At the beginning of 2022, the law regarding DUI diversion changed. DUIs are no longer eligible for diversion in California. Please contact our office with any questions. Email us at abortellaw@gmail.com OR Call us at: San Rafael (415) 520-7182 | San Francisco (415) 520-6815
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In 2021, for a brief period, thanks to a new law in California, diversion programs for DUI charges were allowed by some judges in Marin County and other Bay Area Counties. Unfortunately, the idea of offering diversion programs for DUI defendants soon encountered stiff opposition.
Unfortunately, those more restrictive interpretations won out, and as of 2022, diversion is not available for DUI charges anywhere in California, including in Marin County.
Diversion was an alternative sentencing program that helped avoid a full legal conviction, while still ensuring progress and rehabilitation. Diversion programs were available, for example, for many first-time offenders for minor crimes and misdemeanors. Following such a program allowed offenders to clear the conviction from their record if they completed it successfully.
A judge had to be the one to grant diversion, though it could also be requested as part of certain plea deals. If approved, the defendant had to meet specific requirements such as counseling, classes, community service, and more within a specific timeframe without reoffending.
Under previous laws, these programs were not supposed to be available to DUI offenders, but the 2021 law, which opened diversion review for all misdemeanors, seemed to offer a path for change.
When diversion for DUIs seemed to become an option in 2021, San Francisco County and other Bay Area counties, including Marin, became some of the first to allow DUIs for diversion. In Marin County, this was almost exclusively limited to first-time offenders, though in San Francisco, some repeat or accident-involved charges were approved for diversion.
When handing out a diversion for a DUI charge, a judge would give you a time period and terms. The time period was usually at least six months, but it could be a year or longer, during which time you would have to make regular reports on your progress.
Depending upon the details of the case, such as the blood alcohol level or priors, the judge could have also required
Assuming you succeeded, the DUI would then be dropped, and no conviction would ever go on your record for it.
By avoiding any criminal conviction on their record, diverted DUI defendants escaped from some of the most severe consequences of a DUI arrest:
There were also plenty of positive reasons to encourage diversion programs in society, including for DUIs. After all, nobody wants folks on a first-time arrest to have to deal with the fallout of a full criminal conviction. As a society, we value giving people a chance to address their problems, right their wrongs, and avoid falling prey to the prison system.
While San Francisco, Alameda, Sonoma, and Marin Counties started granting such diversions to DUI offenders in 2021, most of the state was resistant to it. Judges granted very few diversions, and DAs challenged the ones that were given out to DUI offenders.
These challenges relied on an older law, which they argued overruled the new one, as the new one did not specify that diversions should be available in DUI cases, while the older law made it clear that they should not. Unfortunately, higher courts than those in Marin County decided that these arguments were correct and shut the door on diversions for DUI offenders.
This means that diversions are not an available strategy when facing a DUI, and it is vital to reach out to an experienced DUI lawyer if you are arrested on such charges.
If you have been arrested for drunk driving in Marin County, call (415) 520-6815 right away to receive the help and guidance of an experienced DUI attorney.
My name is Aaron Bortel. I practice in the state of California. I handle DUI cases exclusively and have been practicing for over 25 years.
