Second OWI Offense Attorneys Glendale-Whitefish Bay office near Bayshore Mall

Penalties for OWI 2nd offenses

An OWI second offense in Glendale or Whitefish Bay comes with a wide range of penalties, many of which are dependent on the facts in your case. The most concerning penalty is jail time. The minimum amount of jail time on a second offense is 5 days, and the maximum is 6 months. In addition to jail time, your license will be revoked anywhere from 12 to 18 months and you will be required to install an ignition interlock device in your vehicle for 12 to 18 months. An ignition interlock device in your vehicle can cost up to $1000 over the course of one year. There are also fines that range anywhere from $350.00 to $1100, plus any court costs fees and surcharges. This can mean that you are looking at roughly $1500 in fees due to the court when your case concludes. Similar to an OWI first offense, many people are unaware of the fact that an OWI in Glendale or Whitefish Bay can limit international travel. Just like a first offense, a conviction for an OWI can limit your ability to travel to countries such as Canada.

Another requirement upon conviction of a 2nd OWI is an AODA assessment and follow-through treatment. There are many different forms that treatment can take in a case in Glendale or Whitefish Bay, but all initial treatment needs to begin with an AODA assessment through your designated county. The cost for an assessment starts at about $250. The assessor will then recommend some sort of treatment program, which will likely create additional out of pocket costs.

At every level of OWI, if there is a minor in your vehicle at the time of the offense, your minimum penalties will increase, and in most cases will double. In the case of an OWI second offense where you had a minor in the vehicle, your fines would double anywhere from $700.00 to $2200 in fines, plus those same surcharges and court costs. Your driver’s license revocation would range anywhere from two to three years, as would the time that you are required to have the ignition interlock device in your vehicle. Your jail time will also double - the minimum jail time on a second offense with a minor in the vehicle is 10 days and the maximum period of time is one year in jail. Learn more about Wisconsin 2nd offense penalties.

OWI 2nd offenses in Glendale and Whitefish Bay

When it comes to the idea of minimum jail time, many people ask about whether they have another option – but the answer is no. This means that regardless of the facts of your case and no matter how sympathetic, a judge is required to sentence you to jail time. How that jail time is served will depend on the county as well as your criminal history at the time of the offense. Most jails offer Huber release, which would be released to go to work and receive treatment. Some jails also allow what is called electronic monitoring, where you would be allowed to serve your sentence from home - this is more commonly known as house arrest. Although jail is punitive, it is important to remember that judges want people to be able to continue working, even though it may limit how often and where they can work.

The only situation where you would not have to serve jail time is if your second offense is more than 10 years after your first offense. If that is the case, you will be cited with a second, first offense. This means that you can serve the penalties of a first offense for a second time. This only applies in second offenses and not subsequent ones. As soon as you hit your third offense, they count how many OWIs you have had over your lifetime.