IID for DUI in Los Angeles County

Question: IID was not listed as punishment  for DUI in LA county. What’s going on?

In regards to a restricted license, I went to the DMV today to obtain the restriction. I was finally called up late in the afternoon. The worker looked at my papers and was stumped as to why an IID was not listed for me. My administrative per se states nothing about it, my case is still in court, and my plea deal to a DUI from the DA states nothing about an iid, although it does list some other penalties which has me very nervous and wondering what I should do.

The DMV worker was so confused he gave me MAU’s phone number to call and verify before coming back.

What’s going on? Will I be required to have an iid to get my license back? Do I have to be convicted before obtain my restricted license? There’s so much going on here…

Interlock Ignition Device

Answer:  If you are convicted of a DUI in Los Angeles County, you will have to get an ignition interlock device installed on your car. Sometimes the sentencing memo will state “….get IID as required by the DMV…” or something of that nature, and sometimes the prosecutor will spefically inform the defendant or their attorney that the IID per DMV is part of the deal. Whether they do or not, once convicted of a DUI, the DMV will require the IID. Usually a few weeks to a month after the DUI conviction, the DMV gets around to mailing out the notification of the IID requirement.

To clarify, the IID requirement by the DMV comes into play if and when there is a DUI conviction in Los Angeles, or one of the other pilot counties. There is no IID requirement based on an admin per se loss (ie. DMV hearing loss, or failure to request a DMV hearing) alone.

It is possible that a Court could require an IID as part of probation seperate and a part from what the DMV requires, but in that circumstance, they clearly would have to include that in the sentencing.

If you can avoid the DUI conviction by either entering a plea to a reduced charge, dismissal, or acquittal of the DUI charges, then you can avoid an IID altogether.

It is also to get a restricted license after the hard suspension from an admin per se hearing (ie. DMV hearing based on a DUI arrest), or failure to request a hearing. The length of your hard suspension would depend on any particular enhancements or prior DUI issue. For example, for a first offense over 21 years of age, no refusal enhancement DUI, the hard suspension time would be 30 days. After that you could get a restricted license.

Note though that if you get a restricted license and then get a DUI conviction in Los Angeles, you would still have to get the IID restricted license for the required amount of time.

Speak to your (or a) DUI attorney about your case in more detail. It may be possible to avoid a DUI conviction all together, or at least line up the suspensions to run concurrently so there is no overlap, in the event that there is a DUI conviction.

Sincerely,

Phil Hache
Van Nuys DUI Lawyer
Los Angeles and surrounding counties