“OWI” is what Iowa calls what lots of other states call a “DUI” or “DWI.” If you’re looking for a DUI lawyer or a DWI attorney but you’re in Iowa, what you’re actually looking for is OWI defense.
Here are links for more in-depth talks on things you should know about:
OWI
| OWI (DUI/DWI) | Underage OWI (DUI/DWI) | OWI 1st |
| Boating OWI and Non-car OWI | OWI Consequences and Sentencing | Drug OWI |
| Substance Abuse Treatment | OWI Forms and Resources | OWI Attorneys |
| OWI License Revocation | Substance Abuse Evals | Substance Abuse Treatment in Iowa |
| Preliminary Breath Test -- Should I blow or not? | Iowa Criminal Process Step by Step | SR22 Insurance |
| Travel to Canada | OWI 2nd | OWI 3rd |
| OWI Deferred Judgment | Test Refusal | OWI Breath Test |
| OWI Blood Test | Prescription Drug Defense | OWI License Revocation Hearings |
| OWI Serious Bodily Injury and Death | Ignition Interlock Devices | Implied Consent |
| OWI with CDL |
OWI is a common charge. The unfortunate reality is that a lot of people don’t realize (or maybe don’t care) how alcohol or other substance consumption impairs their judgment. That, coupled with a painfully high incidence of chronic substance abuse issues in the US and that thing where Iowa has limited public transportation options, has led to a culture where driving after drinking is near-ubiquitous — it seems like everyone is comfortable getting behind the wheel of a car after a beer or nine, and when the bar closes or the strip club tells all the patrons they need to get out of the parking lot, it’s easy to get picked up by the state patrol.
I’ve got a couple pieces of advice here. The first is the obvious — don’t drink* and drive. You’re going to ignore that one but it seems important to say anyway. When you drink and drive, you put yourself in serious danger. You may not care much about your own safety, but please care about the other people on the road who aren’t consenting to being put in danger by your choices.
Look, I’m a mom. I’ve loved an alcoholic. I’ve been teary by the phone and waiting to find out if the person I loved was dead or in a ditch somewhere. (Lucky me, he was just in jail after getting picked up for OWI. Trust me, if you’ve been charged with OWI, you’re far from alone.) Your decisions do affect the people you love. If you need help with a drinking problem, please find qualified help. You deserve to get better. Do it for you or do it for your friends and family.
(*You can also be charged with OWI if you have a controlled substance, drug, or compound, or any of its metabolites or derivatives in your system. Hang tight and we’ll have a talk about drug-related OWIs.) (Iowa Code 321J is all about OWI in Iowa.)
The second bit of advice is that if you drink and drive and get caught (which will happen one way or another, if you make a habit out of driving under the influence), you need to talk to an attorney.
While the consequences for a first-time OWI are often not that bad — I mean, apart from the thing where you’re going to pay the highest minimum fine you’ll pay for any misdemeanor in Iowa (plus the surcharges for it), the thing where your license is going to be taken away for some period of time, the thing where you’ll have to pay for an “ignition interlock device” (that’s Iowa Code-speak for “Intoxalock“) if you want a TRL (“temporary restricted license”) to get to work, the thing where you’ll have to pay for and have a substance abuse evaluation done, the thing where you get a minimum of 48 hours in jail (or you get to spend a weekend at the local community college doing a drunk drivers’ course, and more — you probably still would like to mitigate them.
The consequences get worse for a second OWI and are pretty awful for a third. Second OWIs (and related charges, like driving while your license is suspended because of an OWI) come with scary possibilities like the state being able to commit you to a substance treatment facility or your vehicle getting seized and forfeited to the state. An OWI third offense is a felony. If you get convicted of an OWI third, you’re going to jail — or possibly even prison — for a while, you’re losing your license for years, and you may lose your job.
You need an attorney if you’re charged with OWI because we will be able to review the state’s evidence and check it against the Iowa code and against existing case law to find out whether any searches were done correctly. An attorney will be able to help guide you through license revocation hearings (and help you get your revocation rescinded if the state doesn’t comply with time restrictions they have regarding properly-submitted requests for hearings and reviews.)
When we agree to take on your case, we’re agreeing to look over the state’s evidence — we’ll make sure the state did everything they were supposed to do to be able to correctly arrest and test you, we’ll review their dash cam and body cam video, and we’ll discuss your options for suppression, plea bargains, trial, and more.
This blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be relied on as legal advice. Consult with a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. Reading this site doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. If you want to talk to us about representing you on your OWI or other charges, please contact us and we’ll set up a time to talk.
And here’s some bottom-of-the-page gobbledegook so that Google knows what this page is aimed at:
Polk County Iowa OWI lawyer DUI attorney DWI defense legal help free advice drug OWI preliminary breath test PBT license revocation hearing
