For some who have been arrested on suspicion of a DUI, jail isn’t as much of a worry as what the DUI will cost them financially. Rightfully concerned, it’s no trivial amount. Let’s break down the costs of a first-time DUI in California, because knowing the costs of a DUI can be just as much of a deterrent as the threat of jail.
First off, should you hire an attorney to help represent you, that would be your first cost. Not all people can afford attorneys because we are admittedly expensive. Almost all DUI attorneys charge on a flat fee basis and most charge for “pre-trial” and trial separately.
Pre-trial is the phase of the court proceedings where the attorney obtains the evidence, makes motions (if applicable), and negotiates a plea deal with the prosecutor. For this stage, attorneys can range between $1,000 and $7,500 depending on the complexity of the case, the experience of the attorney, and the size of their office. There’s no right or wrong number. Pay what you can afford and, generally, with quality comes price. Having said that, do your homework. Make sure that you actually consult with the attorney first and that you’re comfortable with them. Make sure that they specialize in DUI defense. Often, the lower-cost attorneys are the ones who don’t have much experience defending DUI cases.
During pre-trial, it may be recommended that a blood re-test be conducted. You, not the attorney, bears the responsibility of paying for this expense and it’ll run about $200, depending on what the blood is being tested for. You attorney may also recommend hiring an expert to consult regarding the blood re-test results. This too can cost several hundred dollars.
Although the vast majority of DUI cases do not make it to trial, some do. For those who wish to push their case to a trial, they can expect anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 to conduct the trial. Since most DUI’s don’t ever make it to trial, I won’t say anything more about trial costs.
If someone is convicted of a DUI, whether through a plea deal or following a guilty verdict after a trial, they face additional costs as part of their sentence.
The fine for a DUI is a minimum of $390 up to a maximum of $1,000. Having practiced DUI defense now for close to 10 years, I can say that the fine for most DUI’s ends up being $390 to $500. This number, however, does not include the “penalties and assessments.” Think of these as “court taxes.” They vary from courthouse to courthouse and, I kid you not, many judges don’t even know where the penalties and assessments go. As a rule of thumb, I tell people to expect about $2,000 give or take a couple hundred of dollars.
The sentence for a first-time DUI will almost inevitable result in the driver having to take a DUI class, if not for the court, quite possibly to get their license back from the DMV. For a first-time DUI, a person is looking at either a three, six, or nine-month DUI course. Although the costs vary depending on the length of the course and the program that you take the course from, people should expect to pay between $600 and $1,800 for the DUI course.
Sometimes, a driver will have to pay the arresting agency a booking fee. This ranges between $200 and $400.
When the driver is eligible to have their license reinstated, the reinstatement fee to the DMV is $125. (You can read previous posts about the license suspension following a DUI)
Lastly, a person must consider the ancillary costs of the increase in car insurance. Most people forget to include this figure in their estimations of total DUI costs because it’s not directly related to the courts. The estimate cost of car insurance over 10 years is approximately $10,000.
I went to law school so that I wouldn’t have to do math, but it doesn’t take a mathematician to know that the total costs are exorbitantly high when added up. Don’t drink and drive so that you can avoid having to sell a kidney on the black market just to afford the costs associated with a California DUI.
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