DUI Penalties, Private Jail or County Jail.
The penalties for a second or third DUI in California include some county jail time. Jail time on a second offense ranges from 96 hours minimum to one year maximum. On a third offense within a ten year time frame, the minimum jail time is 120 days up to a maximum of one year. When jail is imposed, normally a defendant is ordered to surrender on a given date to county jail. The advantage of county jail is that it is free and a defendant may qualify for early release. In Orange County, defendants are not normally released until they have served seventy percent of their time. However, in Los Angeles County, there is a significant overcrowding problem and the Sheriff's department often release inmates after ten percent or less of their jail time. I once had a client released after one night of a six month jail sentence on a felony DUI in Los Angeles.
However, some judges will agree to allow a defendant to serve their
jail time in a private city jail. These jails are run by city police departments in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. They offer a safe and clean alternative to county jail. They are not free and can be expensive but for clients who are afraid of the prospects of county jail time, the money can be well worth it. Private Jails often run work furlough or trustee programs whereby an inmate can go to work during the day and serve the jail time at night, or work for the police department during the day performing manual labor and go home at night.
If you have any questions concerning county or private jails and the advantages or disadvantages of either option, please call Los Angeles and
Orange County DUI Lawyers Gold and Witham for a free consultation.