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Before beginning a discussion of Missouri DUI / DWI / BAC cases, it is important to note that in every Missouri alcohol-traffic offense, it is important for a driver facing theses charges to understand that there are two separate components to these types of cases. Each Missouri case involving impairment and a vehicle have both a civil and criminal element must be dealt with separately.

If you are found guilty in your Missouri DUI / DWI or other drunk driving case, you may be placed on probation. Probation is a process where the Court may release you without incarceration or other imprisonment after you are found guilty.

Under Missouri's Implied Consent law, RSMo. 577.020, every driver who operates a motor vehicle in the State of Missouri by law has given implied consent to giving a blood, breath, saliva or urine sample to determine the alcohol content of their blood if arrested upon reasonable grounds to believe they were driving a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated or drugged condition.

One of the most common questions our office receives from the public is how a Missouri DUI / DWI will affect their employment. Missouri does offer a Suspended Imposition of Sentence (SIS) probation for some DUI / DWI offenses which does not result in a conviction on the driver's record if they are able to successfully complete probation.

One little known consequence (even among Missouri Lawyers) of a Missouri DUI / DWI or other drunk driving conviction, is that it can limit your right to travel. There are many countries (including Canada) which classify some “crimes” as a basis for limiting, or in some cases, outright banning your right to enter the country.

Every summer as people get out on the water, we receive numerous inquiries about Missouri Boating While Intoxicated offenses (BWI) at lakes such as Lake of the Ozarks and Smithville Lake in the Kansas City Metro area, and the differences between BWI and normal DWI cases.

When comparing driver's license point suspensions in a Missouri DUI / DWI case to driver's license revocations or denials, it is important to note that a driver may have their Missouri driving privilege simultaneously suspended for points while at the same time also having a license revocation for separate and different reasons.

A former Missouri resident has requested a 26-year-old DWI charge be cleared from her record, in the hopes of likewise expunging an existing FBI record on the incident. The woman arranged for the filing of the application last week in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County.