An issue that surprises many Out-of-State drivers who are charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Kentucky is how their home state will handle a DUI conviction in Kentucky.
Many drivers charged with DUI in Kentucky believe that if they plead guilty to the DUI in Kentucky, it will not affect them back home. Perhaps their home state will not know about the DUI. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case.
What few people realize, is that driving a vehicle in Kentucky, as in most states, is considered a privilege - not a right. This means that a state can administratively revoke a person's driving privileges according to state public policies. The general rationale, after heavy lobbying and legislative admentents, was to make sure that those individuals accused of DUI would have their driving licenses suspended, regardless of the outcome in the criminal courts.
It has been this attorney's experience that once a person either pleads guilty or is found guilty by a jury, the Kentucky Department of Transportation will report the DUI conviction to the driver's home state. While the driver's home state will not be able to constitutionally bring duplicate DUI charges against the person convicted of DUI in Kentucky, they can invoke administrative revocation of that driver's privilege to drive. A person convicted of DUI-1st in Kentucky may loose their privilge to drive in Kentucky for 30 to 120 days. However, in addition, the same out-of-state driver convicted of DUI-1st in Kentucky may also loose their privilege to drive in their home state for longer periods of time.
Also of importance, the length of the out-of-state administrative suspension may also be dependent of the facts of the DUI arrest.
Fortunately, in limited cases, based on case facts, a Kentucky defense attorney may be able to help the out-of-state driver convicted of DUI in Kentucky to avoid the impact of an administratively suspended driving privilge in the state which issued the driving licence.
Post by Lexington Kentucky Attorney Stephen J. Isaacs, Isaacs Law Office.
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