What Happens After A Wet Reckless Charge In California

In this article, you can discover:

• What happens if you get a DUI within 10 years of getting a wet reckless charge.
• Whether you still have to go to DUI school or be on probation after getting a wet reckless.
• The steps you should take after a wet reckless to ensure you avoid any additional penalties or consequences.

Does A Wet Reckless Show Up On A Background Check In California?

If you’ve been charged with a wet reckless, you probably have many questions and concerns, including whether this will show up on a background check. Unfortunately, a wet reckless does usually show up on a background check in California.

A wet reckless is a misdemeanor charge, so it can result in a criminal conviction. If you’ve been convicted of a wet reckless and the Department of Justice has been updated, it will be seen on a background check.

What Are The Legal Punishments For A Wet Reckless In The San Francisco Bay Area?

The punishment for a wet reckless in the San Francisco Bay area depends on the case. Typically, the minimum penalty for a wet reckless in the San Francisco Bay area is one-year probation, a fine, and 12-hours of DUI school (typically over the course of six weeks).

In some cases, you may have to do a longer DUI school. For example, this could occur if a case was negotiated from a DUI to a wet reckless with the condition that you still complete a three-month DUI school.

Also, if you have a California driver’s license and you don’t win your DMV hearing but you want to be able to have a work-restricted license, you would need to do a three-month DUI school. If you have an out-of-state driver’s license and you get a wet reckless, you usually have to do a 12-hour/six-week DUI school.

The good news is that they can often be done online for many schools. This is something that the DMV has extended indefinitely as of February 2023.

However, if you have an out-of-state license, you’re not going to be able to get a work-restricted license if you’re staying in California. If you’ve moved to California or you’re here on business and you want to be able to drive to and from work, you will have to get a California license. Then, you will need to enroll in the three-month school to be eligible for a work-restricted license.

Do The Punishments Differ Between Counties In The San Francisco Bay Area?

For a wet reckless, the punishment is typically a one-year probation, which means you must obey all laws for a year and comply with the conditions of probation. This applies if you are convicted of a wet reckless in the San Francisco Bay Area or any of the superior courts here in the nine Bay Area counties.

The probation conditions usually involve a minimum of a 12-hour DUI school as well as paying a fine. The fine depends on the county. If it’s in San Mateo County, it’s closer to $1,500. In other counties, it can be well under $1,000.

Some counties give a lot of credit. For example, in Alameda, San Francisco, and Marin counties, there are much lower fines for a wet reckless.

What Are The DMV And Insurance Ramifications For A Wet Reckless In The San Francisco Bay Area?

If you do not win the administrative per se civil case, which is the hearing with the DMV, then you’re looking at a minimum of a four-month suspension. To be able to drive, you must get a work-restricted license.

Alternatively, you can get an ignition interlock license with an ignition interlock device (IID) on your vehicle that you blow into before you are allowed to drive. You would have this installed for four months.

If you had a wet reckless but did not win your DMV hearing and you want a work-restricted license, you’d be looking at one month of no driving. After that, you would have six months of work-restricted driving.

A wet reckless is two points on your DMV record and it will typically affect your insurance. There are a lot of potential penalties, and it is priorable as a DUI. This means if you get another DUI arrest within 10 years and you have a wet reckless conviction, the wet reckless then counts as a prior DUI conviction. The time period is from the date of arrest to the date of arrest.

Is It Possible To Have A Wet Reckless Expunged?

A wet reckless goes on your record, but after the year of probation, you can contact your attorney and hire them to do an expungement. Once it’s expunged, you can tell potential employers that you do not have a conviction.

It would also show up on your criminal record as a dismissed case. While it doesn’t help everyone, this can help a lot of people and it’s worth talking to your attorney about.

It’s very important to be aware of that and be careful. While you’re on the one-year probation for the wet reckless, you’re required to obey all laws, which is a condition of probation.

You’re also required to have no alcohol in your system when you’re driving. You can get separate charges if you have a drink or two in your system and you’re below the 0.08 legal limit. If you’re at or above a 0.01, you’re looking at a probation violation and potentially other new charges and license suspensions.

While it is a lesser charge than a DUI in California, a wet reckless still has ramifications in the San Francisco Bay area. A wet reckless can be great for many situations, but sometimes it doesn’t do that much.

In most situations it is helpful, and you should find an experienced DUI lawyer to help you get the best results possible. This could be a dismissal, a wet reckless, or getting rid of some additional charges. Sometimes additional charges are slapped on with your regular DUI charges that may cause additional heartache and punishment if you are convicted of A DUI.

Do I Still Have To Do A DUI Class For A Wet Reckless In San Francisco Bay Area?

Unfortunately, a wet reckless conviction still requires a minimum of a 12-hour, or six-week, DUI school. A normal DUI school, for a first-time offense, is a 30 to 32-hour class, which goes over three months. Part of the negotiation of a wet reckless is to only require the shorter school.

It’s important to know that if your attorney is able to negotiate a charge down to a wet reckless from a DUI, part of the negotiation might be that you still have to do the full DUI school. Also, if you do not win or it’s evident that you’re not going to win the DMV hearing, you have to be enrolled in a DUI school to get a restricted license.

You will want to discuss your case with your attorney and strategize about the timing of these things. If there was a high alcohol level, you might even have to do a nine-month school. Although it would be rare for a person to do a nine-month school after a wet reckless, it’s still important to discuss timing and the possibilities with your attorney.

Luckily, many DUI schools are now available online, and this program just got extended for the foreseeable future. Some require in-person intake, some you know can do online, and some are still fully in-person. It’s helpful to know that there are different options for DUI school for a wet reckless or other types of DUI charges.

What Are The Conditions For Probation For A Wet Reckless In California?

If you are convicted of a wet reckless offense, which is vehicle code section 23103, there is a one-year probation. It is usually unsupervised, which is different from a regular DUI that has a three-year probation. A wet reckless used to also carry a three-year probation, but it was recently decreased to one.

It’s important to comply with the conditions of probation and essential that you do not commit any new offense during that year. Make sure you don’t have any alcohol in your system when you’re driving during the period of probation.

If you don’t comply with the conditions, you can end up getting a probation violation from the county where you are on probation, and you might even pick up a new offense. A violation can have all sorts of negative consequences, so you should be very careful while you’re on probation.

Typically, probation violations come from simple things like the court not getting proof of completion from the DUI school. The school should send the documentation as long as they know the county and they have your court case number. I always recommend that you call or go to the court within a couple of weeks of the paperwork being sent to follow-up and make sure they received the proof of completion.

Of course, you should also get your fine paid and do whatever else is needed. However, the proof of DUI school completion is often the main thing that you need to make sure gets into the Superior Court in the San Francisco Bay area, in whichever county your case was in.

You should also talk to your lawyer to make sure that everything has been completed. Once your probation is over, you can hire your attorney to do an expungement to get your case dismissed and to make your record look better.

For more information on Wet Reckless Charges In SF Bay Area, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (415) 523-7878 today.