Does A Prior DWI Count As A Previous Offense?

I was arrested for DWI, and now I'm wondering if my prior DWI is counted as a previous offense?

I recently received a call from a man who said he was arrested for DWI. He was concerned about his previous DWI being counted as a previous offense and wondered if it would affect his license suspension.

The arrest report for his previous DWI indicated that he had a prior conviction for DWI in 2001, and his license had been suspended for three years as a result. The driver told me that he was arrested again in 2016 for DWI, but the officer didn't note the 2001 conviction on the paperwork. He asked if the previous DWI conviction would be considered a previous offense, and I said that it probably would.

There are two ways that your previous DWI conviction will count as a previous offense. First, it may count as a new offense if it's committed within 10 years of your current arrest. Second, your previous conviction may count as a previous offense regardless of how old the conviction was.

When a police officer encounters a DWI suspect, he or she has the option of citing the suspect for DWI or arresting him or her. If the officer arrests you, he or she has the option of citing you for DWI or taking you to the county jail. If the officer chooses to cite you, the charge is usually marked as a citation, rather than an arrest. A citation is not the same as an arrest, though. A citation can still be turned into an arrest, and an arrest will count as a previous offense.

Your prior conviction counts as a previous offense if the arrest happened within 10 years of your current arrest. The 10-year period begins when the original offense was committed, and it doesn't matter whether the original offense was prosecuted or not. For example, let's say you were convicted of DWI in 2001 and were sentenced to two years probation. That conviction would count as a previous offense regardless of whether the sentence ended in 2012 or 2022.

Your prior conviction also counts as a previous offense regardless of the age of the conviction. So if you were convicted of DWI in 2001, you have a previous offense regardless of whether it was more than 10 years ago.

If the arrest happened more than 10 years ago, and there is no documentation of the previous conviction, then it won't count as a previous offense. In this case, the only way that the prior conviction would count is if it resulted in a conviction. If you were convicted of DWI in 2001 and your conviction was dismissed, then it would not count as a previous offense.

To make matters more complicated, the date of your previous conviction is also significant. If your conviction was in 2001 and your license was suspended for three years, then it would not count as a previous offense. However, if your conviction was in 2017 and your license was suspended for four years, then it would count as a previous offense.

To make sure that your previous conviction doesn't count as a previous offense, you need to review the court documents for the conviction. It may seem like the officer didn't properly document your previous conviction, but it's still possible that the arrest report contained the correct information. For example, an arrest report may list the date of the conviction, but not the date of the arrest. In this case, the arrest report may contain the correct information.

In summary, a conviction that is more than 10 years old does not count as a previous offense if there is no documentation of the conviction. The date of the conviction is also important. A conviction that occurred more than 10 years ago will not count as a previous offense, but if the conviction happened within the last 10 years, then it will count as a previous offense.