Santa Ana DUI Attorney

If you’re reading this, odds are you or a loved one has just been arrested while driving on the I-5 or elsewhere in Orange County on suspicion of DUI. If that’s so, our Santa Ana DUI Defense attorneys want to help get you through this ordeal as quickly and painlessly as possible. Please call (714) 288-9455 to schedule a FREE consultation, and you can visit our office at the following address:

Santa Ana Criminal Defense
500 North State College Blvd.
Suite 1100
Orange, California 92868
Phone: (714) 288-9455
Fax: (714) 464-4237

Below, our Santa Ana DUI criminal defense lawyers provide general information regarding California DUI laws, and we explain how we may be able to help your case:

The DMV Hearing

The Criminal Case

DUI Penalties

Santa Ana Jail & Courthouse Information

Santa Ana DUI School

Santa Ana DMV Hearings in California DUI cases

DUIs in California are double whammies: Not only do you have a criminal case to deal with, the Department of Motor Vehicles enters the fray as well. If you’re arrested for DUI in Santa Ana, the officer will take away your drivers license and inform you that you have only ten more days to contact the DMV and request a hearing to contest your license suspension. In the meantime, the cop gives you a temporary license good for thirty days.

Our Santa Ana DUI defense attorneys request the hearing for you and appear on your behalf, where we may cross-examine witnesses and present evidence in an effort to get your license back. At the very least, we can usually secure you a restricted license, allowing you to continue commuting to work and school. Read our article on DMV hearings in California DUI cases for more detailed information.

The Criminal Case for a Santa Ana DUI

The standard Santa Ana DUI arrest results in you being charged with two misdemeanors: Vehicle Code 23152(a) and Vehicle Code 23152(b). A second and third DUI arrest within a ten year period are misdemeanors as well, but a fourth arrest in ten years will automatically be prosecuted as a felony. And if the incident resulted in injury, it will be charged as a felony as well.

Santa Ana DUI matters can drag on for months because the D.A. has so many cases. During that time, we thoroughly craft as foolproof a defense as possible for you case, which we then present to the prosecutor in an effort to get your charges thrown out or at least lessened. During this time, you just continue going about your life as usual—we can almost always make all your court appearances for you without you having to be present.

Santa Ana DUI Penalties & Sentencing

If someone is convicted of a standard misdemeanor DUI in California under Vehicle Code 23152(a) and Vehicle Code 23152(b), the judge will probably order the following sentence:

• $1,000 or more in fines



• Probation for 3 years



• A suspended jail sentence of 6 months



• A suspended drivers license for 6 months



• California DUI School for 3 months

Invariably, all these terms are increased if it’s a second- or third-time DUI. In addition, the judge may order you to install an ignition interlock device in your car. The purpose of an ignition interlock device is to test the driver’s breath, and it will allow the car to start only if the BAC is within a safe range.

Santa Ana Jail and Courthouse Information

The Santa Ana Jail, where DUI arrestees may be booked prior to posting bond, is located at 62 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701, and the phone number is (714) 245-8100.

The case is then prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney and heard in the Central Justice Center, which is located at 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, CA 92701 and reachable at (714) 449-8100. (The courtroom clerks provide defendants convicted of DUI with information about local DUI schools).

But if the DUI arrestee is under eighteen, they’ll likely be taken to Orange County Juvenile Hall, located at 331 City Drive, Orange, CA 92868 and reachable at (714) 935-6660.

Minors at Orange County Juvenile Hall will then have their charges heard in the Betty Lou Lamoreaux Juvenile Justice Center, located at 341 City Drive, Ste. 307, Orange, CA 92868 and reachable at (714) 935-7578.

Santa Ana DUI School

California DUI school, which is a drug and alcohol education program, is always a term of a DUI sentence. The more DUIs in your criminal record, the longer program the judge will order. One DUI School in Santa Ana is School Ten, which offers programs for second-time DUI offenders. The number is (714) 547-7571, and it’s located at 1772 South Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92707.

Arrested for DUI in Orange County?

We invite you to schedule a FREE consultation with a Santa Ana criminal defense lawyer by calling us at (714) 288-9455. We want to hear all about your case and tell you how we intend to do everything possible to have your charges dismissed, reduced or otherwise resolved in your favor.

Join us to discuss your DUI case at any of our
local offices: You can also contact us 24/7 at
888.327.4652 for a free consultation