Florida DUI Second Offense

Penalties within 5 years of a prior conviction

If your first DUI conviction was less than five years ago, the minimum mandatory punishments are harsher. They include:

• Fines: You must pay a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 for standard second-offense DUIs. However, if your blood alcohol content was 0.15 percent or higher or you had a passenger under 18 years old, the fines will be $2,000 to $4,000. Fines can go up to $5,000 for DUIs if another person suffered serious bodily injury.
• Imprisonment: You must face at least 10 days of imprisonment. However, you may receive up to 12 months in jail if a minor was in your vehicle, your blood alcohol was 0.15 percent or higher, and if there was an accident involving minor injuries or property damage. Additionally, you will be sentenced to a mandatory minimum imprisonment of four years if you are convicted of DUI manslaughter.
• Vehicle impoundment or immobilization: The driver’s car will be immobilized or impounded for at least 30 days. The 30 days cannot overlap with any time that you spend in jail for the conviction.
• Breath alcohol ignition interlock device: This is mandatory for a year. However, the period increases to two years if your blood alcohol content was 0.15 percent or higher. The court will require you to install a breath alcohol ignition interlock device on all of the vehicles you lease and own.
• License revocation: The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will revoke your license for a minimum of five years. You may be eligible for hardship reinstatement after the first year.
• Probation and DUI school: The court will place you on monthly reporting probation for six to 12 months. You will also have to complete a substance abuse course conducted by a licensed DUI program, which includes a psychosocial evaluation of the offender.

Penalties outside of 5 years of a prior conviction

If your first DUI conviction was over five years ago, the penalties are lighter and resemble first DUI penalties. They are as follows:

• Fines: As above, you must pay a fine of $1,000 to $2,000. However, you will have to pay $2,000 to $4,000 if your blood alcohol content was 0.15 percent or higher or you had a passenger under 18 years old. You may have to pay up to $5,000 if another person suffered serious bodily injury.
• Imprisonment: There is no minimum jail time, but the maximum jail time is nine months.
• Vehicle impoundment or immobilization: The driver’s car will be impounded for 10 days instead of 30 days. However, the judge may dismiss this penalty if your automobiles are for business use and are only driven by employees.
• Breath alcohol ignition interlock device: The court will require you to install this device on all of the vehicles you lease and own for a year. The period increases to two years if your blood alcohol content is 0.15 percent or over.
• License revocation: The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will revoke your license for six to 13 months. You will not qualify for a hardship driver’s license during the revocation.
• Probation and DUI school: As above, you will be placed on monthly reporting probation for six to 12 months. You must also complete a substance abuse course conducted by a licensed DUI program.

To understand potential penalties associated with a first, third, or fourth offense, see our DUI penalties chart.

Illegal Traffic Stop

According to state and federal law, a law enforcement officer may only stop a vehicle if they have a reasonable suspicion that the driver is committing a traffic infraction or if they have probable cause that the driver committed a crime.

A DUI lawyer can look at your case and see if whether the officer was mistaken in their conclusion. If enough evidence shows that the officer was mistaken, the prosecutor will dismiss the DUI case.

Insufficient Probable Cause

To arrest a driver for driving under the influence, a law enforcement officer must have probable cause.

If there is evidence that the officer’s conclusion was based on assumptions or insufficient evidence, the driver’s arrest can be deemed illegal, and the prosecutor will dismiss the DUI.

For example, suppose an officer chooses to arrest a driver for DUI because they smelled alcohol in the driver’s car. In that case, the prosecutor will dismiss the case. Per State v. Kliphouse, alcohol odor by itself is insufficient to justify an arrest for DUI.