Learn More About a North Dakota DUI

According to North Dakota DUI laws, any person driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs can be arrested and prosecuted. The concerned law enforcement agency conducts the arrest and the subsequent tests. The next phase includes a case filing. After an arrest is done, two cases are filed, one at the North Dakota Department of Transportation and another at a court of law. The suspension of driving privileges is the common penalty for a DUI offense in North Dakota, whereas a court conviction may result in jail term or imposition of fine or both.

All DUI records are preserved and maintained by the North Dakota Department of Transportation. You can contact them at the official NDDOT mailing address:608 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND  58505-0700.

You can also send an email to dot@nd.gov.

For more details about the department you can have a look at http://www.dot.nd.gov/.

North Dakota DUI Records

You can search for North Dakota DUI offender records from the district court database search available on the website http://www.ndcourts.gov/publicsearch/contactsearch.aspx. This holds all records of cases taken up at the district courts. If an individual was ever convicted of a DUI offense at a North Dakota district court, you would find his or her records from this search. You can conduct the search based on the name (full or partial), the case number or the citation number or the date of birth of the offender. The details available are as follows:

•    Offense details
•    Case Number
•    Offense classification
•    Sentence details
•    Parties associated
•    Vehicle details
•    Current status

If a North Dakota DUI offense is considered as a ‘reportable’ offense it is sure to be found in the criminal records of the individual. You can request for a criminal background check of an individual to know whether he or she has any ‘reportable’ DUI offense on the records. To do this you need to fill up a ‘Personal Authorization for Criminal History Record Information’ form available at the website http://www.ag.state.nd.us/BCI/CHR/Authorization.pdf. The processing fee for obtaining the record is $15.00. The information request must include the name of the requester, the name of the individual you are conducting the check on and the address of the individual as well.

North Dakota DUI Offense

There are two theories according to which North Dakota DUI offense cases are prosecuted. The common charge brought against an individual is that he or she is unable to operate a vehicle properly because of intoxication. In this case, drug or alcohol abuse is regarded as the cause of the impairment and the law enforcement official in charge is responsible for determining whether the impairment was serious enough to be considered as a DUI offense. The per se theory depends on the blood alcohol content of the offender and needs no other circumstantial evidence.

The North Dakota DUI laws outline that breath tests, sobriety field tests, and such others would be used to determine whether a person is DUI offender. The details of the ‘chemical test for intoxication, implied consent’ are available at http://www.legis.nd.gov/cencode/t39c20.pdf. The defendant also has the right to refuse a breath and/or blood test. However an arrest may follow this refusal. It must be kept in mind that the refusal can result in the revocation of driving privileges for a period of 1 to 3 years in the state of North Dakota.

North Dakota DUI Penalties

The suspension of driver’s license is the usual penalty meted out to DUI offenders from the Department of Transportation, North Dakota. In case of first offenses, the license is revoked for a period of 91 days. However any subsequent North Dakota DUI offense may result in an increase in the license suspension period.

The common penalties for North Dakota DUI offenses are given in details below:

For first offense, it is a fine of $250
For second offense, it is a jail term of 5 days or community service of 30 days and/or a fine of not less than $500
For third offense, it is a jail term of 60 days and/or fine of at least $1,000
For fourth offense, it is a jail term of 180 days and/or a fine of minimum $1,000
For fifth offense, it is a jail term not to exceed 5 years and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

There is a ‘washout period’ of 7 years for North Dakota DUI offenders. This means that the period for which a DUI offense is on the record of an individual is 7 years. If a North Dakota DUI offense is committed 7 years after a previous offense, the former is treated as a first time offense.