In court, someone who is convicted of a First DUI faces:
FINES:A base fine of $390 – $1,000. Usually, the prosecutor will allow a minimum base fine on a DUI first offense. Even though $390 doesn’t sound like that much, that’s only the base fine. That amount is then substantially increased by penalties and assessments. It comes out to approximately $2,000 in LA county, and it’s over $3,500 in Ventura county.
JAIL: Even though there is no minimum jail time, there is a maximum of 6 months in county jail. This is important to note because even though most people don’t have to serve a day in jail on a first DUI, they must know that if they violate the terms of their probation, they subject themselves to a maximum punishment of jail time. In Santa Barbara county, the courts tend to notify defendants at the time of a plea, that they will do a certain amount of jail time if they violate the terms of their probation.