What are the penalties for minors persons under the age of 21 convicted of nondriving alcohol-related offenses?

Answer 1

It depends on the state and the offense.

Typically, offenses such as underage possession of alcohol are misdemeanor offenses punishable by up to 1 year and/or $1,000. Typically first offenses for these types of offenses are given the opportunity to enroll in a diversion program to avoid a criminal record, or are punished with a fine and no jail time.

In many states, these offenses also can lead to a driver's license suspension, even though they are not driving related.

Answer 2

Punishable by a fine of up to $500.00, not less then 20 nor more then 40 hours of community service. Attendance in an Alcohol Awareness Course is required and, if the minor is under 18, the parent may be required to attend the course. The minor's driver license will be suspended for 120 days.

Pages 10-3 of the Texas Drivers Handbook

Answer 3

It could vary greatly depending on a great number of factors, to name a few: Your driving history, Your Criminal History, Your State,County, and Local laws, How far over the limit you were, Whether or not you just got pulled over or if it was a traffic accident; and if so were there any injuries. This list of variables could go on for quite some time so I'll just give you a hypothetical situation in my home state.

Let's say you're 17 years old, you just get pulled over in the state of Georgia (which has fairly typical DUI laws, not terribly harsh, not terribly lenient) with no accident or injuries. The Legal limit for Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is .08 and after you are read Georgia's Implied consent laws, fail a Field Sobriety test, you agree to take a Breathalyzer test.

About an hour has passed from the time you see blue lights in your rearview to the time you are at the police station or hospital taking the test, sometimes more, and you blow a .10. That's not very far over the limit, but you're charged and go to jail.

When you go in front of the judge for your actual hearing (not the bond hearing, the second court date, probably a month or 6 weeks after the offense, where you enter a plea) he will have your driving and criminal histories, the police report, and any other pertinent reports available to him. Let's say you have maybe one speeding ticket when you were seventeen and another when you were twenty, which is typical. If you plead Not guilty and need to reset the case to find an attorney, the case will be continued to another date, about a month in the future. If you plead guilty or if your state has an equivalent to "No Contest" which is pretty much accepting responsibility for the offense, but not saying Yes, I'm GUILTY (whole other issue, look into if your state has it, in GA you can only do it under very specific circumstances), than the case will conclude that day and you will be sentenced.

No one can tell you exactly what any judge or jury will sentence you for for any given crime. The situation I described, under those exact circumstances, IF that person plead either Guilty right then or NOLO (No Contest), I would expect a sentence somehwere along these lines: A fine in the range of $500-$700 including all court costs, and a license suspension of about 6 months FOR A FIRST OFFENSE. MOST jurisdictions will give you a LIMITED drivers permit that will give you permission to drive under certain circumstances. Usually they are: To and from work, to and from and from medical appointments, court appearances, religious services, and are almost always limited to daylight hours, or once again in Georgia they can mirror a Provisional (learner's) license.

Once again, this is pretty much a ballpark scenario, and your situation could greatly differ from this depending on your circumstances. Additionally, when you go to get your license fully re instated, there will most like like be another separate fee of up to several hundred dollars. My advice? TALK TO A LAWYER!

Answer 4

It depends on the state, the offense, the age of the minor, and the minor's prior history.