Yes and no! It depends on what year they were arrested. If this was an arrest that took place prior to 2013 regardless of the type of DUI that you were arrested for, if you were convicted of any type of DUI, even if it was solely drugs, you had to have an ignition interlock device on any vehicle you operated. More recently, there have been laws put in place that say that it is possible to not have an ignition interlock device on a vehicle if you are convicted of DUI drugs or medications, but only if you are convicted of DUI drugs and medications under a certain law. Most people who are charged with just a drug DUI, will end up being charged with being impaired to the slightest degree by the use of those drugs and there is a separate charge.
In order to possibly not have to have an ignition interlock device at all, the attorney needs to understand which charge to plead guilty to and what phrase to say to the judge to ensure that they will not have to have an ignition interlock device. The downfall to that is that the person is going to have to have a license revocation for one year and even if things are set up correctly, they will receive notifications telling the person that they are going to have to install an ignition interlock device when they are able to reinstate their license. However, if the attorney knows what they are doing, if they do things correctly, at the end of that one year license revocation, when the person is able to reinstate their license, they would ultimately be told that they do not have to have an ignition interlock device on their vehicle.
There is one instance where it is possible if the attorney knows what they are doing and it is something that has to be done in court at the time of this sentence to prevent the ignition interlock device from being a part of the requirements for the conviction.
Should The MVD Be Notified After Installing An Ignition Interlock Device?
You are going to install the ignition interlock device primarily for the Motor Vehicle Division and also be for the courts. Each court has its own different monitoring requirements. Some courts just want to see a year later that you have installed it and maintained it for a year and they are fine. Other courts may want monthly or quarterly updates. As far as the Motor Vehicle Division is concerned, one of the biggest problems with people is that they decide to take initiative, they decide to install an ignition interlock device on their vehicle, they have read up on the internet, they know that it is going to be required, they take it upon themselves to install one.
The problem is the Motor Vehicle Division will not give you credit for having that ignition interlock device on your vehicle until they tell you to install it. They will not give you credit until your license can, in every other circumstance, be reinstated, be valid. If you have an out of state license, you are told that you are going to have an ignition interlock device but because you have got a DUI here, the other state will be contacted. They are going to suspend your license, the Motor Vehicle Division is not going to give you credit for having that ignition interlock device on your vehicle until you are valid in Arizona and you are valid in the other state and are eligible to reinstate in both states, both your privilege to drive and your license to drive.
The ignition interlock device can get tricky, especially when dealing with out of state people, people with licenses that were issued out of state and people need to understand that it is not going to count for the Motor Vehicle Division until the Motor Vehicle Division tells you to install it. However, that does not also apply to the court. With the court, they do not care whether you are able to drive or not. If you are getting a big chunk of your jail time deleted for agreeing to install the ignition interlock device, they want to see that you have installed one on your vehicle regardless of whether you are actually able to drive that vehicle. There are some people that will have an ignition interlock device on their vehicle simply to satisfy the courts even though it is not counting towards anything else and then later on they are eligible to have that same ignition interlock device double count for the court and once the Motor Vehicle Division sends the person a letter telling them that they have to install one due to a conviction.
For more information on Ignition Interlock Device For A Drug DUI, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling 480-900-0384 today.
