DUI Penalties in Los Angeles County – Fines, Jail, and License Suspensions

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a crime throughout California, though the standard misdemeanor sentence varies by county. In Los Angeles County, pleading guilty or no contest to a first DUI typically carries:

• 3 years of summary probation,
• A $390 fine (which could be converted to 13 days of Caltrans roadside work or 13 days of jail) plus penalties and assessments (which may total nearly $2,500),
• A 3-, 6-, or 9-month drug/alcohol program, and
• A 6-month driver’s license suspension, but you can usually continue driving with an ignition interlock device (IID) in your vehicles.

In L.A. County, the usual penalties for a second DUI in 10 years are:

• 90 days of jail (though we may be able to persuade prosecutors to reduce it to the mandatory minimum sentence of 96 hours, which can be served on two consecutive weekends),
• 3 to 5 years of summary probation,
• A $390 fine plus penalty assessment (which may total nearly $2,500),
• A 2nd Offender DUI school for 18 or 30 months,
• 1 year of driving with an IID, and
• A 2-year driver’s license suspension, though you may be allowed to resume right away with an IID.

If you get a third DUI in 10 years, the common punishment in L.A. County is:

• 120 days to 1 year in jail,
• 3 to 5 years of summary probation,
• A $390 fine plus penalty assessment (which may total nearly $2,500),
• A 3rd Offender DUI school for 18 or 30 months,
• 2 years of driving with an IID,
• A 3-year driver’s license suspension, though you may be allowed to resume driving right away with an IID, and
• Additional penalties such as community service, a victim impact panel, and AA attendance.

Note that prosecutors may push for harsher punishments if there are aggravated circumstances (such as having a child in the car). If someone was injured, you could face felony charges.

Also, all the DUI convictions you have in the past 10 years count as “priors.” It does not matter whether they are from California or other states.¹

L.A. County Jails

Following a DUI arrest or conviction in Los Angeles County, male inmates are typically housed at either:

• Men’s Central Jail (MCJ) at 441 Bauchet St, Los Angeles, CA 90012,
• Twin Towers Correctional Facility at 450 Bauchet St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, or
• Pitchess Detention Center at 29320 The Old Rd., Castaic, CA 91384.

Female inmates are usually housed at Century Regional Detention Facility (CRDF) at 11705 S Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90059.

You can locate a person in custody at the Los Angeles County Sheriff Inmate Search website.

1 DUI Arrest = 2 Cases

Each DUI arrest in Los Angeles County triggers two separate cases: 1) the DMV case 2) the criminal case.

The DMV case concerns only one penalty: Whether your driver’s license will be suspended. You have only 10 days from your arrest to request a DMV hearing, which is an administrative trial where you or your attorney can fight to keep your driving privileges.

In contrast, the criminal case has much higher stakes. Whether you are convicted of DUI through a plea or by trial, the judge can hand down such penalties as jail, probation, fines, and rehab in addition to a driver’s license suspension.

If you win your DMV hearing and lose your criminal case, your license will still be suspended, and vice versa. The only way to avoid a suspension of your driving privileges is to win both your DMV and criminal cases.

Note that in Los Angeles County, you can usually continue driving during your suspension with an IID in your vehicles.²

2 DUI Charges = 1 Sentence

If you are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Los Angeles County, prosecutors will typically charge you with two DUI crimes:

1. DUI per se under 23152(b) VC, which is driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08% or higher even if you are sober; and
2. Drunk driving under 23152(a) VC, which is driving impaired by alcohol even if your BAC is below .08%.

However, these two offenses combine into one if you are ultimately convicted. Even if you committed both crimes, you would be sentenced for only one.

Fighting L.A. DUI Charges

Here at Shouse Law Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with DUI in Los Angeles County. In our experience, the following ten defenses and “mitigating factors” have proven very effective with prosecutors and judges and getting drunk driving cases reduced to reckless driving or dismissed.

1. The police did not have reasonable suspicion to conduct a traffic stop on you.
2. The police read you faulty instructions for the field sobriety tests and/or scored you incorrectly.
3. The breath testing machine malfunctioned.
4. The tech who last calibrated the breath testing machine allowed their certification to lapse.
5. Your blood samples got contaminated.
6. The chain of custody for your blood sample was compromised during processing at the lab.
7. You suffered a medical episode that resembled intoxication (such as a seizure).
8. You suffered a medical condition such as GERD that caused you to produce mouth alcohol.
9. The police had no probable cause to arrest you.
10. Your elevated BAC result was due to rising blood alcohol, and your BAC was at lawful levels when you were actually driving.

Typical evidence that we rely on in DUI cases consists of eyewitnesses, forensic experts, split blood testing, accident reconstruction experts, and traffic surveillance footage.³

Additional Resources

For more information or help, our Los Angeles DUI lawyers suggest you refer to the following:

1. Alcoholics Anonymous – 12-step program for overcoming alcoholism.
2. Drunk Driving Overview – NHTSA page on drunk driving statistics and prevention.
3. Impaired Driving: Get the Facts – 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.

 See our related articles about DUI cases at the LAX Airport Courthouse and DUI causing injury.

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Legal References