Ohio DUI Overview

DUI, DWI, OVI, OMVI – In Ohio, they all mean the same thing. A person charged with DUI faces a myriad of consequences and needs competent thorough legal representation.

Penalties

Ohio OVI/DUI laws stipulate that first-time drunk driving offenders lose their driver’s license for up to three years, pay fines of up to $1,075 and spend a minimum of three days in jail or a residential driver’s intervention program. If convicted for DUI, you will have a criminal record, which could impact your ability to travel and find or keep a job.

DUI convictions carry certain mandatory minimum penalties depending on factors such as the number of prior convictions in the past 6 years and the past 20 years. Other factors include whether or not there was a breath, blood, or urine test and whether the test result is over the legal limit or what is known as a "high-tier" test. Learn more about Ohio’s DUI Penalties.

For most clients, their first concern is being able to drive again. When a person is charged with DUI and has refused a blood alcohol test, or has taken the test and tested over the legal limit, the right to operate a motor vehicle in Ohio is immediately suspended. This is called an Administrative License Suspension (ALS). Learn more about Limited Driving Privilege.

We can petition the court to 1) throw out the suspension, 2) stay the suspension, or 3) grant temporary limited driving privileges for work, school, medical, and family needs. Depending on whether a person has a prior DUI or a refusal of the blood alcohol test on their record, these privileges may be granted as soon as 15 days after the date of arrest. Learn more about Ohio's Administrative License Suspension (ALS).

Defenses

If you tested over the “legal limit,” you can still win your DUI case. There are many defenses available to clients who are alleged to have a test result over the legal limit.

Defending a DUI case involves a mixture of investigation, development of a defense against an opinion of the arresting officer, and defense against a test or refusal.

Two Main Types of DUI Offenses

Appreciable impairment offense:
The state must prove that a person operated a motor vehicle in Ohio after having consumed some alcohol, drugs of abuse, or a combination of the two and their ability to operate the motor vehicle was appreciably impaired.
“Per se” offense:
To be convicted of a per se offense, the state must prove that a person operated a motor vehicle in Ohio and that at the time of operation (not the time of the test), the person had a prohibited concentration of alcohol or drugs in their blood, breath or urine.

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