Sometimes Connecticut residents travel to other states, like Kentucky, for business or pleasure and have the unfortunate luck to be charged with a DUI. If this happens to you, you should first find a qualified DUI lawyer in Kentucky, but you should also be aware of how Connecticut’s DMV will treat you upon your return.

Kentucky DUI Penalties

If you have been convicted of a DUI in Kentucky, you would be convicted of violating KRS 189A.010.

In Kentucky, the penalties for DUI can range depending on the number of prior DUI offenses you have.

First offense: A first offense for a DUI in the state of Kentucky will result in a fine of $200-$500 or a jail sentence of 48 hours to 30 days. However, a judge can impose both the fine and the jail sentence. In some cases, jail time can be exchanged for community service, which is to last between 48 hours and 30 days. A license suspension can also be imposed by a judge. This suspension can last between 30 and 120 days, but some restrictions can be lifted after the first 30 days. In addition, you will have to undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and treatment program for ninety days. If you are charged with a first offense with aggravating factors, including excessive speeding, causing an accident that leads to serious injury or the death of another person, driving in the wrong direction, refusing a blood, urine, or breath test, or driving a passenger who is under the age of 12, you will have to serve a mandatory jail term of four days.

Second offense: A second conviction carries a fine of $350-$500, a jail sentence of seven days to six months, a year of alcohol and drug treatment, and a license suspension that will last from 12 to 18 months (after 12 months, a judge can grant a hardship license). Community service is an alternative to jail time, but it must last at least 10 days, and no more than six months. A second offense with aggravating factors will result in 14 days of mandatory jail time.

Third offense: A third DUI offense will result in a fine of $500-$1,000, thirty days to one year of jail time (which can be substituted for by ten days to one year of community service), license revocation for 24 to 36 months (a judge can grant a hardship license after the first 24 months), and an alcohol and drug treatment program for one year. A third offense with aggravating factors carries a penalty of 60 days in jail.

Fourth offense: This conviction carries a punishment of one to five years in jail, a fine between $1,000 and $10,000, a license suspension for 60 months with no possibility of a hardship license, and drug and alcohol treatment for one year. A fourth offense with aggravating circumstances will result in a minimum jail sentence of 240 days.

If you are a Connecticut resident who has been charged with or convicted of DUI in Kentucky, you should be aware that there are repercussions on your Connecticut license in your home state in addition to any license impact in Kentucky as set forth above.

After hiring a Kentucky DUI Lawyer to help you fight your DUI, you should consider contacting a Connecticut DUI lawyer like our firm who has worked with interstate DMV consequences or asking us to assist you in retaining one for your home state consequences.