Driving Under the Influence (DUI)

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) can be charged against you several ways in Oklahoma. If you are arrested by a city or municipal police officer, the police officer has the option (subject to their department's policies) of charging you in the city court or in the state district court. If the DUI is filed in the city court, the penalties range from no jail time to 6 months jail time and/or a fine. If you are arrested by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a county deputy, the charge will be filed in the state district court.

If it is your first driving under the influence (DUI) offense and no one was injured, the DUI will be filed as a misdemeanor. Misdemeanor DUI carries a fine of up to $1000.00 and jail time of at least 10 days but not more than one year in the county jail. The sentence can be deferred resulting in no conviction or the jail time can be suspended. Although DUI is a serious charge, most people will not be required to do any jail time on a first time misdemeanor DUI offense. (Be careful as some of my competitors will try and scare you by telling you that jail time is a real possibility in an effort to charge you more.)

If you have a prior conviction for DUI from a court of record (District Court or Oklahoma City and Tulsa Municipal Courts) within the prior 10 years of your new DUI charge, you can be charged with felony driving under the influence (DUI). Depending on prior convictions, felony DUIs carry a minimum of one year up to either five, seven, or ten years in the state penitentiary. The fine can be as high as $7500.00. The sentence can be deferred or the jail time can be suspended.

If you have an accident while driving under the influence resulting in great bodily injury, the State can charge you with a felony regardless of whether you have any prior convictions. If a death results, you can be charged with Manslaughter which carries up to life in the State Penitentiary.

Oklahoma has a statute making any DUI where the driver has a blood or breath alcohol level of .15 or more an Aggravated DUI. This has no effect on whether your charge is filed as a misdemeanor or felony. In fact, at least one Judge has ruled this statute unconstitutional and as a result, if the charge is filed as an aggravated DUI, the District Attorney will most always amend to a regular DUI charge. This is preferable as Aggravated DUI carries mandatory 28 day alcohol and drug in-patient treatment.

If you are under the age of twenty-one and have a BAC of .02 or more, you can be charged with DUI Under 21. This charge carries fine and community service only. Moreover, a conviction cannot be used later to enhance a subsequent DUI to a felony. Like all other DUI charges, a conviction will suspend your Oklahoma driving privileges. Be advised though, if you have a BAC of .08 or more, the prosecutor can and most likely will file a regular DUI charge against you.

Driving While Impaired (DWI)

If your test results show a BAC of .06 or .07, you can be charged with Driving While Impaired (DWI). If charged in city or municipal court, it will carry a fine and possible jail time. If the charge is filed in State District Court, DWI carries a penalty of a fine up to $500.00 and/or jail time of up to six months in the county jail. DWI only carries a license revocation upon conviction. Most of my DWI clients do not take a conviction and thus, never suffer any license revocations.

Actual Physical Control

Another DUI related charge is Actual Physical Control of a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol. This charge is commonly referred to as APC. The difference between DUI and Actual Physical Control (APC) is that DUI requires actual operation of the motor vehicle. The penalties and license consequences are the same as lasted for DUI.

Additionally, in all of these cases, you may be required to complete an alcohol/drug assessment (highly likely), attend a victim's impact panel also known as VIP (highly likely), complete community service, attend AA meetings, pay probation fees, and/or complete a DUI school.

Oklahoma Driver's License Penalties

Refusing to take a breath test or blood test or testing a BAC of .08 or more will result in a license suspension of 180 days if you have not had any other revocations in the preceding five years. This revocation can be contested (and perhaps prevented) by requesting an administrative hearing within 15 days of your arrest. This request is made to the Department of Public Safety and there are no waivers of the 15 days to file. If you lose your license, this revocation may be modified resulting in operator's driving privileges 24 hours a day. 7 days a week as long as the vehicle is equipped with an ignition interlock device. If you are required to drive company vehicles during work hours, depending on the circumstances, an ignition interlock device may not be required for you to operate those vehicles. This is the only option for driving privileges during the revocation period. Oklahoma no longer provides for a "work permit", only modified licenses.

If you have had prior revocations within the preceding five years, the revocation period will be for either 1, 3, or 5 years depending on prior revocations. These revocation periods are not modifiable meaning you cannot get any type of driving privileges during the period of revocation. Your only option to drive legally is to win the DPS hearing and avoid a DUI conviction.