Nevada law takes DUIs very seriously. For a first offense, judges usually let you avoid jail. If you pick up a second DUI within seven years however, courts are required to impose at least 10 days behind bars.

Still, there are many effective ways to fight DUI-2nd cases so your charge gets reduced to reckless driving or dismissed outright. Plus, even if the Nevada DMV revokes your license, you should be able to continue driving as long as you have an ignition interlock device (IID) in your cars.

Below our experienced Las Vegas DUI attorneys discuss everything you need to know about second-time DUIs in Nevada and how we can help minimize any fallout if it happens to you.

Definition of a Second DUI

In Nevada, a second DUI is simply getting arrested for drunk- or drugged driving within seven years of your first DUI arrest. Specifically, DUI is defined as driving while:

• you are impaired by alcohol or drugs; and/or
• you have illegal amounts of certain drugs in your blood; and/or
• you have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or higher within two hours of driving (whether or not you are impaired).

Penalties for a Second DUI

A second DUI in Nevada is an enhanced misdemeanor punishable by 10 days to 6 months in jail, fines from $750 to $1,000 plus court costs, and a 1-year license revocation (though you can still drive with an IID in your car). You also have to submit to an alcohol/drug evaluation and complete DUI School and a Victim Impact Panel (such as a MADD lecture).

Being sentenced to more than the 10-day “mandatory minimum” is rare unless you were transporting a child under 15 at the time. The judge can allow you to serve the 10 days intermittently in 48-consecutive-hour chunks so that you do not have to miss work. In certain cases, you may be able to serve some of the 10 days in residential confinement at home.

Judges typically impose a six-month suspended jail sentence, which means you will not have to serve more than the 10 days in jail as long as you complete all the other probation terms and stay out of trouble while the case is open. If you violate probation, then the judge could remand you to jail to serve the six-month sentence.

Less Jail with DUI Treatment Court

If you get accepted into DUI Treatment Court – an intensive rehabilitation program – you serve only five days of jail rather than the standard 10-day penalty. Then if you complete the program successfully, the DUI conviction should be reduced to a less serious offense like reckless driving.

DUI Treatment Court costs about $4,500. Just some of the terms include:

• wearing a SCRAM alcohol-detection anklet and
• serving 90 days of house arrest.¹

DUI Second Versus DUI First

A second-time DUI offense in Nevada carries harsher penalties than a first-time offense in every way:

Nevada penalties	1st DUI	2nd DUI
Jail time	2 days to 6 months (judges usually suspend the jail sentence so you do no time at all)	10 days (mandatory minimum) to 6 months
Fines	$400 to $1,000 plus costs	$750 to $1,000 plus costs
License revocation	185 days (but you can keep driving with an IID)	1 year (but you can keep driving with an IID)
Alcohol/drug dependency evaluation	Yes, if your BAC is ≥ 0.18%	Yes
DUI School & Victim Impact Panel	Yes	Yes
Jail time if you do DUI Treatment Court (Rehab)	0 days	5 days

What Happens to Your License

A DUI-2nd conviction carries a one-year driver’s license suspension in Nevada.² However, you should be allowed to continue driving with an ignition interlock device (IID) in your vehicles.

IIDs are breathalyzers affixed to your steering wheel that disable your car if it detects alcohol on your breath. They cost about $150 to install and another $100 per month to maintain. If your blood alcohol content was 0.18% or higher, you may be required to drive with an IID for up to three years.

After the suspension ends, you must maintain SR-22 insurance for three years in order to reinstate and keep your driving privileges.⁴ You will also have to pay a

• $120 license reinstatement fee and
• $35 Victims Impact Fee.⁵

See our related article on commercial driver DUIs, where a second DUI results in a permanent CDL revocation.⁷

Fighting to Keep Your License

The only way to avoid a suspension (and therefore the IID requirement) is to win both:

1. your criminal case and
2. your administrative DMV hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

The DMV hearing – which is like a mini-trial – is actually harder to win than the criminal case. Criminal prosecutors have the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Meanwhile, the DMV requires very little evidence to find that you drove with an illegal BAC of 0.08% or higher.

When To Request a DMV Hearing

If you elect to take a breath test after being arrested, you get a temporary license good for seven days. If you request a DMV hearing during that week, you can continue driving pending the results of the DMV hearing; otherwise, the license suspension begins on the seventh day.

Meanwhile, if you elect to take a blood test, you can continue driving until the lab results come back – which may take weeks. Then you will receive a letter in the mail from the DMV giving you seven days to request a DMV hearing. If you do not request a hearing, the suspension will begin after the seventh day.³

See our related article on refusing to take a breath- or blood chemical test, which also carries a one-year license suspension.⁶

The Alcohol and Drug Evaluation

Following a DUI-2nd conviction, NRS 484C.400 requires you to submit to an alcohol and drug dependency evaluation – called a “DUI Assessment Program” – that costs $100.

Depending on the results, you may have to complete up to one year of clinical supervision by a treatment facility. Most judges also order 18 weeks of AA or group therapy and possibly other requirements as well.⁸

If You Cannot Afford the Fine

Nevada judges may allow you to perform a certain number of hours of community service in lieu of the fine.⁹

One hour of public service equals $10 in fines. A common form of community service is collecting garbage on the highway, which can be very trying during the summer months.¹⁰

What Counts as a Prior DUI

Any previous DUI conviction in the U.S. counts as a prior as long as the arrest occurred within seven years of the current Nevada case. So if an earlier DUI charge was dismissed or reduced to reckless driving, then it would not count as a prior offense.¹¹

If you plead guilty (or no contest) to a DUI-2nd in Nevada, you must sign an “admonishment of rights” form. It explains how drunk driving is “priorable” offense, and that the penalties for a third-time DUI will be even harsher than for a second DUI.

Note that if you have a prior felony DUI conviction and later get arrested for drunk/drugged driving in Nevada, you automatically face another felony charge. It does not matter if the current DUI case caused no injuries, or if the prior felony DUI arrest was more than seven years earlier.¹² The saying in Nevada is, “Once a felon, always a felon.”

Fighting DUI-2nd Charges

Here at Las Vegas Defense Group, we have represented more than 10,000 clients in DUI proceedings. In our experience, the top 10 defenses that prove very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries are:

1. Police lacked reasonable suspicion to stop you and/or lacked probable cause to arrest you.
2. Police gave you wrong field sobriety test instructions, or you failed the walk and turn test and one-leg stand test for non-alcohol-related reasons such as bad shoes, a physical injury, flashing traffic lights, or an uneven road.
3. You have a medical condition like auto-brewery syndrome that caused a falsely high BAC result, or you were having a diabetic episode that made you appear intoxicated.
4. The breath- or blood testing equipment was faulty, your samples were contaminated, or the lab techs who calibrated the Intoxilyzer 8000 EN breathalyzer let their certification lapse.
5. You were never in “actual physical control” of the vehicle, or perhaps you started drinking after you stopped driving.¹³
6. Police interrogated you after your arrest without reading you your Miranda rights.
7. You were stopped at an illegal checkpoint.
8. Your breath test was taken more than two hours after the arrest.
9. The car was legally parked, the engine was off, no key was in the ignition, and you were sleeping in the backseat.
10. You acted out of necessity or due to an emergency situation, and your actions were reasonable under the circumstances.

The most effective methods for fighting drunk driving charges always turn on the facts of the case. Typical evidence criminal defense attorneys rely on includes

• eyewitness testimony,
• video footage,
• medical records, and
• testimony by expert witnesses.

Plea Bargains and Trials

In many cases, it is possible to get a DUI reduced to reckless driving or even dismissed – the best case scenario in Nevada. If both sides cannot agree on a plea bargain, you always have the option of going to trial.

However, since a DUI-2nd is just a misdemeanor, you can have only a bench trial – where the judge determines the verdict – and not a jury trial. In practice, juries are more likely to hand down a “not guilty” verdict than judges are.¹⁴

Sealing a DUI Second Record

DUI-second convictions cannot be sealed from your criminal record until seven years have passed since the case closed. That is why we fight so hard to get the charge either:

• reduced to reckless driving (NRS 484B.653), which has only a one-year record sealing wait time; or
• dismissed, which allows us to pursue a seal right away.¹⁵

Learn how to seal Nevada DUI criminal records. Having a clean background check greatly improves your prospects for employment, professional licenses, housing, and education.

Top 10 Frequently-Asked-Questions about Second DUIs in Nevada

1. Do my prior DUIs count?

Any past misdemeanor DUIs count as “priors” as long as they occurred within the last seven years. If your last misdemeanor DUI was more than 7 years ago, then any new DUI you pick up will be prosecuted as your first.

If you have a past felony DUI however, that will cause your next DUI to be prosecuted as a felony no matter how much time has passed.

2. Does it matter where my prior DUIs happened?

Nevada law counts prior DUIs from any U.S. state or territory.

3. Do I have to do jail?

DUI-2nds in Nevada have a 10-day mandatory minimum jail sentence. However, you may be able to serve the sentence in two-day chunks or possibly at home.

In addition to jail, second DUIs carry:

• A 6-month suspended jail sentence,
• Up to $1,000 in fines,
• DUI School,
• Victim Impact Panel, and
• A drug/alcohol evaluation.

4. What is DUI Treatment Court?

DUI Treatment Court is an intensive rehabilitation program you can ask the court to do in exchange for serving only five days in jail rather than the 10-day mandatory minimum. Upon successful completion, your DUI charge can be reduced to reckless driving.

5. What if I violate probation?

If you fail to complete any term of your DUI sentence, the judge can revoke your probation, un-suspend your six-month suspended jail sentence, and remand you to jail to serve out your sentence. However, the judge may be willing to give you a second chance at completing probation.

6. Can the case be dismissed or reduced to reckless driving?

It is possible depending on the strength of the state’s case. As long as we can cobble together enough evidence to raise a “reasonable doubt” as to your guilt, the prosecutor may be willing to drop or lessen the charge.

7. Will I lose my license?

DUI-seconds trigger a one-year license revocation, though you should be able to continue driving with an IID in your car. However, it is possible to contest your license revocation at a DMV hearing.

8. When do I get a DMV hearing?

We have seven days after you receive your “notice of license revocation” to request a DMV hearing.

You receive this notice right away after your arrest if you took the breath test (or refused to take any test). If you took the blood test, you will receive this notice in the mail along with your blood test results.

9. How soon can I get a record seal?

DUI-second convictions must remain on your Nevada criminal record for seven years before you can petition for a record seal. Though if the case is dismissed, you can petition for a seal right away.

10. Do I need an attorney?

Having an attorney greatly increases your odds of getting your second-time DUI charge reduced or dismissed. We conduct our own investigation and go over every piece of evidence with a fine-tooth comb in search of all the instances where the police failed to follow proper procedures.

Afterwards, we would explain to the prosecutors how their case is too holey to sustain a guilty verdict at trial. If the D.A. agrees, they may agree to a favorable plea deal.

Public defenders simply lack the time and resources to thoroughly work up each case. Oftentimes they do not look at your file until the court date, and good luck getting a phone call back.

If you want to fight your second DUI charge and try to avoid the 10-day mandatory minimum jail sentence, hiring experienced private counsel is the only way.

Additional Resources

For more information about Nevada DUI laws, refer to the following:

• DUI schools by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles – The NV DMV lists all the official providers of alcohol education classes recognized by state and municipal courts.
• Impaired Driving Program by the Nevada State Police Office of Traffic Safety – A state program aimed at reducing serious and fatal DUI accidents.
• Intoxilyzer 8000 Checklist by the Nevada Department of Public Safety – The form police have to follow and sign when administering evidentiary breath tests after a DUI arrest.
• Nevada Committee On Testing for Intoxication by the Nevada State Police Office of Traffic Safety – Information on the government group tasked with certifying breath testing devices and individuals to use them.
• Boating under the Influence by the Nevada Department of Wildlife – The NDOW discusses how you have to be as careful behind the wheel of a boat as you do a road vehicle.

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Legal References