Per Colorado State Law, any person who is convicted of a second DUI offense is required to serve jail time. There is a minimum of 10 days required, but a judge may give the offender up to a year of jail time. Many Colorado judges do give sentences that are longer than 10 days. It will depend upon the timeline, and the specifics of you and your case since the first DUI offense, to determine if any alternatives may be allowed in place of physical jail time.
If the first DUI offense was committed in the past five years there will be no alternatives allowed for jail time. All of the first 10 days absolutely must be served in jail. Work release may be an alternative. After that initial 10 days, alternatives to serving the additional time required may be allowed. If the first DUI offense was committed longer than five years before the second DUI offense, alternatives for all jail time may be offered. This depends on the circumstances of your case and the Judge assigned to the case. The initial 10 days may be offered, for example, to be served by electric monitoring. If your prior offense was a deferred sentence that was successfully completed, the statute indicates that this is not to be treated as a prior offense. Unfortunately, not all Judges agree with the statute.
The following is a summary of what Colorado State Law requires and/or offers for a second DUI offense:
- 10 days of mandatory jail time
- Anywhere from 10 days to one year in jail
- $600-$1000 fine
- Two to four years of probation
- 48 hours – 120 hours of public service
- The case will not be suspended
- Requesting work release is a possible alternative on a case-by-case basis
For a free legal consultation, call (719) 440-6720
The mandatory 10 days of jail time for a second DUI offense is just the beginning of what an offender can be facing. As seen in the above summary, there are several additional options that can be included in the sentence. It is incredibly important to contact a reliable criminal defense attorney if this is something you or a loved one is potentially facing.
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