You are eligible for a Limited Privilege if: (1) you blew on the intoxilyser (at the court house); (2) you have not had a conviction for DWI in the last seven (7) years; (3) there was not a child under 16 in the car with you at the time of the stop; and (4) you currently have a valid N.C. driver's license (or you reside out-of-state but are working in NC).
See our LDP page.
You must have proof of insurance (DL-123) and an Alcohol Assessment. Unless you are on supervised probation, you must also pay, in full, your court costs, fine, limited driving fee and either your community service or jail fee, before receiving a Limited Privilege.
It is a proof of insurance. The court requires proof you have insurance. You get it from your insurance agent. Call them and have them fax (888-268-3813) a copy to our office. A DL-123 may not be older than 30 days when you apply for a Limited Driving Privilege.
This is a personality profile test to determine if you have a substance abuse handicap or addiction. The Assessment determines the duration of your "alcohol treatment program". You must complete the "treatment" program to be eligible for another NC Driver's license. Bottom line: You cannot get a limited privilege without a pre-trial assessment and you cannot get your regular license back at the end of the year without completing the treatment program. So just do it, the sooner the better. The assessment folks will send you solicitations. They all charge about the same ($15/hr), so convenience and whether they take health insurance are your major considerations (call and ask).
Generally, you will be allowed to drive anywhere between 6am-8pm, Monday - Friday. If you need to drive on the weekends or after 8pm, you will need a letter from your employer setting out your work schedule. If you are self employed you will need to provide the route you follow getting to work. If you do not follow a specific route, you will have to limit the geographic area in which you drive.
Standard hours for a limited privilege are between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Monday - Friday. You may be eligible to drive on weekends and other "nonstandard" hours if this is required by your employment. However, you will need to verify this requirement.
You must get an "Ignition Interlock Device" - which you blow into to start your vehicle and must periodically blow again while driving. The device is available only from Monitech (800-521-4246).
If you refused to take the intoxilyzer when arrested, DMV will suspend your license for 6 months, regardless of what happens to your DWI charge. Six (6) months after your arrest (suspension), you are eligible for a Limited Privilege.
Get an DMV Identification Card. At your final court date (plea) you will surrender your Driver's License. DMV will not let you obtain an ID until your license is actually suspended. So before you surrender your license make a photocopy of it to take to DMV.
After you are convicted, the bond will be mailed to the person who posted the bond for you (the name appears on the receipt). You can have this money applied to your fines and court costs if the person who posted your bond comes to court and signs an affidavit authorizing this transfer.
No.
Eleven (11) months after your plea, DMV will mail you instructions for the restoration of your license. They will mail this to your last known address. Your last known address is either: (1) the address used on your ticket, or (2) the address used on your Limited Privilege. So check to make certain DMV has your current address. And if your address changes, go to the local DMV office and update their information. You will have to pay an $85 restoration fee.
Generally, you will not be placed on probation IF (1) you have completed your alcohol school and you can pay your court costs and fines on the date of your plea. If you have not obtained an assessment at the time of your plea you are almost guaranteed supervised probation to insure you complete the alcohol program. In all cases you will remain on supervised probation for a minimum of six (6) months.
There is a $200 supervision fee for Community Service no matter how many hours you are assigned. But most Judges will give you the option of "time in jail" in lieu of "time doing community service." If you elect jail time you generally must surrender in court at the time of the plea. Jail fees are $18/day and must be paid to the Sheriff at the time of plea.
There are five (5) different DWI sentencing levels with Level 1 being the worst (mandatory 30 days in jail) and Level 5 being the best:
Level 5: More Mitigating Factors than Aggravating Factors: 24 hrs: CS, or 24 hrs Jail Time, fine + costs.
Level 4: Aggravating Factors Equal Mitigating Factors: 48 hrs CS, or 48 hrs Jail Time, fine + costs.
Level 3: More Aggravating Factors than Mitigating Factors: 72 hrs CS, or 72 hrs Jail Time, fine + costs.
Level 2: 1 Grossly Aggravating Factor: Mandatory 7 days jail time, fine + costs + jail fees.
Level 1: 2 Grossly Aggravating Factors: Mandatory 30 days jail time, fine + costs + jail fees.
Aggravating Factors: Intoxilyser = .15 or more; Driving While License Revoked; 6 Driving Points in Last 5 Years; Accident w/Damages > $500; Any prior DWI conviction.
Mitigating Factors: Intoxilyser = .09 or less; Pre-Trial Assessment; Safe Driving History (Less Than 6 Driving Points in Last 5 Years).
Grossly Aggravating Factors: Prior DWI in Last 7 years; Having a child, under 16, in the vehicle at the time of the stop; Driving While License Revoked (DWLR) when revocation is due to a prior DWI or driving on Limited Privilege.
Example: You had: (1) .15 intoxilyser (aggravating); (2) a pre-trial assessment (mitigating); (3) A DWI 15 years ago (aggravating) and a safe driving history (mitigating): Level 4: aggravating = mitigating. An "ignition interlocking device" would be required.
No. A Limited Privilege is not allowed by statute. If you had a prior DWI over three (3) years ago, you will generally get your license back in one (1) year. If you had a prior DWI within the past three (3) years, you will generally get your license in four (4) years; however you are eligible for a hearing with DMV in two (2) years. If you have had two (2) DWI convictions within the past five (5) years, your license is permanently revoked; however, you may petition DMV for a review of this status in three (3) years. In all cases you will be forced to install and interlock device.
Yes. The only question is for how long. Level 2 has a mandatory minimum sentence (special probation) of 7 days. For Level 1 it is 30 days. And these are terms of "special probation", not the actual sentence. Your actual sentence is between 6 months - 2 years. But this sentence is almost always "suspended" except for the terms of special probation above. However, this means you have a sentence hanging over your head if you get in trouble again. And if you get in any other type of trouble, the court - upon motion of the State (DA) - can ask for your entire sentence to be activated. There is very little you can do about this.
Yes. But "in patient" time must be completed prior to the entry of your plea. This means you must begin the treatment as soon as possible.
Maybe. If you reside or work outside of Buncombe County, you are not eligible for work release. In these cases the court may allow you to serve your time during weekends. But being in the jail during a weekend is not a good idea. On weekends the jail is full and you may find yourself staying the entire time in the "drunk tank" waiting to be processed. Or, if processed, you may end up sleeping on the floor because of overcrowding. Straight jail time is much better: you are transferred almost immediately to the jail annex which is much nicer than the main jail.
Maybe. You must work entirely within Buncombe County; you must work at one location (or have a supervisor with a cell phone who will call the Sheriff to verify your location); you must have health or worker's compensation insurance; you, your driver and your employer must fill out a long application with the Sheriff and agree to "spot checks" of the work location; you must be in jail for longer than 7 days (which, for Level 2, means you must ask the Judge for an additional day in jail); you must pay $20/day in work release fees (on top of $18/day in general jail fees). And the work release fees must be paid in advance. The money must be paid to the Sheriff at the main jail between 9-11 a.m. or 2-4 p.m. What if you are self employed? You will need to meet with the work release coordinator at the jail annex at least two (2) weeks before going to jail to work out the details.
Usually, yes, IF, your Sheriff will take you. You must go to your home county Sheriff and make these arrangements yourself. You will need a letter from your Sheriff stating it is OK for you to serve your time in your home county. You will then need to verify this information is processing correctly by Buncombe County upon your release.
$30.00 cash daily. Nothing else. You are allowed only a total of $30.00 in your account at any one time (you can have others bring extra money daily up to the $30.00 limit).
You have to make arrangements ahead of time. (1) Call the medical unit at the Jail (828-258-6450 x319) at least two (2) days before the day you are to arrive at the jail to make arrangements to deliver prescription medication or medical supplies to medical staff. These items must be delivered before 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the day before you are scheduled to surrender; (2) You will not be allowed to use any items for health care which have not been pre-approved by the medical unit staff at the Jail; (3) Medicine must be in its original prescription container which has your name, your doctor's name, the name of the medicine and the prescribed dosage clearly labeled on the container; (4) You must provide enough medicine for the total number of days you will serve in the jail; (5) If you need a special diet, bring a written statement from your doctor concerning your diet; (6) If you need special medical care, bring written orders from your doctor and the needed medical supplies - gauze, contact lens solution, topical medications or bandages. These must be approved by the medical unit staff and all supplies must be new in unopened packages.
No. And you may not substitute Community Service for jail time.
Yes. This is a personality profile test to determine if you have a substance abuse handicap or addiction. The Assessment determines the duration of your "alcohol treatment program". You must complete the "treatment" program to be eligible for another NC Driver's license.
Three (3) prior convictions within ten (10) years of this arrest. If you are convicted of a felony it is almost guaranteed that you will do a year in jail. All such cases are continued from District Court to Superior Court. Usually the DA then takes a few extra months (3-4) to get the certified copies of your prior convictions and takes the matter to the grand jury for an indictment.
If the vehicle is listed in your name you may not post a bond. If the vehicle
belonged to someone else or you owe money on the vehicle the lender (usually a
bank) or the other owner may post bond (and get the car back); however, the
bond is set by DMV and is equal to the value of the vehicle as recorded in the
tax records for your county. The value of the vehicle is determined by DMV
(they do not care about mileage or condition) based upon the VIN#. Call the
local DMV, tell them the VIN# of the car (and other information you may have)
and they will give you a value for the vehicle. But you need to hurry; in
most cases a seized vehicle is accumulating storage charges at the rate of
$20/day.
See this link
for more information.