Do you know how a DUI conviction will affect your driver’s license? DUI Attorney Claiborne Ferguson does. His practice, the Claiborne Ferguson Law Firm in Memphis, Tennessee, is devoted to DUI defense and capital murder cases. Both require a vast knowledge of science and law, which is why he has extensive training in both areas. Here, he explains what you can expect if you are convicted of a DUI, for the first offense and even the second, third and fourth.
Conviction of a DUI in Tennessee carries a mandatory revocation of your license for one year on a first offense, two years on a second offense, no less than three years and up to 10 on a third offense, and no less than five on a felony (a fourth offense and every one thereafter is considered a Class E felony).
If it is a first offense, you are eligible for a restricted driver’s license. This type of license only allows you to drive your car to and from specific places and appointments. It includes driving:
- To and from work
- To and from a court-ordered alcohol safety program
- To and from your college or university if you are enrolled full-time
- To and from a scheduled interlock-monitoring appointment, when they check your interlock ignition to make sure you are not tampering with it
- To and from a court-ordered outpatient alcohol or drug treatment program
If you are driving outside these limitations, you have committed a crime and probably will go to jail. If you are still on probation for your DUI while this crime is committed, then your probation would be violated, and you would go to jail for the remainder of your sentence.
That means if you are caught speeding, for example, then you would be outside the restrictions and your license would come back revoked for DUI. My favorite one is where somebody hits you, you are not at fault, they check your license, find out you are driving outside your restrictions and you go to jail.
Driving on a Revoked License
Also, driving on a revoked license for DUI is also grounds in some states to seize your vehicle or any other vehicle you may be driving, forfeit it and sell it. That means that even if you are borrowing a friend’s car, then the police can still seize it and sell it, even if your friend had no knowledge that you had taken his car.
If you are driving you mother’s car, it would be taken, forfeited, seized and sold. If you take it without her knowledge they can still do it, so she better be taking better care of her keys!
