If you have been charged with a DUI, you may want to request community service instead of the jail time that could be associated with your punishment. In certain cases, the judge and jury may be able to permit this and you can avoid jail. Instead, you will have to spend a court-mandated amount of hours helping others in the community through a variety of service projects. In order to receive this favorable sentence, you will want a DUI attorney on your side to help fight for you.

Your defense lawyer will lay out all the evidence and prove why you don’t deserve jail time. He or she may want letters of recommendation from your employer, friends, and others who have deal with you in professional settings. He or she may also want to obtain your report cards or diplomas and show that you are valuable member to society who shouldn’t have to be locked away for one lapse of judgment.

If you can prove to the courts that you deserve community service, then the judge will declare how much time you will need to devote to your service projects, Chances are that he or she will provide a list of the different community service organizations that you can partner with during your sentence. You will need to sign up for your community service at a time that does not conflict with your other commitments. For example, most workers must do their community service on the weekends to serve their sentence and still maintain their job. Once you have located a community service project that seems enjoyable, then you will probably need to call or e-mail that organization and notify the court that you have set up your service times.

In some cases, you may have a particular passion for a community organization that is not on the court’s list. If you want to lobby for your particular organization you have the right to do this. You can explain why you want to do service with this particular group. If you are able to show the courts reasonable proof that this is the best way for you to complete your community service sentence, then they may grant your request. Normally, this is only an option of first time offenders. Those who are dealing with a multiple DUI conviction rarely receive a community service sentence.

When they do, it is normally with a mandatory service already assigned so that the offender learns from his punishment. Often these mandatory services are not favorable, and involve picking up litter or doing highway clean-up. If you have been able to secure your place of service, then the most important thing is to record your hours properly. You will not be relieved of your sentence until every hour is accounted for on your sheet. You will need to prove to the court that you have completed your service, and they may even want verification from the overseers at the organization.

In most cases, your DUI community service sentence will be aimed at a victims’ rights group. This is to show the DUI offender what could happen if they continued to drive drunk out on the road. Sometimes the offenders will have to work with an anti-drunk driving advocacy group handing out flyers or putting on a benefit. You will want to view your community service as a helpful air to society and to yourself. If you have been involved in a DUI case and you need representation, find an excellent DUI lawyer nearby using our directory. We will fight to give you the representation you need at your trial!