ARD & Habitual Offender

I previously wrote about out-of-state licenses and the habitual offender status.  Now it is important for your Chester County DUI lawyer to talk about the potential impact of ARD and an out-of-state DUI with respect to the habitual offender status.  

Specifically, Section 1542(c) states that a driver's acceptance of admission into an ARD program relating to one of the offenses set forth in Section 1542(b) is considered an "offense" for purposes of determining whether the driver is subject to the habitual offender sanction.  This is very important to understand if you go into another state's ARD (or similar) program.  PennDot is permitted to treat a driver's acceptance of ARD as a "conviction" for purposes of determining if the driver is a habitual offender, as outlined in Hillwig v. Department of Transportation in 1987.    There is no requirement that, prior to accepting ARD for a serious violation of the Vehicle Code, such as DUI, that a driver be apprised of the collateral consequences of accepting admission into the program and such an omission does not constitute a violation of due process.  It is also vital to know that a driver's "mere acceptance" of admission into an ARD program for one of the offenses outlined in 1542(d) counts that admission as a qualifying offense under 1542(c).  This is true even if the driver is later removed from the ARD program and either found guilty of the underlying offense at trial or enters into a plea bargain where the underlying offense is either dismissed or nolle prossed and the driver pleads guilty to a lesser offense.  This is tremendously harsh, so you must be smart about your decision here.  

Out-of-state DUI Offenses

If a person receives an out-of-state impaired and intoxicated driving offense that is reported to Pennsylvania pursuant to the Driver License Compact and are considered "serious" traffic offenses and counted towards determining whether a driver qualifies as a "habitual offender" within the scope of Section 1542.  Article 4 of the PA Driver's License Compact requires Pennsylvania to treat a report of a PA-licensed driver's convcition of an out-of-state impaired or intoxicated driving offense that is substantially similar to the offense described in Article IV(a)(2) of the Compact the same as if the driver had been convicted of violating PA's DUI statute.