8. Effects Of A DUI On Various Jobs & Careers
Legal Standard. Generally, the California Business and Professions Code requires that before any professional license is denied, suspended or revoked for a conviction, the conduct in question must be shown to be substantially related to the qualifications, functions or duties of the profession. (B&P 480, 490). Each licensing agency develops its own guides and regulations vary widely from agency to agency. You should discuss your specific case with a Santa Rosa attorney.
Practical Considerations. Most professional and consumer licensing boards (such as the medical board, the California Bar Association, etc...) typically will not take disciplinary action for a single Sonoma County DUI. Rather they are more concerned if one or more DUI's indicate that a licensee has a substance abuse problem. Where one DUI might not cause discipline, two or more may very well indicate abuse or addiction, or poor common sense and professional judgment. (Grifiths, 96 CA4 757.)
Disclosure & Remedial Measures. The best course is full and timely disclosure if required, and a willingness to address substance abuse issues in your life. It is imperative that you protect your career by prompt inquiry into applicable rules, and by avoiding a subsequent Sonoma County DUI incident or violation of probation in Santa Rosa Superior Court. In addition, certain rehabilitation may save a career. Factors such as the passage of time, successful completion of Sonoma County probation, remorse, change in attitude, expungement, alcohol or drug rehabilitation, completion of formal education, stability of family life, and community involvement can have significant impact on a licensing board decision to soften or reverse discipline. (B&P 480, 10 CCR 2911, Arneson, 28 Cal.3d 440.)
Note that a conviction for nearly any infraction is not a lawful basis to suspend or deny a professional license. (Pen 19.8, CVC 13202.5.) If your Sonoma County DUI lawyer is successful in causing your matter to be dismissed, or reduced to an infraction, risk to a professionally licensed career may be substantially minimized.
Click on these links for samples of laws and regulations governing professional conduct and disciplinary approaches for various professions:
Paramedics, and AMR Policy Example
Peace Corps, and More on Peace Corps
Pharmacists, and More on Pharmacists
Pilots, and More on Pilots
Or click on Resources on this site and then find your licensing board website under "Agencies and Organizations," or consult your professional directory for additional information. Inaction with respect to a Sonoma County DUI or other conviction in the Santa Rosa courthouse may cause serious consequences which could have been avoided with timely intervention.
Military Recruits. You may wish to consider asking your lawyer to attempt to avoid the typical three or more years of Sonoma County probation if such continuing jurisdiction by a civilian court would present obstacles to enlistment or continued service. Click here to see an example of a DUI Disqualification Letter declining consideration for enlistment until the Sonoma County DUI case is resolved without conditions (in other words, without continuing probation). Sometimes a letter or other proof of need to resolve your Sonoma County case without probation terms may help your Santa Rosa DUI lawyer to obtain such a resolution. Click here to see an example of a Recruiting Officer Letter Request for no probation. If you authorize your Santa Rosa DUI lawyer to speak with the appropriate commanding or recruiting officer, often severe consequences may be avoided.
Military Service. Obviously, the best way to avoid consequences if you suffer a Sonoma County DUI while serving in the military was to avoid the DUI altogether. The second best way is to try to beat the DUI by hiring a local Santa Rosa lawyer, such as Jake, to review the case and present your options. Click here to read a "sobering" account by an airman of The Fast Track To Losing Stripes.
The following consequences have been reported by several coast guard personnel prior to any adverse court or DMV findings: base driving privileges suspended for one year, grounded from flight operations for 60 days, alcohol dependency screening by command surgeon and/or off base intensive evaluation and treatment, two alcohol awareness classes per week for six weeks, command investigation, captains mast non-judicial punishment, documentation of alcohol incident in permanent record, fine, suspension of incentive pay, after hours work and confinement to base.
Commercial Drivers.
Commercial drivers with Class A or B licenses face particularly tough consequences upon conviction for a Sonoma County DUI or failure to win the related Santa Rosa DMV hearing. A truck driver, commercial delivery person, or fire engine driver may face loss of career because a DUI conviction will normally result in a one-year loss of his/her commercial license (CVC 15300).
A second DUI or combination of convictions (even if the prior conviction(s) were more than ten years ago) will normally result in lifetime loss of commercial privileges (CVC 15302). Note that the DMV's current interpretation of CVC 15302 is that this penalty is not intended to include DUI arrests prior to the operative date of September 20, 2005. Sometimes the only way to avoid catastrophic personal or economic consequences is to obtain a substantial reduction in charges, or win your case at trial in the Sonoma County Superior Court. Discuss your specific case with a Sonoma County DUI lawyer.
Employer pull notice ("EPN") program.
As required by Vehicle Code Section 1808.1, certain drivers, typically commercial drivers with Class A or B licenses, or Class C licenses with special driving qualifications, are enrolled by their employers in the EPN program. Pursuant to this program, the DMV will automatically generate a driving record and mail it to the employer for newly enrolled drivers, or annually for currently enrolled drivers, or upon an "action or activity" which is defined by law as a conviction, failure to appear, accident, driver license suspension or revocation, or any other action taken against the driving privilege.
A Santa Rosa DUI attorney may be very helpful keeping commercial and other drivers on the road after a DUI arrest and before the case resolves, explaining to an employer that simply receiving a notice of an action or activity does not necessarily mean that an employee cannot drive at this time, but just that an initial action has been taken (such as suspension by means of the pink temporary license, but stayed due to a request for DMV hearing) and might very well be fought and won (or reduced to wet reckless or better, etc) in Sonoma County court and at the DMV, resulting in no suspension at all, or that there may be significant delay before any suspension actually occurs, and that, depending on individual circumstances, the employee's driving privilege is likely perfectly valid and complete at this time.
Click here to see a Sample Government Employee Pull Notice sent to a county employer regarding an employee arrested for a refusal DUI, or here for a Sample Commercial Driver Pull Notice sent to a trucking company regarding a driver arrested for a simple DUI in his private non-commecial vehicle. You can find more information on the EPN program by clicking on EPN Program. If you are not required to be part of the EPN program pursuant to Vehicle Code Section 1808.1(k), then if you are enrolled, your employer must obtain your prior written consent on a form such as the Authorization for Release of Driver Record Information, and keep a copy on file at your worksite, and immediately remove you from the program upon termination of your employment. Click here for other Pull Notice Forms on the DMV website.