Oregon DUII Plea Bargains

OR DUII law prohibits dismissal of a DUII charge in excahnge for a plea any other charge.

In many states it is possible for a DUI lawyer to help a client "plead down" a drunk driving charge to something lesser than a DWI. In fact, some DUI lawyers plead out more than 99% of their cases because state laws allow them to secure great deals for their clients without exposing them to the risk and expense of litigation. In other states, prosecutors and defense attorneys can collaborate to create a win-win situation that saves all parties a lot of time and money.

This is not the so in Oregon DUII cases. In fact, it is actually codified in the Oregon vehicle code. It is simply illegal for a prosecutor to plea bargain your DUI case down to something less than a drunk driving conviction.

Theoretically, this means that your Oregon DUII case can end in only one of three ways:

1. Conviction for the Oregon DUII charge; or
2. Dismissal of the Oregon DUII case; or
3. You enter into a diversion program.

As you can see from the statute below, the Oregon Legislature has severly limited the ability of a prosecutor to resolve a DUII case through diplomacy and compromise.

813.170 Plea agreement prohibited.

(1) Notwithstanding ORS 135.405 to 135.445, a person charged with the offense of driving under the influence of intoxicants shall not be allowed to plead "guilty" or "no contest" to any other offense in exchange for a dismissal of the offense charged. No district attorney or city attorney shall make any motion and no judge shall enter any order in derogation of this section. This section does not prohibit diversion as provided under ORS 813.200.

(2) Notwithstanding ORS 135.881 to 135.901, a person charged with the offense of driving under the influence of intoxicants shall not be allowed to enter into any program of supervised performance or diversion except as provided under ORS 813.200. [1983 c.338 §382; 1999 c.1051 §294]