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DUI stands for “driving under the influence,” referring to the misdemeanor or felony act of operating a vehicle while impaired due to the consumption of drugs or alcohol. What is the ...
A DUI offense that results in serious injuries or the death of another person can generally be charged as a felony. However, state laws treat these types of offenses differently.
What Is a Felony DUI? Every state has laws against “drunk driving.” In some states, the criminal offense is called “driving under the influence” (DUI); in others, it’s called “driving while intoxicated” (DWI) or “operating while intoxicated” (OWI). Regardless of the name, DUI charges are serious.
Is a DUI charge a felony or misdemeanor? Often, a first-time DUI is treated as a misdemeanor. If there are exacerbating factors such as bodily harm, property damage or death, the charge could get...
Many states make a DUI/DWI offense a felony if it happens while you, the offender, have a restricted, suspended license, or revoked license. Illinois, for example, makes this crime a class four felony punishable by one to three years in state prison.
A felony is any offense punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year. Some states enhance the sentence if you've had a DUI within the past five or 10 years. Others charge a repeated DUI as a felony no matter how long ago the first offense occurred.
Is a DUI a Misdemeanor or a Felony? An impaired driving conviction will generally be charged as a misdemeanor. Misdemeanor offenses tend to carry moderate fines ($1,000 or so) and minimal, if any, jail time (almost always less than one year).
Typically, a person is convicted of a felony when he or she commits a seriously dangerous or otherwise heinous crime. States set their own laws regarding when a drunk driving offense is a felony offense, but common examples include: The driver's BAC is much higher than the legal limit.
In some states, first and second DUI offenses are misdemeanors but a third or subsequent conviction is a felony. There are also states that make a DUI a felony if the driver had a particularly high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or was transporting children while driving under the influence.
Felonies are punished more severely than misdemeanors and generally involve a year or more of jail or prison time. Felony DUI Based on Prior DUIs. Some states charge first DUIs as misdemeanors, but when there are multiple convictions during a particular lookback period, what could have been charged as a misdemeanor may be elevated to a felony.