Second OWI Offense Attorneys
Brookfield-Waukesha office just off Bluemound
Second offense OWI in Brookfield, Wisconsin, carries a penalty of 6 to 9 month license revocation, $150-$300 in fines and a surcharge of $435. That penalty involves an OWI with no prior OWI within 10 years. A previous OWI within 10 years would carry a fine of $350 to $1,100, up to 6 months in prison and license revocation of 12-18 months.
1,337 people were arrested for OWI in Waukesha county in 2020. Those who face a second OWI conviction face up to $800 more in fines and 6 months more in jail time than first offenders.
In Waukesha and Brookfield, a second offense OWI carries significant mandatory penalties. If convicted, you will face a fine between $350 and $1,100, mandatory jail time between 5 days and 6 months, a driver’s license revocation between 12 and 18 months plus any amount of time you are incarcerated, an ignition interlock device requirement for 12 to 18 months, mandatory AODA (alcohol and other drug abuse) assessment and follow through with any recommended treatment (called a Driver’s Safety Plan), 6 points on your license, and no ability to drive for the first 45 days after conviction.
2nd Offense OWI in Brookfield or Waukesha
A second offense OWI in Waukesha or Brookfield is a much more significant problem than your first offense. A first offense OWI is not a criminal charge and carries no jail time for the offense itself. However, a second offense OWI is a criminal offense that will require a court to sentence you to serve jail time if you are convicted. In addition to mandatory jail time, an ignition interlock device is also mandatory regardless of your alcohol concentration level. Even if you are convicted of a second offense OWI for medications or drugs, you will still be required to have an ignition interlock device even though alcohol was not involved in your case.
The financial costs for a second offense OWI are also much greater than the fines you will owe to the court. If you are convicted, you will be required to obtain an SR-22 certificate proving that you have the required minimum insurance coverage if you want to apply for an occupational license so that you can continue to drive to work. Costs for SR-22 can be hundreds of dollars a month. You will also be charged a fee for the occupational license itself. IIDs cost around $1000 a year. You may face increased insurance rates for many years following your conviction. The mandatory AODA assessment and recommended classes with both have costs to them as well. A person convicted of an OWI 2nd offense can have costs that exceed $10,000 or more in the years following a conviction (learn more about Wisconsin OWI 2nd offense penalties).
In addition to the increased penalties for 2nd offense OWI in Waukesha or Brookfield, there are additional consequences that come with a criminal conviction for OWI that are not associated with a citation. Any criminal offense in Wisconsin will appear on CCAP, Wisconsin’s Circuit Court Access Program. This means that anyone who is aware of that website can type your name into the search bar and find your criminal case. Even if you are ultimately not convicted of the offense, the fact that you were charged will still show up on CCAP for a period of time. This can have a significant negative impact on your ability to obtain employment, housing, loans, and other licenses that you may look to get in the future. Also, there are many websites that will post information regarding people who have been arrested for criminal level OWIs. This can make your private situation very public, very quickly.
How long does a second offense OWI stay on your record in Waukesha County
In Waukesha and Brookfield, a second offense OWI will remain on your record permanently. There is no point at which Wisconsin will remove a conviction for a second offense OWI from your record. It does not ever “fall off”. The conviction will remain available for view to the public on CCAP, and any employer who runs a background check will see the record of your arrest and conviction. Under Wisconsin law, OWI offenses can be expunged if a court agrees to grant it. However, it is extremely rare in Wisconsin for a court to agree to expunge an OWI conviction. Additionally, expunging a prior OWI does not eliminate the ability for the police or the courts to see the prior convictions and use them to increase penalties for any future OWI arrests.
The only way to ensure that you are not forced to explain the circumstances of your OWI for the rest of your life is to avoid a conviction for an OWI 2nd offense.
How to beat a 2nd offense OWI
Beating an OWI 2nd offense in Waukesha or Brookfield is very difficult without the help of a skilled attorney who knows how to attack the evidence in the case. Because of a Wisconsin State Statute that does not allow for prosecutors or judges to dismiss an OWI unless it is not against the public interest to do so, your good character and your attorney’s ability to negotiate will have very little impact on whether you are convicted or not. The key to beating an OWI offense is to prove that the evidence is not admissible against you, or that the evidence does not indicate what the state believes it does.
To prove a second offense OWI, the State must show that you operated a motor vehicle on a public highway while under the influence of an intoxicant such that it rendered you unsafe to operate the vehicle. The police must meet specific legal standards during every step of their investigation of an OWI case. If they have not met those standards, it may be possible to have evidence they intend to use against you ruled inadmissible. Any evidence that is ruled inadmissible cannot be used against you in your case. In order to successfully fight your second offense OWI, your attorney will need to know the details of those legal standards, and the impact those standards have on the police investigation.
(262) 786-7100
