Colorado Penalties for Drivers with Prior DUI Convictions

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More and more drivers charged dui in Colorado are ending up in jail. Colorado Revised Statues Section 42-4-1301, requires defendants with prior dui or dwai convictions to serve five to ten days minimum in jail - even if the last conviction occurred twenty years ago in another state. This factor, combined with the fact that many judges in Colorado believe that jail time is always warranted for a second or subsequent offense means that your chances of going to jail on a second or subsequent offense are better than 50/50 in most counties. If there is an aggravating factor in your case such as driving under revocation or an accident the chances of serving lengthy jail time increase. Third time offenders can almost always expect a long jail sentence - up to one year in the county jail. If you've been declared a habitual traffic offender and drive drunk, you may actually end up doing hard time in Department of Corrections for a class 6 felony!

Further, your license can be revoked under various Colorado statutes if you have prior alcohol offenses of record in Colorado. See Section 42-2-125. Colorado Department of Revenue will almost always revoke your drivers license under this law for various periods of time - up to five (5) years if you prior dui or dwai convictions that appear on the Department's database.

For example, persons convicted of two DUI's within a five year period are subject to a license revocation of one year under section. Drivers with three DUI or DWAI convictions in a life-time are subject to license revocations of two years. The periods may be longer if coupled with other circumstances such as refusal to take a chemical test which results in a one year revocation which must run consecutively to any other revocation.

Drivers with three dui or dwai convictions within seven years (or a combination of dui, dwai, reckless driving, hit and run, etc.) may be revoked for a period of five years. During this period of revocation, the driver will be considered a habitual traffic offender under section 42-2-202 and 42-2-203, C.R.S. and subject to additional revocation time and lengthy mandatory jail or prison terms if he or she drives during the revocation period.

Finally, drivers who have been revoked for multiple dui or dwai convictions are subject to the provisions of Section 42-2-132.5. This statute requires some persons with multiple dui convictions to drive with a restricted license for at least two years after having their driving privilege reinstated. A restricted license is one that requires installation of an interlock device on each vehicle you own.