Baltimore DUI Arrest Process

After you are arrested for DUI, you will usually be taken back to the police station—usually the Maryland Transportation Authority tunnel command post, the state police barracks or the Baltimore City Police Station—and there, you may be asked to submit to a Breathalyzer test. That is the first step immediately after arrest in 99% of Baltimore City DUI cases. It is important to note that once you are detained, you have the legal right to contact a Baltimore DUI attorney and it is imperative that you do so as quickly as possible.

Next, the officer is going to decide whether or not to release you on your own recognizance or book you in and require you to see a commissioner to determine a bond. And that decision is going to be based on a couple of things, including your history, so if this is your first offense, it’s much more likely that the officer will release you on your own recognizance than if you have priors.

That decision is also going to depend on your behavior and demeanor with the officers. If you had a non-confrontational interaction with police, it’s much more likely that you’ll be released on your own recognizance. On the other hand, if there was a lot of confrontation, then the officer will more likely book you and make you see a commissioner to determine a bond.

Refusing the Blood Alcohol Test in Baltimore

You absolutely have a right to refuse a chemical test in Baltimore. If you refuse, it triggers a different set of penalties against your driver’s license than if you submit to the test. However, on a first offense, the penalties for a refusal are actually very similar to the penalties for a high blow. For a first-offense refusal, the penalty is either 270 days’ hard suspension of your license or one year of participation in ignition interlock. For a high blow—.15 or higher—the penalty is 90 days’ hard suspension of your license or that same one year of ignition interlock. Really, there’s not much of a difference in terms of penalties between blowing high and refusing on the first offense in Baltimore.

On subsequent offenses, however, the penalty is more significant for a refusal. A second-offense refusal is one year of license suspension or ignition interlock, while a second-offense high blow is 180 days of suspension or one year of ignition interlock. That potential penalty for the refusal is significantly harsher—six months longer than for the high blow.

Contacting a Baltimore DUI Attorney

An individual who has been arrested for DUI should contact an attorney immediately upon being released. There’s a ten-day window to request a hearing on your license suspension that begins when you’re charged with a DUI. Having a lawyer look at your paperwork, talk to you about what happened and figure out how to address your license suspension as soon as possible is a really good idea in a Baltimore City DUI case.

You can contact an attorney when an officer is asking you to submit to a Breathalyzer test in order to seek advice about whether or not it makes sense for you to submit to that test. Frequently, though, DUI stops are going to happen late at night, and it may be hard to get an attorney on the phone because you’re not calling during regular business hours.

Hiring a Lawyer for a Bond Hearing

A Baltimore DUI attorney can be extremely helpful in a bond hearing. He or she can show the court why you’re a good candidate for a personal recognizance bond or a very low bond. Your attorney can show things like your connection to the community and any lack of criminal history or failures to appear.