DUI In Wagoner County

If you have been charged with a DUI in Wagoner County, you probably have questions about what to expect and what kind of plea offer you will receive. Being charged with a DUI can be scary, especially when you learn that a first-time offense carries up to a year in jail. While every case is different, and there is no guarantee that your case will be handled a certain way, there are a few standard things you can expect if you have been charged with a DUI in Wagoner County.

Types of Probation: Common DUI Plea Offers

Full disclosure: We can’t guarantee you will receive any specific plea deal, as it is up to the prosecutor. However, we can provide some guidelines on what plea deals normally look like with DUIs in Wagoner County, which will help you determine if a deal is a good fit for you.

When you are given a plea offer from the State, the prosecutor has looked at your case and determined what they think is appropriate based on your specific circumstances. Your plea offer is affected by a few different things, such as: the prosecutor assigned to the case, your criminal history, your blood alcohol content (BAC) at the time of the arrest, if the DUI resulted in an accident, and whether you have already completed your required DUI classes.

If you do not have any criminal history, you will most likely be offered an 18-month deferred sentence. A deferred sentence is a form of probation that ends in an automatic partial expungement. To receive this deferral, you must successfully complete your probation, including all DUI classes (which are always part of a DUI plea offer). If you take these classes prior to plea, Wagoner County will often shorten your probation period from an 18-month to 12-month deferred sentence.

If you have a criminal history, but do not have a prior DUI, you will most likely be offered a 12-month suspended sentence. A suspended sentence is also a form of probation, but it does not end in an automatic partial expungement. While a suspended sentence does not come with an automatic partial expungement, this does not preclude you from obtaining a full expungement when your case becomes eligible.

If you had a prior DUI within the last 10 years, your case will be filed as a felony DUI. A felony DUI has a much larger sentencing range, and your probation term can vary greatly. For that reason, it is hard to predict what your probation will look like without actually receiving an offer from a prosecutor.

If you had a prior DUI over 10 years ago, your case will be filed as a misdemeanor DUI and you will most likely be offered a 12-month suspended sentence. If you have had multiple prior DUIs before that 10-year threshold, the prosecutor may request a small amount of jail time in addition to your probation.

Standard Probation Requirements for DUIs in Wagoner County

Regardless of the type of probation you receive, you can expect some things to always be included on any plea offers you receive from the State.

Drug and Alcohol Assessment

Any DUI plea offer will include a drug and alcohol assessment. You will be paired with a certified assessor, who will ask you a series of questions regarding your use of both legal and illegal substances. Based on your answers, the assessor will make personalized recommendations to help you avoid abusing these substances.

These recommendations are different for everyone, and could be as simple as an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or as intensive as rehab. Any recommendations made during your drug and alcohol assessment are required as part of your probation, and failure to complete the recommendations may result in a probation violation.

Victims Impact Panel

Any Wagoner County plea offer will certainly require your participation in a victims impact panel (which is exactly what it sounds like). You will attend a meeting where individuals talk about how impaired driving affected their lives, whether it is losing a loved one or serving a significant prison sentence. Here is a list of court-approved victims impact panels.

ADSAC

Your plea deal will also include an Alcohol and Drug Substance Abuse Course (ADSAC). This is what most people call a “DUI class.” Depending on your individual case, you will either be required to complete a 10-hour or 24-hour ADSAC within 6 months of obtaining your drug and alcohol assessment. In order to be given your ADSAC requirement, you must complete your drug and alcohol assessment first; if you wait more than 6 months between your drug and alcohol assessment and your ADSAC course, you will be required to redo your assessment to begin your DUI classes.

DA Check-in

While on probation, you will always be required to check in with DA probation. The check-in frequency will differ depending on your case, and how compliant you have been while on probation. These check-ins could be over the phone or in person.

Community Service

Almost every plea in Wagoner County includes a requirement for community service. The amount of community service hours varies greatly between cases, and is dependent on your criminal history, how quickly you plead, and the facts of your case. You do NOT get to choose where you do your community service—it is handled through the Wagoner County DA Probation Office. If there is a form of community service you greatly enjoy, you can always submit your request to the DA probation office, but they may not agree.

The County will accommodate injuries or medical needs when assigning your community service. For example, if you can’t do heavy physical labor, they will most likely place you at a donation center sorting clothes, rather than cleaning county property.

In addition to dedicating your time to community service, you also have to pay a community service fine until it is completed. This fine is around $35 per month. This means if you finish all of your community service in the first month, you only have to pay it once. Conversely, if it takes you 10 months to complete your community service, you will pay a total of $350 in fees.

Fines and Fees

Every criminal plea comes with fines and fees. In Wagoner County, most misdemeanor cases come with around a $300 fine and $150 victims compensation fund fine. This victims compensation fund fine is included in every case, regardless of whether the case had a victim or not.

In addition to these fines, you will have to pay court fees. This amount is set by the court clerk, and is dependent on your type of case and how long your case has been pending. You will also have to pay a DA supervision fee. This is around $50 per month, and it pays for DA supervision to monitor your progress on probation and make continuous checks on your criminal record.

New Criminal Charges

In addition to all of these requirements, you cannot get any new charges while on probation. The definition of “criminal charges” is very broad—even a traffic ticket is considered a violation of probation. While most DA supervision offices will not actually penalize you for a traffic ticket, they do have the ability to do so.

Breathalyzer

A charge is escalated from a regular to an aggravated DUI if you have a BAC of .15 or higher. The only additional plea requirement for an aggravated DUI in Wagoner County while on probation is that you must install a breathalyzer in your car.

You may have a breathalyzer as part of the Impaired Driver Accountability Program (IDAP) program with the Department of Public Safety (DPS). If you are using a breathalyzer for DPS, it has no bearing on your criminal case.

The Bottom Line

If you have been charged with a DUI in Wagoner County, your probation will include a lot of requirements. It can be hard to keep track of every class, payment, and probation requirement, so it is important to find an attorney who can break down everything you need to do. If you have been charged with a DUI in Wagoner County, contact us for a free consultation on your case.