Idaho law states that all DUI arrests will have the consequence of driver’s license suspension. This can only be halted if the individual files for an administrative hearing within seven days of the arrest. Such a request can be made through fax, personal delivery, or mail to Idaho’s Transportation Department. Idaho law states that drivers must submit to blood alcohol content testing through implied consent. Individuals, however, do have the right to refuse a blood alcohol content test upon a DUI arrest. This will result in the police officer’s seizure of the individual’s driver’s license.
A permit can then be issued on a temporary basis for seven days when a hearing is requested. The court may file charges during the hearing to suspend a license for one hundred eighty days for refusing to take a blood alcohol content test. If there is a second refusal in a five-year time period, the individual may have his or her license suspended for a minimum of one year. A driver’s license will be seized when an evidentiary test is failed. Under these circumstances a temporary permit can be used for thirty days.
Driving Under the Influence Charges
Idaho courts state that an individual can be convicted of two different kinds of drunk driving charges. The first is the under the influence charges where a prosecuting attorney must prove to the court that the individual was too impaired to drive safely. This can be proven through the individual’s physical appearance, field sobriety tests, driving patterns, and other necessary factors.
The other charge for drunk driving is based solely on blood alcohol content levels and is called per se laws. Under these charges the prosecuting attorney need not prove that the individual was impaired while driving but only that his or her blood alcohol content was above the legal limit. Idaho’s legal limit is 0.08 percent, but some cases can be filed for endangering others while having a blood alcohol content percentage under the limit.
Prior offenses will result in harsher punishments, however if five years has passed, a past DUI conviction cannot be used as a prior offense. Having a blood alcohol content percentage above 0.20 percent will result in harsher punishments, even if the individual is a first-time offender.
DUI Consequences
First-time offenders will often receive a fine up to one thousand dollars, incarceration between two days and six months, a suspended driver’s license for one hundred eighty days, alcohol evaluation, attendance to Victims’ Panel, and between one and two years of probation. A second offense can earn the same consequences as a first offense but have increases to a two thousand-dollar fine, ten days to one year in jail, and a year of driver’s license suspension.
A third offense can have a five thousand-dollar fine, driver’s license suspension of five years, and up to five years of incarceration.
DUIs and Minors
Minors who have been arrested for DUI offenses will have their driver’s licenses automatically suspended for one year. Minors may also have their driver’s licenses suspended until they reach the age of twenty-one.
