The penalties for a Washington DUI conviction range from the fairly obvious (jail and fines) to the relatively obscure (limits on freedom to travel within and outside of the country, immigration issues). These potential penalties, along with the potential of having a DUI on one’s record, represent the reason most people lose sleep upon being arrested for a DUI.
Apart from the immediate DUI penalties upon conviction, the biggest long term impact is the fact of the conviction itself. A DUI conviction can not be expunged from one’s record, meaning that it will always be there. It will be there for purposes of adding substantial penalties to possible future DUIs. It will be there to affect future employment prospects, or for criminal background checks. But it does not have to be. A DUI charge can be beaten.
Review these potential penalties so that you know what could happen. But also know that by hiring a skilled Washington DUI attorney you can avoid a great many, if not all of these sanctions.