Is DUI a Criminal Charge? | GRL Law Firm
In Iowa it’s called Operating while Intoxicated, or OWI. Most people refer to them as DUI. But we have the most severe mandatory minimum penalties that go along with a DUI that are higher and more severe than any other misdemeanor offense a person can be charged with in the state of Iowa. There’s mandatory jail time. There’s mandatory fines. There’s mandatory license suspensions as well. A third offense OWI in the state of Iowa is a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
It is absolutely a criminal charge, and any time you are charged with a criminal offense anywhere, especially in the state of Iowa where a conviction stays on your record for the rest of your life, you need to seek a qualified and competent attorney to help guide you through the process and fight for you to make sure that anything that is possible and everything that is possible to avoid that going on your record or you spending time in jail is done to ensure that doesn’t happen.
