How can I get my DUI fines reduced? 15 Answers as of November 09, 2011

Probably nothing at this point. The Judge will see the timeline and think you just blew off your obligation to pay the fines. You should go to court, put your case on calendar at the Clerk's office and ask the Judge for an extension.

You are probably in violation of your probation. I would hire an attorney to see the judge for you. The attorney will negotiate and play let's make a deal with the judge. Depending on the jurisdiction and the court you are in, the attorney may be able to change your fines into community service, work program. A local practitioner can answer this question best because of their knowledge of the court.

You may not be able to do anything. A large part of the fines are statutory and, as such, cannot be modified. You may always go back to court and ask to have the fines reduced but if you have not paid anything for four years the judge will be less inclined to help you. However, if you say you are prepared to pay the fines immediately if they can be reduced you may be able to get a slight reduction.

First of all, you were probably on at least a three year probation. Likely, when you failed to pay the fines for the DUI, the probation was revoked and as a result you are likely still on probation. There may be a warrant outstanding for a violation of the probation. This could result in additional fines or incarceration or both if you are found in violation. You should consult an attorney to check the status of the case. Sometimes fines can be converted to community service. In the event of a probation violation, the court could convert the fines to jail time or community service/work program, which would then take care of the fines. Don't ignore this; it is better if you go in with an attorney to handle it than to get arrested on a warrant.

It's doubtful if your fines will be reduced. You might be able to do jail time instead of paying fines. In LA County that might turn out to be to your advantage as the jails are so overcrowded, you might get out fairly quick.

Probably you can't get them reduced but can get them converted to community service or jail.

Fines may be converted to jail time or community service time. Normally a defendant does not get a four year extension on paying the fines. If your county has overcrowded jails something like 30 days in jail may end up being hours or two or three days.

Go to the court clerk's office and ask for a calender request. They will give you a court date where you can ask the judge to modify your fines. Better go prepared to tell him your financial state so he'll have a basis to do it. You may run into another problem. If you haven't completed a drinking driver program, you may not be able to get a license till you've completed one.

Not much after four years have gone by. The only possible solution would be to see if the Judge would convert the fine into jail time instead. Very unlikely Judge would convert to community service or the like at this late date.

Client often come to me with the same type of circumstances. They get arrested for driving on a suspended because the can't afford to pay the fine and late fees. Try to get your attorney to have the Judge give you credit towards your fines for the amount of time you did while you were arrested.