Wisconsin OWI/ DUI Sentencing Guidelines

Each County in Wisconsin has sentencing guidelines.  See map below for your county.  Then Click on the link below for the guidelines and click on your county. These are a guide for the judge to follow.  In addition for any conviction of second offense or higher, there is a minimum period of jail time, even if the defendant agrees to probation or OWI treatment court.  Generally a prosecutor will offer the guidelines.  Depending on the facts of each case, a defendant decides whether they want to take a guidelines offer, go to trial, file a supression motion, or argue the sentencing.  OWI cases have important issues and defenses.  While most people assume that if the police tell them they had a .08 or higher on some form of test that they are guilty, that is not true.  A person is only guilty if they plead guilty/no contest in court after knowingly waiving all rights, or they are convicted after a trial.  Although the facts often seem difficult early on, the thing to keep in mind is of course the facts will seem bad, they were written by a police officer whose job it is to arrest you.  Notice that the police officer never puts favorable facts in his or her report-example, the driver made a perfect stop as soon as I turned on my lights, the driver had no difficultyin locating his license and insurance, the driver was driving the exact speed limit and obeyed 9 or 9 signs we past along the way........  Click here to find the guidelines for your county.