A second DUI in West Virginia

West Virginia keeps the second offence a misdemeanor, but the numbers stop looking like one. The jail term is not less than six months nor more than one year — a floor twelve times higher than the forty-eight hours of actual confinement required on a first offence — and the fine runs $1,000 to $3,000. The licence is revoked for ten years, or for a shorter period conditioned on participation in the test and lock programme, and the alternative revocation cannot be imposed without the driver’s consent. Home incarceration is available as an alternative to any period of confinement this section requires, with one carve-out written specifically for second offenders: electronic monitoring for no fewer than five days of the total period, during which the person may not leave home at all, notwithstanding the general home-confinement rules. Where the second conviction is for one of the aggravated variants in subsections (b), (c) or (d), whichever penalty is greater applies. Reinstatement also requires completing the comprehensive safety and treatment programme.

Start from what the statute forces and what it leaves to the judge. The floor here is not less than six months nor more than 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: not less than six months nor more than one year, and a fine of $1,000 to $3,000. The range is set by W. Va. Code § 17C-5-2(l), (q), (r), (s); § 17C-5A-3a; § 62-11B-5, and the figures on this page come from the statute rather than from a summary of it.

West Virginia calls it the Alcohol and Drug Test and Lock Program. A camera-equipped device goes in every vehicle you own or use, and it blocks the engine at 0.025% or above while logging every start attempt, every random test while you drive, and any attempt to get round it. You have six months from applying to get it fitted. The device requirement and the criminal penalty are separate tracks: one is handled by the court, the other by West Virginia DMV.