08%). The fines include $1500, $80 fees, and jail costs. You can also end up in jail for ten days. Your driver’s license gets 90 days suspension (or you can expect a revocation of one year). Your vehicle will be interlocked for one year. Counseling and screening are required.
Second Offense DUI
The second offense includes a standard DUI and alcohol above the legal limit. It requires jail for 90 days (with the possibility of home detention after day 6). The fines are around $3500, $80 monitoring fees, plus jail and home detention fees. It includes a license revocation and interlock for a full year. You’ll get screening and counseling and 30 hours of community work.
First Offense – Extreme DUI
Extreme DUI means driving with more than 0.15% of alcohol in your system. You’ll pay fines of $2780, $80 fees, and will go to jail for 30 days (with the possibility for home detention after the second day; prison and home detention will cost you as well). It includes 90 days of license suspension and vehicle interlock for one year. This offense requires screening and counseling.
Second Offense – Extreme DUI
If you have passed the blood test with more than 0.15%, you will go to jail for 120 days (with the possibility of home detention after 24 days). The fees are $3740, including $80 monitoring fee and fees for jail and home detention. You’ll get one year of license suspension and vehicle interlock. Expect screening and counseling, and community service of 30 hours.
First Offense – Super Extreme DUI
The super extreme DUI means that your test showed more than 0.20%. The fines go up to $3240, $80 monitoring fees, and jail and detention costs. The jail time is 45 days with a chance for home detention after three days. License suspension lasts for 90 days, the vehicle interlock is 18 months, and you get screening and counseling as well.
Second Offense – Super Extreme DUI
With more than 0.20% of alcohol in the blood, you will end up in jail for 180 days (home detention is eligible after 36 days in prison). The fines are the highest – $4650, $80 monitoring fee, and costs for your time in jail and home detention. Your vehicle gets interlocked for two years; license suspension lasts one year. Screening and counseling are included, plus community service of 30 months.
Repeat DUI Offenders In Arizona
Most drivers are respecting the DUI law and are smart enough not to break it. However, some drivers have repeated the mistake and ended up with second and third DUI charges. This is especially not the best-case scenario if you drive in Arizona.
What To Expect
First-time offenders are charged with fines that go up from several hundred to several thousand dollars. This includes jail time, driver’s license suspension, vehicle interlock, and community work.
This charge increases drastically if the offense is repeated. The penalties can grow up to 7 years in jail.
A repeated DUI offender will face severe fines and charges, including:
- Minimum 30 days in jail – The maximum is 180 days in prison. A second-time offender will not go without at least one month in jail.
- Interlock device on the vehicle
- Fines and fees (monitoring, jail, and home detention fees) that go over $3000
- Driver’s license suspension for one year
- Screening for drugs and alcohol, as well as treatment and education
- Community service
Most of the upper mentioned penalties apply for first-time offenders (such as community service, interlock device, screening, and education, as well as license suspension). However, the time in jail and the fines are much longer and higher. First-time DUI offenders usually pay around $1200 and spend a maximum of ten days in prison.
Repeated DUI offenders will face a few additional penalties. They will spend at least four months in jail, pay a minimum $4,000 fine, and will have their license suspended for an extended period of time.
Felony Convictions
If you repeat the offense several times, you become a felony. Felony convictions are bringing other things, such as:
- Losing the right to vote
- Losing the right to serve in the Armed Forces
- Total ban for owning firearms
- Difficulties in getting a job.
These conditions make Arizona’s law one of the strictest when it comes to driving under the influence. In fact, Arizona is holding the first position for penalties for DUI.
This is why you will find many DUI defense law firms that offer services in this area. DUI attorneys specialists are skilled and experienced in such cases.
These attorneys will inform you that no matter how severe the charge is, you first need to be proven guilty before any of the penalty applies. The main goal for your DUI attorney is to work their best to reduce your fines and to get you a shorter license suspension and jail time.
An experienced DUI attorney knows that many factors take place in such cases. For instance, legally, there are ways to help the client end up with no charges or with smaller fines and prison time. Your attorney will check for possible police report inconsistencies, inaccurate blood tests, as well as any violations of your rights during the process of arrest. Your DUI attorney can work on undermining the crucial evidence against you; therefore, your charges may drop altogether.