A DUI IN NORFOLK
MOVES FAST
A first-offense DUI in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor under § 18.2-266. It carries a mandatory license suspension, a fine, and a referral to the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program. In this city it’s arraigned in the Norfolk General District Court, and the days between the arrest and that first appearance are where the useful work happens — the basis for the stop, how the field sobriety tests were administered, the breath instrument’s calibration record.
Reckless driving is the charge people underestimate most. Under § 46.2-862 it isn’t a ticket. Twenty over the limit, or anything at eighty-five and above regardless of the limit, is a criminal misdemeanor that lands on a record employers can see.
Both charges come with a second set of consequences that nobody mentions at the roadside. Whether a security clearance survives. Whether the drive to base survives. Whether a commercial license survives. In this region those are usually the real stakes, and they’re the questions we answer on day one rather than at sentencing.
WHERE THESE CASES ARE WON
WHAT HAPPENS
AFTER A NORFOLK ARREST
Most people we hear from have never been through this and have no idea what comes next. So: an arrest in Norfolk normally means a magistrate’s bond determination, then an arraignment in the General District Court, then either a trial date there or — if the charge is elevated by a high reading, a prior offense, or an injury — a case that moves up to the Circuit Court.
Each of those steps has a window in front of it where something useful can be done, and each window closes. Getting the discovery request in. Preserving the calibration and maintenance records for the instrument that produced your reading. Getting to a witness while they still remember clearly. What you cannot do is make up the time later.
One of our attorneys spent four years as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Norfolk. He knows which files the Commonwealth quietly worries about, and what a reduction in this court typically requires. That’s a practical advantage, not a relational one.
IN NORFOLK
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41,000+
criminal and traffic clients represented since 1995
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4
years one of our attorneys spent prosecuting for Norfolk
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65+
years practicing in Norfolk’s courts
ARRESTED LAST NIGHT?
Call now, not Monday. The days before your first appearance are the ones we can still use. Free, confidential, any hour — 757-622-3317.