Am I charged?

[dudeigotit]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I was pulled over for drunk driving. I was given a field sobriety test, blood test. Taken to the police station, where they photographed me while i waited for my dad to pick me up. They didn't give me any papers when i left. I don't remember signing anything; how do i know i was officially charged? Should i call the station?

[FlyingRon]

Expect something in the mail. The wheels of Pennsylvania justice don't move too swiftly. Could take a couple of months. What county?

[dudeigotit]

Wow. A few months? This was in Montgomery County, PA. Lower Moreland Township to be exact. Should I call a lawyer now?

[foot]

It's not out of the ordinary for it to take 6 weeks or so until you receive this stuff in the mail.

[FlyingRon]

No need to contact one now, but I'd have one ready to call when the papers arrive.

[Yertle8]

I can tell you what to expect - I got a Montgomery County DUI last year. Mine was a checkpoint and I blew a 0.1, just for reference, so if your situation varies then you might end up with less or more to deal with.

I got the papers from the officer in the mail about 3-4 weeks after the arrest. Documents to appear in court were attached, and from the time of the arrest to my first appearance in front of the local magistrate was 2 months (July 12 to September 3). That was pretty painless, just me, the arresting officer and the judge. I said I was requesting ARD, they had me sign about 7-8 documents, explaining what each was for. Whole thing took maybe 45 minutes.

My arraignment was December 12. They tell you that it's going to take most of the day. It does. Don't plan on getting out of there in any timely fashion and you won't be as upset as all the people around me were. At arraignment they are going to explain your rights to you and you'll sign a few more documents. You don't meet with a judge and nothing really happens that day.

My ARD hearing was January 20th. They do them on Tuesdays. There will most likely be about a fifty to sixty people there with you, most of those DUI, most of those alcohol-related. You won't feel singled out. You will stand around for hours and it will take the whole day and send you all over the Norristown courthouse. After you've filled out papers that detail the terms of your ARD, its probation, and your community service. Once everyone is ready (everyone will be asking a million questions they should already know to the one or two PDs there - don't be one of those people) they will take all of you in front of the judge. TURN YOUR CELL PHONE OFF.

They'll split you up into four groups - DUI w/attorney, DUI w/PD, DUI no attorney, non-DUI. The judge will talk to each group, the DA will move that you all be put into ARD and the judge will order it so. Your time in the courtroom is (hopefully) finished.

Following that, you'll need to go to the Clerk of Courts office to get your fines. You do not have to pay all of your fines that day, but YOU DO HAVE TO PAY $500. They have that in the documentation, but it's important, if you don't have it you aren't getting into ARD that day and you'll likely be back in front fo the judge. They take cash, checks, credit cards, probably money orders. They WILL NOT accept check or credit card in any other name besides yours NO MATTER WHAT. About 5% of the people there ended up back in front of the judge because their method of payment was unacceptable. Don't be one of those people.

Once you pay your $500 you have to register for probation. Down the hall they will sign you up for CallTrack. They'll explain that you pay a one-time fee ($48) and you call the number once a month for a year. After your first call it is automated, and it just asks you your name, if your address has changed, if your employment status has changed, if you've had any problems with the law, and if you are keeping up with your court-ordered payments. You answer them all right and it thanks you and you call next month. Painless.

Then you go home.

All in all, it cost me $2000. I did not hire a lawyer, so that cost would be above the two grand. I would not have qualified for a PD, did not ask for one. If this is your first crime ever (I say ever because Montgomery doesn't care if your last ARD was over ten years ago or over 50 years ago, they will never give you a second one) then you'll get ARD and you can do it without a lawyer if you read up on what's going to happen (most of which I'm giving you here).

Your actual fine is around $500-800, but just like a speeding ticket, there are a lot of extra fees attached. This pushes it up to around $1600. On top of that you'll have your CRN evaluation ($50), your CallTrack ($48), and your AHSS classes ($200). After your $500 payment on your court day, the remaining balance of your fine will be paid monthly over the next nine months (or you can pay it all on your court day). Note that this is, once again, for a 0.1 BAC in the second tier.

At your CRN evaluation they'll try to determine if you have a dependence problem that would warrant treatment above what ARD provides. Just tell the truth. They'll easily be able to tell if you don't have a problem, and they won't give you a hard time. If you do have a problem, tell the truth and get help - now is the perfect time, you're getting a break on your first offense.

Montgomery County requires 24 hours of community service for completion of ARD. There's a good chance you'll be serving it at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. They'll schedule it on two consecutive weekends, 6 hours a day for four days. It's not a lot of fun. If you're male you'll be digging holes and putting up fence. If you're female you'll be picking up trashing and scrubbing up animal feces. You have to wear a yellow vest, the vest doesn't say anything. You'll find out when your community service is scheduled on the date of your ARD hearing. Changing when it's scheduled requires a really good reason (work, vacations, etc are not good reasons). Missing a scheduled day and not getting two extra days also requires a really good reason.

Around the time you're doing your community service you'll get your scheduled classes for AHSS. You can choose either a bunch of short night classes or two consecutive Saturdays (you choose this at your ARD hearing). Your $200 payment has to be received a week before the first class. If you bring $200 to the class you will be turned away and charged $30 for rescheduling. If you miss a day of the class without a really good reason you have to take it over from the beginning. The class is supposed to be 12.5 hours, but I took it two Saturdays and each was about 5 hours.

If you had 11th grade health class this class is like a repeat of that, only focused on the alcohol and drugs part of it. It was midly entertaining, although I would have much rather spent my Saturday elsewhere. It may be different for you, but my AHSS class was full of misinformation, not due to a false agenda that the police are trying to push or anything, but rather because the administrator of the course was just not knowlegeable. She showed us clips of people being pulled over that were obviously from TV shows and she claimed they were real (one was from Reno 911). She also told the class that they couldn't beat a DUI (true) because the officer's testimony would put a shadow of doubt in the minds of the jury and that was all they needed to convict....dumbfounding. Aside from the fact that you can't get a jury trial for DUI in PA.

Once you finish AHSS all you have to do is make your payments on time and keep calling the CallTrack number each month and about a year and a half after your arrest you'll be done. Then you can have your arrest record expunged and it won't show up on most background checks.

As to your questions, yes, you're charged. I'm 99.999% sure of that. They don't need you to sign anything. Might take a few days for them to get your results back and determine which tier you'll be charged in as blood isn't instant like breath. They don't give you papers at your arrest, as others have said they'll be in the mail.

[paguy88]

Originally Posted by Yertle8

I can tell you what to expect - I got a Montgomery County DUI last year. Mine was a checkpoint and I blew a 0.1, just for reference, so if your situation varies then you might end up with less or more to deal with.

I got the papers from the officer in the mail about 3-4 weeks after the arrest. Documents to appear in court were attached, and from the time of the arrest to my first appearance in front of the local magistrate was 2 months (July 12 to September 3). That was pretty painless, just me, the arresting officer and the judge. I said I was requesting ARD, they had me sign about 7-8 documents, explaining what each was for. Whole thing took maybe 45 minutes.

My arraignment was December 12. They tell you that it's going to take most of the day. It does. Don't plan on getting out of there in any timely fashion and you won't be as upset as all the people around me were. At arraignment they are going to explain your rights to you and you'll sign a few more documents. You don't meet with a judge and nothing really happens that day.

My ARD hearing was January 20th. They do them on Tuesdays. There will most likely be about a fifty to sixty people there with you, most of those DUI, most of those alcohol-related. You won't feel singled out. You will stand around for hours and it will take the whole day and send you all over the Norristown courthouse. After you've filled out papers that detail the terms of your ARD, its probation, and your community service. Once everyone is ready (everyone will be asking a million questions they should already know to the one or two PDs there - don't be one of those people) they will take all of you in front of the judge. TURN YOUR CELL PHONE OFF.

They'll split you up into four groups - DUI w/attorney, DUI w/PD, DUI no attorney, non-DUI. The judge will talk to each group, the DA will move that you all be put into ARD and the judge will order it so. Your time in the courtroom is (hopefully) finished.

Following that, you'll need to go to the Clerk of Courts office to get your fines. You do not have to pay all of your fines that day, but YOU DO HAVE TO PAY $500. They have that in the documentation, but it's important, if you don't have it you aren't getting into ARD that day and you'll likely be back in front fo the judge. They take cash, checks, credit cards, probably money orders. They WILL NOT accept check or credit card in any other name besides yours NO MATTER WHAT. About 5% of the people there ended up back in front of the judge because their method of payment was unacceptable. Don't be one of those people.

Once you pay your $500 you have to register for probation. Down the hall they will sign you up for CallTrack. They'll explain that you pay a one-time fee ($48) and you call the number once a month for a year. After your first call it is automated, and it just asks you your name, if your address has changed, if your employment status has changed, if you've had any problems with the law, and if you are keeping up with your court-ordered payments. You answer them all right and it thanks you and you call next month. Painless.

Then you go home.

All in all, it cost me $2000. I did not hire a lawyer, so that cost would be above the two grand. I would not have qualified for a PD, did not ask for one. If this is your first crime ever (I say ever because Montgomery doesn't care if your last ARD was over ten years ago or over 50 years ago, they will never give you a second one) then you'll get ARD and you can do it without a lawyer if you read up on what's going to happen (most of which I'm giving you here).

Your actual fine is around $500-800, but just like a speeding ticket, there are a lot of extra fees attached. This pushes it up to around $1600. On top of that you'll have your CRN evaluation ($50), your CallTrack ($48), and your AHSS classes ($200). After your $500 payment on your court day, the remaining balance of your fine will be paid monthly over the next nine months (or you can pay it all on your court day). Note that this is, once again, for a 0.1 BAC in the second tier.

At your CRN evaluation they'll try to determine if you have a dependence problem that would warrant treatment above what ARD provides. Just tell the truth. They'll easily be able to tell if you don't have a problem, and they won't give you a hard time. If you do have a problem, tell the truth and get help - now is the perfect time, you're getting a break on your first offense.

Montgomery County requires 24 hours of community service for completion of ARD. There's a good chance you'll be serving it at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown. They'll schedule it on two consecutive weekends, 6 hours a day for four days. It's not a lot of fun. If you're male you'll be digging holes and putting up fence. If you're female you'll be picking up trashing and scrubbing up animal feces. You have to wear a yellow vest, the vest doesn't say anything. You'll find out when your community service is scheduled on the date of your ARD hearing. Changing when it's scheduled requires a really good reason (work, vacations, etc are not good reasons). Missing a scheduled day and not getting two extra days also requires a really good reason.

Around the time you're doing your community service you'll get your scheduled classes for AHSS. You can choose either a bunch of short night classes or two consecutive Saturdays (you choose this at your ARD hearing). Your $200 payment has to be received a week before the first class. If you bring $200 to the class you will be turned away and charged $30 for rescheduling. If you miss a day of the class without a really good reason you have to take it over from the beginning. The class is supposed to be 12.5 hours, but I took it two Saturdays and each was about 5 hours.

If you had 11th grade health class this class is like a repeat of that, only focused on the alcohol and drugs part of it. It was midly entertaining, although I would have much rather spent my Saturday elsewhere. It may be different for you, but my AHSS class was full of misinformation, not due to a false agenda that the police are trying to push or anything, but rather because the administrator of the course was just not knowlegeable. She showed us clips of people being pulled over that were obviously from TV shows and she claimed they were real (one was from Reno 911). She also told the class that they couldn't beat a DUI (true) because the officer's testimony would put a shadow of doubt in the minds of the jury and that was all they needed to convict....dumbfounding. Aside from the fact that you can't get a jury trial for DUI in PA.

Once you finish AHSS all you have to do is make your payments on time and keep calling the CallTrack number each month and about a year and a half after your arrest you'll be done. Then you can have your arrest record expunged and it won't show up on most background checks.

As to your questions, yes, you're charged. I'm 99.999% sure of that. They don't need you to sign anything. Might take a few days for them to get your results back and determine which tier you'll be charged in as blood isn't instant like breath. They don't give you papers at your arrest, as others have said they'll be in the mail.

very well written accout of ARD. Better than I could ever do. i am not a good writer. It is interesting how each county does it different. Mine I live in Allegheny you get zero community service. Only have to pay 250 of the fine on ARD court day.After the ARD hearing you meet with the probation department once and never hear from them again.(unless you have some issue with the law) no reporting no calling a number once a month nothing.

over all ARD is a pretty sweet deal in the end you get a full expungment for normal jobs like a bank teller or sales postion if they run a background chekc, or if you had to do one say to coach your sons football team it won''t show up. Now if you want to be a FBI agent they will know that you did ARD for a DUI and who knows how the governement would view that.

thanks for the account it was interestesting to read.

[dudeigotit]

Thank you Yertle8!!!
I really, really appreciate the time and effort you put into your reply. I read it 2x's and will print it out.