A DUI Arrest or DWI arrest can “Substantially impair your ability to Drive” as well as get a job after a conviction. A DUI Conviction stays on your driver’s license record for life. Mandatory State imposed fines can be reported on your credit report which could adversely affect your credit, your ability to get a loan, or secure a mortgage.

The immediate effects of DWI Conviction or DUI Conviction include loss of license, a massive amount of fines, state surcharges, and the possibility of being required to attend a drug or alcohol treatment facility, costs of a driver’s education class. And you will have a public (possibly criminal) record. You may be required to install, at your expense, an ignition interlock device in every vehicle that you have access to. If you live with your parents, you may be required to install the device in every car owned by your family. If you are not a US citizen or are in the U.S. based upon a visitor’s Visa Status, your conviction may be grounds for deportation. There is always the possibility that you will be required to perform community service or do real jail time.

If you are placed on Probation as a result of your conviction, you must abide by the rules in place by the probation department. This typically calls for frequent and random urine screening, (even when you are at school or work), you may be restricted to where you can travel, (typically you may not cross State lines) and, you may have curfew set by the probation department limiting the time you leave your house or office. Almost every probation department requires a monitoring fee which you are required to pay.

Obtaining any insurance will become a lifelong issue. It is easy to figure out that most auto insurance companies will drop you. However, if you share a household with other drives, their premiums may increase because of the new risk you present. Automobile insurance for DUI convictions or DWI convictions can cost in excess of $6,000 per year for the next five years for the least amount of coverage. If you are leasing or financing a vehicle, you may be required to have full coverage on your car which will increase the insurance costs. Furthermore, if you work for a company that has fleet vehicles, or if you drive for a living, you may lose your job. General fleet insurance is costly. However, most insurance companies have specific clauses in their policies that will not cover individuals with a DWI or DUI within a certain period. The clause is typically grounds for terminating the insurance coverage completely.

Health insurance and Life insurance will also become a challenge. When you attend a court ordered rehab or Intoxicated Persons Resource Center (IRDC), this information gets reported to all the insurance companies through a central reporting system, which all insurers have access to. Your new health insurance premiums will now reflect your new assigned-risk level for alcohol or substance abuse. If you maintain employee health insurance through your job, the chance is your employer will notice the increase in your premium. Additionally, if you were involved in an accident in which you would qualify for Workers Compensation Insurance or Disability Insurance, these coverage’s could be denied because of your conduct.

If you have a professional license such as a Lawyer, Doctor, CPA, realtor, etc., your license may be suspended or revoked as a result of DWI or DUI conviction. If you are a mechanic and need to drive a car, even if only in and out of a garage, your employment may be terminated. If you work for a pharmaceutical company, medical supply company, political organization, state agency, need to maintain security clearance, are employed by a city or school district, or work in the insurance industry, you may be terminated even if you have an employment contract or you are a member of a union. If you work in the banking or securities industry, full disclosure to all your clients of any conviction is now part of the Sarbarnes-Oxley Act.

If the fines, fees, and State Surcharges are not paid immediately, they may reflect on your credit report as a Civil Judgment. Regardless of the amount of the judgment, it will adversely affect your credit and cause you to have a lower credit score. This will make borrowing any funds more difficult, and usually means that you if you are allowed to borrow money, you will do it at a higher interest rate. Because government judgments can have apriority lien on your property, most mortgage companies will not grant you a mortgage until the lien is paid in full first. If you are attempting to refinance a house, you may be required to pay the judgment before any other money is released. State or government liens are the equivalent to a tax lien on the property. The banks will not let it go unpaid.

Almost every job applicant today is required to sign a Consent Waiver to allow their employers to conduct a background check. The same is true of you need to rent an apartment or house. Professional trade schools, colleges and universities now routinely conduct background checks. At any and all points in your life, when you are asked about prior convictions, you will ultimately have to deal with this issue.

IF YOU ARE RECIEVING FEDERAL BENEFITS

Federal law provides that certain drug offenders may or must be denied selected federal benefits, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, federally assisted housing, post-secondary education grants and loans, and certain federal contracts and licenses.

Additionally, The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, provides for the suspension of certain federal higher education benefits to students who have been convicted for the possession or sale of a controlled substance under federal or state law. The controlled substance offense may be either a felony or a misdemeanor. Federal higher education benefits that are denied to such individuals include student loans, Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and the Federal Work-Study program. The Higher Education Act provision outlines different periods for which such drug offenders are ineligible to receive certain federal higher education benefits, depending upon the type and number of controlled substance convictions. The period of ineligibility begins on the date of conviction and ends after a specified interval. Table 12 illustrates the period of ineligibility for the federal higher education benefits, according to the type and number of convictions.

This Higher Education Act provision allows for eligibility for federal higher education to be restored prior to the end of the period of ineligibility if either one of two conditions is met. First, a student satisfactorily completes a drug rehabilitation program that includes two unannounced drug tests and complies with criteria established by the Secretary of Education. Second, a student has his or her drug conviction reversed, set aside, or nullified.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 provides that persons convicted of certain drug felony offenses are banned for life from receiving TANF and food stamp benefits. Specifically, Section 115 of PRWORA, as amended, provides that an individual convicted (under federal or state law) of any offense that is classified as a felony by the law of the jurisdiction involved and that has as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance shall not be eligible to receive TANF assistance or food stamp benefits. The prohibition applies if the conviction is for conduct occurring after August 22, 1996. TANF assistance includes benefits designed to meet a need family’s ongoing, basic needs (for example, for food, clothing, shelter, utilities, household goods, and general incidental expenses) and includes cash payments, vouchers, and other forms of benefits.3 TANF assistance excludes short-term episodic benefits that are not intended to meet recurrent or ongoing needs and that do not extend beyond 4 months. The federal prohibition on TANF assistance to convicted drug felons does not apply to TANF “nonassistance” benefits, which include benefits meant to assist an individual’s nonrecurring emergency needs.4 TANF nonassistance can include drug treatment, job training, emergency Medicaid medical services, emergency disaster relief, prenatal care, and certain public health assistance.