In most states a first time DUI offender will be charged with a misdemeanor offense and not a felony offense. As the saying goes “there are exceptions to the rule” and DUI is no different, in fact there can be a lot of exceptions depending on the case.
In some states a misdemeanor offense can be raised to a felony DUI offense if a person other than the intoxicated driver sustained injuries during the accident. This of course does not apply in every state. Even in states that allow this charge, it is not always used.
In most states a misdemeanor DUI offense can be raised to a felony DUI offense if another person was killed during the accident. You should always check your state’s drunk driving laws to find out what applies.
Another reason that a misdemeanor can be raised to a felony DUI offense would be in the case of a person with multiple drunk driving offenses on their record. A person who has received multiple drunk driving offenses is referred to as a “habitual offender”.
For a person to be classified as a “habitual offender” in most states, that person will have been convicted of at least three drunk driving offenses over a specified period of time. When a person has been labeled as a habitual offender, the state has basically deemed that that person will never learn their lesson and will be punished to the full extent of the law.
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