A second DUI in Idaho

Idaho keeps the second offence a misdemeanor but attaches a floor that is hard to serve around: a mandatory minimum of ten days, of which the first forty-eight hours must be consecutive and five days must actually be served in jail. The judge may assign the time to a county work detail, which is the only flexibility in it. The licence consequence is the part people underestimate — an additional mandatory minimum year of suspension after release from confinement, during which, in the statute’s own words, absolutely no driving privileges of any kind may be granted. Only after that year does the interlock route open, and from then on the person may drive only a vehicle fitted with a functioning device.

Start from what the statute forces and what it leaves to the judge. The floor here is mandatory minimum ten days, first 48 hours consecutive; up to one year. Everything above that floor is argued, and the same conviction can end up served in custody, on work release or as a condition of probation depending on the county and the judge. What no one can promise you is a sentence below the statutory minimum — that is not a question of persuasion.

Misdemeanor: mandatory minimum ten days, first 48 hours consecutive; up to one year, and a fine of up to $2,000. The range is set by Idaho Code § 18-8005(4)(a), (b), (e), (f), and the figures on this page come from the statute rather than from a summary of it.

Idaho separates the administrative side from the court case: the Transportation Department handles the license suspension, the reinstatement fee and the restricted driving permit, while the court sets the sentence. The interlock belongs to the administrative track — it is what makes a restricted permit possible while the suspension runs. The device requirement and the criminal penalty are separate tracks: one is handled by the court, the other by Idaho Transportation Department, with the court setting the sentence.