If you are an active alcoholic and you have been charged with a DUI, you are in a much bigger pickle than you realize unless you had a very low BAC at the time of arrest (unlikely for most alcoholics who can tolerate higher BAC’s). The problems are thus: the penalties for a first time DUI are as follows: 48 hours Community Service or Jail, $1420 fine, 16 Hr Alcohol Class, 2 Hr. MADD Victim Impact Panel, Alcohol Assessment, 12 months probation (will be supervised probation if BAC is => .159). Supervised probation is up to the judge and it comes with a poison pill so to speak: random urinalysis for alcohol or drugs which means there is literally no way to have a single drink during the entire year of probation without getting caught (an ETG test for alcohol looks back up to three (3) days so there is no way to fool the system). A single missed test or positive test result will cause an Order To Show Cause for Contempt to issue from the court calling you into explain, and while the first penalty might be a day in jail or a fine, probation will start all over again and you’ll have twelve more months to “perform.” The second offense will get you two or three days in jail and another restart and then, much like Groundhog Day, the court will continue since it has 178 days suspended jail to work with – to whip you into shape.

Advice: If you know you have a drinking problem it is critical that you honest with yourself about your ability to stop drinking for an entire year. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the DUI will “help” you get sober because experience says it won’t; instead either hire an attorney to delay the inevitable during which time you can join AA or enter a rehabilitation facility, and only then consider entering into a plea agreement. Since whatever happens you will become an alcohol restricted driver (ARD) (and in many cases an IID driver) and since an ARD must be .000 BAC at all times when driving, you have a real problem even if supervised probation is not an issue – because you can’t drive with any alcohol on your breath whatsoever in the future – and alcoholics are rarely .000 in life at all times of day, including even periodic/episodic alcoholics.