The Costs of a DUI - Kansas DUI & Missouri DWI Journal

The following information is posted by Kansas DUI lawyer Jay Norton. Please return to this page periodically for new information regarding DUI & DWI laws in Kansas and Missouri.  This page displays all of Mr. Norton's submissions concerning the costs of a DUI conviction.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
DUI Conviction Will Prevent Entry to Canada

Here is a story about the hassles involved with trying to get into Canada if you have a DUI conviction on your record. Under Kansas DUI laws, and the DUI laws of most other states in America, a first and second time DUI is considered a misdemeanor. However, in Canada, any DUI is considered a felony and Canada does not allow individuals into its country if they have been convicted of a crime which would be a felony under Canadian law. As the article points out, more and more Americans are being denied entry at the border as technology makes it easier for the Canadian immigration authorities to discover prior DUI convictions. In my own practice, I have seen this become a problem for people who are trying to get into Canada for business, vacation or fishing and hunting. Even George Bush was required to get a special visa to enter Canada while he was President of the United States, because of a 1976 DUI! So, they are pretty serious about it. In fact, a diversion can be a problem because while a person is on diversion, his or her case is still considered to be pending. Canada also won't let you in if you have a "felony" case pending. Whether you get stopped at the border and detained for a background check is largely a question of luck, but if you do and you have a DUI in Kansas or anywhere else it may be a problem.

This is just one of the many incidental costs associated with a Kansas DUI arrest. My website has a whole page of other ancillary costs involved with a DUI conviction, including increased car insurance rates, other travel restrictions, lost employment and education opportunities, and the cost of court-ordered treatment. Because of all of the hidden costs associated with a conviction, if you get charged with a DUI, you need the best Kansas DUI lawyer you can possibly find. Previous blog posts of mine have described how to find such a person to represent you. As our society becomes more and more technologically connected, the world gets smaller. A DUI conviction can haunt you, not just here, but in Canada and around the world.

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Minor in Possession (MIP) in Kansas

I missed this article from about a year ago in the Lawrence newspaper about the MIP and MIC enforcement in Lawrence. Like most cities in Johnson County and elsewhere in Kansas, Lawrence has increased their MIP or MIC enforcement over the last few years. The article discusses the costs associated with an MIP charge in Kansas and what a person can expect from the judicial system. Not all municipal courts in Kansas operate the same way that Lawrence does, but it should give you some idea of how a typical MIP case is treated.

For more information about Minor in Possession (MIP) and Minor in Consumption (MIC) tickets in Kansas, our website has some good info located here. I have also blogged about Kansas MIP cases here and here.

Thursday, April 24, 2008
The True Cost of a DUI (Again)

There is another article about the ancillary costs of getting convicted of a DUI at MSN Money Central. You may have seen my earlier blogs here and here on this issue. Apparently, the word is getting out that a DUI is no longer a traffic ticket that a person wants to just plead to and move on. The effects of a DUI conviction will haunt you for a long time (the rest of your life under Kansas law) and will have serious financial ramifications on you for years. The numbers in the MSN article are accurate for Kansas. They estimate that, between the cost of bond, car towing, court fines and fees, alcohol treatment and raised insurance rates, the cost of a DUI is $10,000.00.

The article mentions that some attorneys charge $500.00 for a quick plea. Talk about an expensive lawyer! That "quick plea" you thought you were getting on the cheap is going to cost you thousands over the long run. The investment in the best Kansas DUI lawyer you can find may actually SAVE you money, especially when they find a way to beat the case. Also, even in those cases where there will be a diversion or conviction for a DUI, an attorney who emphasizes DUI defense in the area in which you are charged will know how to navigate the system for you to save you money in the long-run. Read the article, it is a pretty good one, and then look at our firm's information about How to Choose the Best Kansas DUI Lawyer.

Monday, March 24, 2008
How Much Will My DUI Cost?

Here is a somewhat funny video addressing what a DUI will cost , at least as far as the state of Texas goes. The numbers aren't far off from Kansas, though, if you lose. I blogged about this before recently. Suffice it to say, a Kansas DUI conviction is a very expensive thing.

Monday, March 17, 2008
4th Time DUI = Prison

A bill being discussed this week in the Kansas legislature would mandate that persons convicted of a 4th time DUI in Kansas be sent to a special DUI prison for 18 MONTHS! If they are good they might be able to get out after 12 months. Holy moly. The text of the bill is here if you are a Kansas DUI nerd like me: http://www.kslegislature.org/bills/2008/2879.pdf . As I mention often, the Kansas DUI laws change every single legislative session, because DUI is a political football that is easy for the legislature to kick around. This is crazy, though. Currently, the minimum sentence is 90 days in custody. This bill would remove all discretion from sentencing courts. Many times these cases are not filed for a year or more from the date of the offense. The statute of limitations is 5 years. During the time between the offense and the case getting filed many people enter & complete treatment or otherwise make the changes in their livese to obtain and maintain sobriety. This law would remove any incentive for a person to do so, since they will just get shipped off to the DUI gulag for 18 months regardless. There are many people who plead to DUI charges back in the 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's. It may have been 20 years since they were accused of a Kansas DUI, but if they get convicted of a fourth, they will get 18 months. That kind of a sentence will usually result in a loss of career, loss of family and major loss of finances. Of course, this goes along with the loss of driving privileges (usually for 10 years). Making sure a person is jobless, divorced, homeless and without hope is no recipe for recovery. Let's hope this doesn't pass. The amount of resources spent on DUI enforcement is already astronomical. Building, staffing, and operating a DUI prison would be an extreme waste of taxpayer money. The current law allows a judge to lock someone up for 12 months if they deserve it. Removing the possibility and hope of something less for those circumstances that deserve it is simply myopic. Again, my fingers are crossed against this one.

Wednesday January 2, 2008
What it Really Costs to Plead Guilty to DUI

CNBC ran an article recently concerning the true financial costs of a garden-variety DUI case. $20,000.00 was the estimate. From the article:

"One drink too many puts you at risk for not only an arrest, but also for fees, fines and costs that can run you thousands of dollars. While a DUI or DWI may be a misdemeanor charge in a number of jurisdictions, it's a matter that most judges and district attorneys take very seriously. The financial toll of a conviction will play out for years to come, and in many states that can add up to $20,000 before everything is over. This includes bail, fines, legal fees, increased auto insurance premiums, loss of work income, court-ordered alcohol education programs and more.

Of course, if you get fired from your job as a result of the arrest, that dollar figure would skyrocket.

Potential expenses from a DUI -- first offense

You don't even have to get convicted to start running up expenses on a DUI charge. But if you're found guilty, a first offense could mean that last drink cost you dearly. While the amounts vary by location and specific circumstances, here are some of the expenses you may realize:

• Fines. • Court costs.
• Attorney fees. • Bail.
• Loss of job. • DUI "school."
• Temporary loss of income. • Car towing, impounding.
• Alternate transportation costs. • Car ignition interlock device.
• Periodic blood testing. • Monthly monitoring fees.
• Cost of incarceration. • Increased auto insurance premiums.

The financial impact of a DUI arrest on any one person can vary greatly depending on many factors, such as driving record, jurisdiction, blood-alcohol level, attorney fees and fines, not to mention the specific circumstances of the incident and whether there was an accident or if anyone was injured.

Our website has featured a page titled "What it Really Costs to Plead Guilty" to a Kansas DUI or Missouri DWI for a long time. The financial impacts of a DUI conviction in Kansas or Missouri are serious and burdensome. I have seen many people make the decision not to make the up front investment in obtaining quality legal representation for the DUI case with the idea that pleading guilty will be quicker and cheaper than hiring and attorney and fighting the case. This is usually a huge mistake.

There is a saying, "there is nothing more expensive than a cheap lawyer". Our law firm has been able to prevent clients from incurring massive and recurring expenses, or to greatly minimize expenses, by getting in a case early and getting to work. You get what you pay for. While our clients might not have enjoyed paying for an attorney up front, a small investment up front is better than spending $20,000.00 over several years and having a DUI conviction on your record.

Wednesday December 5, 2007
Colleges Rejecting Kids with Convictions

There is an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times about how most of the top colleges in the United States are inquiring as to whether a student has ever had contact with the law or been disciplined at their high school. Apparently, these days a DUI or other misdemeanor violation of the law can make the difference between getting into a good college or not. One of the colleges comments on how it generously does not reject applicants who were disciplined for smoking a cigarette at school.

The times have definitely changed. It used to be that people understood that part of being a kid is making mistakes and learning from them. These days, kids are expected to be perfect. Many of the schools in the Kansas City area will take disciplinary action against kids who have any scrape with the law, even if it happened over the summer when school was not in session! Schools regularly bar students from participating in school activities if they are so much as charged, much less convicted, with an offense like minor in possession (MIP). Our law firm has seen star players with scholarship opportunities kicked off of sports teams for minor offenses. Students also get kicked out of National Honor Society, prohibited from coming to school dances, or even going to watch the school's games. Now, this kind of school discipline, for things that happen off-campus, in addition to the consequences in court, can prevent kids from getting into college. Convictions have also for a long time prevented students from qualifying for many different student loan opportunities.

This latest development highlights how important every case is and how serious even the most minor offense must be taken. Unfortunately, there are harsher and harsher consequences for what, to some, may seem like minor transgressions. Our law firm fights every Kansas and Missouri MIP or DUI case to the fullest extent possible for just this reason. Fortunately, we have been able to prevent a lot of kids from suffering convictions or school discipline by quick and aggressive work on their behalves. If you or someone you know is cited for DUI, MIP, shoplifting or any other offense it is extremely important that they obtain effective representation. It could make a huge difference in what life options are available in the future.

Saturday, April 30, 2005
Lifetime "Lookback" on Driver's License Suspensions
When I started practicing law in 1994, the DUI law in Kansas was that DUI diversions and convictions only stayed on your driving record for 5 years. After 5 years, your prior DUI(s) decayed and could not be used against you to enhance the penalties should yo get a subsequent DUI. That changed July 1, 2001, when the Kansas legislature removed the 5 year window for convictions and diversions. However, the 5 year lookback provision was left in place for driver's license suspensions. It was not clear at the time whether this was intentional or due to inadvertence on the part of the legislature. Well, the legislature has now changed the law to bring the driver's license suspensions into parity with the law on counting convictions.

Pursuant to Senate Bill 148, recently signed by our governor, on July 1, 2005, the Kansas Department of Revenue will now look back at a person's entire life to determine whether an "occurrence" is a person's first or subsequent incident. Any prior diversion, conviction, or administrative suspension at any time in a person's life will be considered to enhance the length of the suspension on a current DUI. So, if you had a diversion 20 years ago and refuse a test after July 1, 2005, you are looking at a 2 year suspension. Remember a 4th refusal is a 10 year revocation and a 5th conviction, failure or refusal results in a LIFETIME revocation of driving privileges.

This new law is going to effect a lot of people. There are already an enormous amount of felony DUI's being filed in Kansas because of the change concerning convictions in 2001. This new law will mean a lot of people losing their licenses for a lot longer period. Whether this will have any effect on DUI prevention remains to be seen. You can bet it will mean a lot more people on the streets without licenses (and probably insurance).

What it also means is that even a first time DUI is very important and should be taken very seriously. A good attorney is essential because the outcome of both your criminal and administrative driver's license cases are going to follow you around for the rest of your LIFE.

Please fill out our electronic form and submit it to Norton Hare L.L.C. for a free evaluation from one of our attorneys regarding your defense in a Kansas DUI or a Missouri DWI case.

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