McHenry County DUI

Will my past DUI count against my McHenry County DUI?

Many times I receive phone calls from drivers who have recently been charged with DUI.  If they have previous DUI charges, they ask how long a prior DUI stays on a driving record.  Unfortunately the answer is forever.  You may have had a DUI in another state 10 years ago, 20 years ago or even 35 years ago as a recent client of mine had.  Those DUIs remain on the record and prevent a driver from avoiding a conviction with supervision.  Because anyone that has had a prior DUI can’t use supervision.  It is important to check the old traffic records from the other state to see how the DUI was recorded on the record. Surprisingly, many times the DUI is charged as a reckless driving, or other traffic offense that would not be counted as a DUI (probably because some good lawyering done by some attorney in the past).  

If the DUI is on the record then, an attorney must take action to prepare the case for trial, or introduce areas of mitigation for the prosecutor to consider, when considering whether to reduce or dismiss the charge.  It is easier to make decisions with as much information as possible.  Your attorney will help you gather that information and examine it to ameliorate the charges against you.