Until July 1, 2018 Alabama had a 5 year look back period for DUI convictions. The punishment an offender would receive was based partially on the number of prior DUI convictions in a 5-year period. Now Alabama uses a 10 year look back period.
Another change is that the priors within the last 10 years are based on the new arrest date, and not the conviction date. So, if you had a prior DUI conviction on August 1, 2008 and then got arrested for DUI on July 31, 2018 and plead guilty to the new DUI on October 1, 2018 you are still treated as a second DUI offender. This was done so offenders could not keep getting their cases continued until the old DUI conviction fell off.
The last change deals with felony DUI convictions. If you have been convicted of a felony DUI any new DUI arrest will be treated as a felony.
In summary the three changes you need to know about are Alabama went from a 5 year to a 10 year look back period. The new DUI for look back purposes starts with the new arrest date and once a felony always a felony.
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions.
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