Third Time DUI in California: What to Do and What to Expect

A third-time DUI in California is punishable by 3 to 5 years of probation, 120 days to 1 year in jail, $2,500 to $3,000 in fines, 30 months of DUI School, and a 3-year license suspension.

Though you may be able to avoid jail through a live-in rehab program, house arrest, or work furlough. Plus the DMV lets most people resume driving right away with an ignition interlock device (IID).

In this article, our California DUI attorneys discuss:

• 1. What happens when you get a 3rd DUI in California?
• 2. Is a 3rd DUI a felony in California?
• 3. Can I avoid jail time for a 3rd DUI in California?
• 4. Can I get my license back after 3 DUIs in California?
• 5. Can my record be expunged?
• 6. Do I need an attorney?
• Additional resources

1. What happens when you get a 3rd DUI in California?

A third DUI conviction in a ten-year period is a California misdemeanor carrying the following penalties:

• 3 to 5 years of informal probation¹
• 120 days to one year in county jail,
• $2,500 to $3,000 in fines and penalty assessments
• Ignition interlock device (IID) for 2 years
• 30-month court-approved DUI education program
• 3-year California driver’s license revocation which can become a restricted license after 18 months (you may be able to drive right away with an IID)²

Probation always carries the following three conditions:

1. Driving with no measurable amount of alcohol in your blood;
2. Agreeing to submit to a chemical test if arrested for DUI again; and
3. Committing no additional crimes.³

Depending on the circumstances, you may also have to:

• Attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings;
• Participate in a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Victim Impact Panel; and/or
• Pay restitution⁴

2. Is a 3rd DUI a felony in California?

No. Under California DUI laws, a 3rd DUI offense is a misdemeanor as long as it caused no serious injuries.¹²

3. How can I avoid jail time for 3rd DUI in California?

If you are convicted of a DUI-third in California, you may be able to serve jail time on house arrest, through a work-furlough program, or by a live-in drug treatment program.

The best way to avoid jail for a DUI-3rd is to fight the charges in an attempt to get the case reduced to a lesser offense or dismissed completely. Ten common DUI defenses include that:

1. The police officer had no reasonable suspicion to make the traffic stop.
2. Law enforcement lacked probable cause to make a DUI arrest.
3. The police did not administer the standardized field sobriety tests correctly.
4. The breathalyzer was defective.
5. You were having a medical episode that the police misconstrued as intoxication.
6. You had dental work that caused alcohol to pool, which then caused the breathalyzer to return an inaccurate result.
7. You had GERD or acid reflux, which then caused the breathalyzer to return an inaccurate result.
8. You had rising blood alcohol.
9. The blood test samples were contaminated.
10. The people who calibrated the breathalyzer let their certification lapse.

Sometimes, an experienced DUI attorney can get third time DUI charges plea bargained down to a wet reckless², dry reckless³, exhibition of speed / “speed ex”¹³ or even dropped altogether.

Note that you are guilty of driving under the influence in California merely for having a BAC of 0.08% or higher. So it is not a defense that you were unimpaired and driving safely.¹⁴

4. Can I get my license back after 3 DUIs in California?

The only way to avoid a license revocation following a third DUI offense in California is to win both the:

1. criminal case, and
2. the DMV hearing (called an admin per se (APS) hearing).

Even still, you can usually continue driving immediately with an IID installed in your motor vehicle for 24 months.

However if you refused to take a chemical blood- or breath test following the arrest, you cannot drive at all for three years. There is no way to get a restricted license during this time.¹⁵

Beware that driving unlawfully on a suspended license makes you a habitual traffic offender (HTO) by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.¹⁶

5. Can my record be expunged?

Yes, you can get a criminal record expungement for a DUI-3rd if you successfully complete probation.¹⁷

6. Do I need an attorney?

Anyone facing charges of third-time drunk or drugged driving is strongly encouraged to hire private counsel to fight the case. DUI-3rds carry mandatory jail time – up to one year in some California counties. An attorney can negotiate with the prosecutor in an attempt to get any jail sentence converted to a laxer condition, such as home confinement or work furlough.

In practice, prosecutors are more willing to extend favorable plea deals if you are represented by private counsel rather than public defenders, who do not have the time or resources to fight for the best resolution in DUI cases.

Finally, having an attorney gives you the greatest odds of getting the entire case dismissed. Lawyers are skilled at investigating and combing through the evidence in search of all the weak links in the state’s case. An attorney can then use this information to persuade the D.A. to drop your case without a trial.

Additional resources

For more information, refer to the following:

1. Alcoholics Anonymous – 12-step program for overcoming alcoholism.
2. Drunk Driving Overview – National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) page on drunk driving statistics and prevention.
3. Impaired Driving: Get the Facts – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fact sheet on impaired driving.
4. Driving Under the Influence (DUI) – California DMV page on driver license suspension for DUIs.
5. MADD – Non-profit organization devoted to stopping drunk driving.

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Legal References