At the beginning of 2022, the law regarding DUI diversion changed. DUIs are no longer eligible for diversion in California. Please contact our office with any questions. Email us at abortellaw@gmail.com OR Call us at: (415) 523-7878

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What To Expect After Getting A DUI In Marin County, CA


What To Expect After Getting A DUI In Marin County, CAIn this article, you will learn…

  • How long a DUI stays on your criminal record,
  • How long a DUI stays on your DMV record, and
  • How the DMV admin per se process is changing in Marin County.

How Long Does A DUI Stay On My Record For Criminal Purposes In Marin County, California?

In Marin County, California, a DUI is typically going to stay on your criminal record forever. Under Penal Code Section 1203.4, once your probation is over, your attorney can bring a motion to expunge your record. In some cases, we bring a motion before probation is over, requesting an early termination of probation and an expungement.

When you expunge a record, it isn’t the same thing as sealing and destroying it. It does, however, allow you to say you don’t have a criminal conviction for the purposes of employment or other situations where you are asked to disclose any convictions. Essentially, it says that the court has dismissed the case.

In California, there are hundreds of professional licenses issued by the state where you will still be required to reveal the conviction even if it was expunged including a nursing license, Real estate license and most other professional licenses.

Another important thing to remember is that even if your DUI is expunged, it will still count as a prior DUI in the event that you get another DUI within 10 years of the original arrest date.

In California, if you can get your DUI charge reduced to a “wet reckless”, which is the next level down, that’s a misdemeanor that comes with only one year of probation. You will be able to get that expungement more quickly. A wet reckless still counts for prior-ability purposes as a DUI.

How Long Does a DUI Stay On My Record For DMV Purposes In Marin County?

In Marin County and the rest of California, a DMV record is civil rather than criminal and your DUI will stay on that record for 10 years.

Many people reach out to ask how they can clean their DMV record so that they can get a job driving for a company. Unfortunately, there is no way to remove a DUI from your DMV record prior to the 10-year period.

The only course of action that you can take to possibly prevent a DUI from being on your DMV record is to appeal a DMV suspension or court conviction in a timely manner. If you appeal and are successful, that will prevent the DMV record.

What Is The New DMV Admin Per Se Hearing Process In Marin County After A DUI?

The new DMV administration per se hearing process in Marin County is currently in flux as the DMV works to come up with and implement procedures that are in compliance with the appellate court ruling.

For context, the appellate courts have recently overturned the case of DMV vs. the California DUI Lawyers Association (CDLA). The CDLA sued DMV over 10 years ago, saying that the administrative per se hearing process was unlawful.

DMV hearing officers were acting as both judge and prosecutor in these hearings. It wasn’t a fair legal process and the CDLA finally got a judge and appellate panel to agree with the unlawfulness.

As a result, the DMV has been making many changes to its procedures. At first, they stopped doing hearings for a while in an effort to figure out how to do the hearings fairly and in compliance with the ruling. They tried to set up a new process where they used two hearing officers, calling one an advocate and the other a trier of fact. This procedure was found to be not in compliance with the appellate ruling, so they decided to go back to a one hearing officer system.

As of September 6th, the hearing officer will no longer do what they had done before. They used to subpoena police officers as witnesses when there were problems with the paperwork. They also used to subpoena witnesses and toxicologists. They will no longer be subpoenaing anyone at this time in most cases.

There is something called a DS-367 in police reports which is signed under penalty of perjury by a police officer. If what they’ve signed and filled out is not done properly or sufficiently, or if there are glaring errors in it, they used to just subpoena the police officer and have them clean it up verbally for their case. Now, they will not be doing that.

For more information on Facing DUI Charges In Marin County, CA, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (415) 523-7878 today.

Aaron Bortel

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