When Can DUI Charges Be Dropped?

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and legal topics understandable and fun. Her work has appeared on Forbes, CNN Underscored Money, Investopedia, Credit Karma, The Balance, USA Today, and Yahoo Finance, among others.

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Updated: Apr 13, 2023, 5:48am

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If you have been arrested for DUI, you may be looking for ways to get DUI charges dropped. When charges are dropped, a prosecutor declines to move forward with prosecuting your case.

It’s not common for a prosecutor to drop charges if there is evidence you were driving impaired. But there are options available for getting your charges reduced, your case dismissed or otherwise avoiding a DUI conviction on your record.

This guide explains when and how you can get DUI charges dropped or reduced or avoid a conviction for this offense.

When Will Prosecutors Decline to Prosecute?

Just because you are arrested for DUI, there is not a 100% guarantee the prosecutor will decide to formally charge you and move forward with a case against you. A prosecutor may decide that there’s insufficient evidence to get a conviction after you have been arrested, so may opt not to press charges at all.

This is most likely to happen if the evidence against you is limited or compromised. A common situation is if you took a blood alcohol test and those results took several weeks. Once the prosecutor gets the results, they show you did not exceed the legal limit. In this situation the prosecutor may decide not to charge you.

Prosecutors have a limited period of time to press charges. If they don’t act within the statute of limitations—which is usually somewhere between two to four years depending on your state and the nature of the offense—then they can’t move forward in the future.

So if enough time has passed since your arrest and you haven’t been charged, then you no longer have to worry about a DUI case being brought against you.

When Can You Get Charges Reduced?

If you cannot get DUI charges dropped, there are many situations in which you may be able to get your charges reduced. For example, you may be able to get a DUI reduced to reckless driving (this is sometimes called a “wet reckless”).

Usually, the best way to get charges reduced is to enter into a plea agreement. This means you agree to plead guilty to a less serious charge. And in exchange you don’t have to go to trial and risk conviction for the more serious offense.

You are more likely to be able to get charges reduced if:

You do not have any prior drunk driving convictions
Your BAC was close to the legal limit
No one was hurt and no collisions occurred when you were driving drunk
There’s a potential problem with some of the evidence in your case

A drunk driving attorney can help you to try to successfully argue for a reduced charge to avoid a drunk driving conviction on your record.

When Can You Enter a DUI Diversion Program?

Most states have pretrial intervention programs or DUI diversion programs for first-time offenders. These programs allow people who have never been convicted of drunk driving before to avoid being left with a criminal conviction.

Usually, these programs involve admitting guilt, paying fees and fines, completing some type of drug or alcohol counseling program and perhaps going to counseling or doing some community service. They are usually open to first-time offenders with a low BAC who didn’t cause a crash or harm anyone with their drunk driving. Once you complete the program, the charges are dropped. These programs also allow you to avoid license suspension.

Your attorney can help you to understand whether you may be eligible for a diversion program and whether this could be a good option for resolving your drunk driving case.

When Can You Get Charges Dismissed?

In some circumstances, a prosecutor will press charges against you but the court will dismiss the charges. Or the prosecutor may opt to drop the charges after initiating court proceedings.

This could happen if there is a problem with the prosecutor’s evidence. For example, if the police collected evidence illegally and your DUI attorney successfully petitions the court to suppress the evidence (prevent it from being considered in trial). Then it may turn out there’s not enough evidence to convict you after all. The prosecutor can drop the charges or a judge might dismiss the case when that happens.

You could potentially get your DUI charges dropped under the following circumstances:

If the police failed to follow required procedures for a DUI checkpoint and, as a result, the evidence collected against you is inadmissible
If the police lacked probable cause for stopping you or for making you submit to a BAC test, then evidence collected is deemed inadmissible
If there was a problem with the breathalyzer test, then there may be questions about whether the evidence collected is valid
If there is insufficient evidence to support the charges for some other reason

These are just some of many situations where it is possible you may be able to get DUI charges dropped so you can avoid criminal penalties and a criminal record.

Can a DUI Lawyer Help You Get DUI Charges Dropped?

A DUI lawyer can help you to explore your options for getting charges dropped, having your case dismissed or having your charges reduced. Your attorney can also represent you in court proceedings to maximize the chances of a not-guilty verdict. DUI charges are serious, and you need an advocate to help you get the best outcome possible for your situation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can a DUI be dismissed?

DUI charges can be dismissed if there is insufficient evidence to move forward with a case against you. This could happen for many reasons, including evidence being deemed inadmissible because it was collected illegally in violation of your constitutional rights.

Can a DUI be reduced?

DUI charges can be reduced in certain circumstances. You may be able to enter into a plea bargain, which involves pleading guilty to a lesser charge such as reckless driving. Or you may be able to enter into a pre-trial diversion program to avoid a DUI conviction if you complete certain requirements such as drug and alcohol treatment. It’s more likely you’ll be able to get charges reduced this way if you are a first-time offender with a low BAC.

How do you beat a DUI case?

You can beat a DUI case if you can introduce reasonable doubt to avoid conviction in court or if you can get the court to dismiss your case or the prosecutor to drop the charges. Options to get a case dismissed or to introduce reasonable doubt include proving the evidence was unlawfully obtained so it can be declared inadmissible or calling the accuracy of the evidence into question.