Arrested for DUI in Oklahoma? What do you do?

Being arrested is scary. You may have thoughts of your future being ruined or feel worried about losing your job or your license. Are you even worried about going to jail? Worried about how you are going to pay for it? These are all legitimate concerns. However, some of these worries can be mitigated or even made nonexistent.

The First Step

What should be done first? The first concern is getting out of jail. There are several ways to get out of jail. Post a cash bond, hire a bondsman, or wait to get released on your own recognizance.

Usually the fastest and easiest way is to hire a bondsman.  A bondsman will generally charge 15-20% of the bond amount but they generally know the release system better than a person trying to post their own cash bond. Posting a cash bond means you go to the court clerk and post the full amount of the bond in cash. The money is held and is returned to you at the end of the case. Some courts will take out fines and court costs though before returning any remainder. An OR release isn’t available in every county and will generally take one to five days to process if available.

Once you are released, it may be necessary to get your car out of jail (impound yard) also. The towing company will require you bring the title or current registration, current proof of insurance and a licensed driver to release the vehicle. The longer the vehicle is on their lot, the hire the impound fee will be as they charge a daily storage fee.

Finding the Right Attorney to Save Your License

The next step is obtain legal counsel. This is not something that should be put off till the first court date. Police officers only look for and collect the evidence to convict you . . . not the evidence that shows you are innocent. There may be videotapes or other evidence that are time sensitive and may be lost if not quickly preserved. This is part of the reason HLG has a full time DUI Investigator on staff to investigate looking for innocence.

If you took the breath test or refused the test, you have 30 days to request a hearing from the Department of Public Safety. If this is not done, then your license will be suspended on the 30th day after your arrest. If the hearing is requested timely, then you retain your license until such time DPS provides a hearing. If HLG is hired during this time, we will request the hearing for you. If you request the hearing yourself, (not recommended), make sure you request a hearing and not a modification as a modification is agreeing to the license suspension and you will be suspended.

If you were given a blood test, then the 30 days doesn’t start to run until you receive notice that you were over the legal limit. However, there is only a 60 day window for us to request an independent retesting of your blood by our lab.

When you bonded out, you are given a court date to appear for your arraignment which begins the court process. For more information on the court process, visit our site.

At the Hunsucker Legal Group, our mission is to make this process as stress free as possible and we do this by providing you information and communicating what is happening with your case at each step. Contact us today for your free consultation.