On October 1, 2014 major changes were made to Mississippi’s DUI laws, below are some of the major changes to the Mississippi DUI laws: 1. Ignition interlock comes to Mississippi – Recently, an ignition interlock device has been placed in DUI law in Mississippi this year. A breath test machine wh
On October 1, 2014 major changes were made to Mississippi’s DUI laws, below are some of the major changes to the Mississippi DUI laws:
1. Ignition interlock comes to Mississippi – Recently, an ignition interlock device has been placed in DUI law in Mississippi this year. A breath test machine which is wired to a car’s starter system, making it impossible to start the engine if alcohol is detected on the driver’s breath. Effective October 1st, 2014 in Mississippi, people convicted of DUI will be required to install these devices in their cars for a period of 90 days.
2. Non-adjudication – Under certain circumstances, a person charged with a DUI in Mississippi may be eligible for what’s known as non-adjudication. This is often used as an alternative to full prosecution and it works like this: the person charges with DUI enters a plea of guilty to the charge, but is not found guilty of DUI. Instead, the DUI defendant must undergo a period of probation, pay all court costs and fines that they would have paid if convicted, pay a $250 non-adjudication fee into the Interlock Device Fund of the State Treasury, attend the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program (MASEP), and have an ignition interlock device installed on their car for 120 days. If the conditions above are met, the DUI will be dismissed and removed from your record.
3. Expungement – Prior to October 1 2014, one could not go back and remove a DUI from their criminal history unless they met certain requirements. That will no longer be the case come October 1, 2014. The driver must have had their license reinstated for at least five (5) consecutive years since finishing their DUI sentence. The person cannot have refused to submit to a blood or breath test when stopped for the DUI. If there are test results available from the blood or breath test, the person’s BAC cannot have been higher than 0.16%. In order to petition for an expungement, the person requesting the expungement must not have any other DUI conviction or pending DUI charge on their record. Further, they must provide a reason for why their particular case should be expunged more than another.
