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2003 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 18.2-270 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 18.2-270. Penalty for driving while intoxicated; subsequent offense; prior conviction.
A. Except as otherwise provided herein, any person violating any provision of §
18.2-266 shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If the person's blood alcohol
level as indicated by the chemical test administered as provided in this article was
at least 0.20, but not more than 0.25, he shall be confined in jail for an
additional mandatory, minimum period of five days or, if the level was more
than 0.25, for an additional mandatory, minimum period of ten 10 days. The
additional mandatory, minimum period of confinement shall not be suspended by the
court. In addition, such person shall be fined a mandatory, minimum fine
of $250, which shall not be suspended by the court.
B. 1. Any person convicted of a second offense committed within less than five
years after a first offense under § 18.2-266 shall upon conviction of the
second offense be punished by a mandatory, minimum fine of not less than $200
$500, which shall not be suspended by the court, and by confinement in
jail for not less than one month nor more than one year. Five days of such
confinement shall be a mandatory, minimum sentence not subject to suspension by
the court.
2. Any person convicted of a second offense committed within a period of five
to ten years of a first offense under § 18.2-266 shall upon conviction of the
second offense be punished by a mandatory, minimum fine of not less than $200
$500, which shall not be suspended by the court, and by confinement in
jail for not less than one month.
3. Upon conviction of a second offense within ten 10 years of a first offense,
if the person's blood alcohol level as indicated by the chemical test administered as provided in
this article was at least 0.20, but not more than 0.25, he shall be confined in jail for an
additional minimum, mandatory period of ten 10 days or, if the level was more
than 0.25, for an additional mandatory, minimum period of twenty 20 days. The
additional mandatory, minimum period of confinement shall not be suspended by the
court. In addition, such person shall be fined a mandatory, minimum fine
of $500, which shall not be suspended by the court.
C. Any person convicted of three or more offenses of § 18.2-266 committed
within a ten 10-year period shall upon conviction of the third offense be
guilty of a Class 6 felony, and the sentence shall include a mandatory, minimum
sentence of confinement for ten 10 days that shall not be subject to suspension
by the court. In addition, such person shall be fined a mandatory, minimum fine
of $1,000, which shall not be suspended by the court. Any person convicted of a
third offense committed within five years of an offense under § 18.2-266 shall
upon conviction of the third offense be guilty of a Class 6 felony, and the sentence
shall include a mandatory, minimum sentence of confinement for thirty 30 days
that shall not be subject to suspension by the court. In addition, such person
shall be fined a mandatory, minimum fine of $1,000, which shall not be suspended by
the court. The punishment of any person convicted of a fourth or subsequent
offense committed within a ten 10-year period shall, upon conviction, include a
mandatory, minimum term of imprisonment of one year, none of which may be suspended in whole or in
part. In addition, such person shall be fined a mandatory, minimum fine of
$1,000, which shall not be suspended by the court. Unless otherwise modified by
the court, the defendant shall remain on probation and under the terms of any
suspended sentence for the same period as his operator's license was suspended, not
to exceed three years.
D. In addition to the penalty otherwise authorized by this section or §
16.1-278.9, any person convicted of a violation of § 18.2-266 committed while
transporting a person seventeen 17 years of age or younger shall be (i) fined
an additional minimum of $500 and not more than $1000 and (ii) sentenced to perform
forty 40 hours of community service in a program benefiting children or,
for a subsequent offense, eighty 80 hours of community service in such a
program.
E. For the purpose of this section, an adult conviction of any person, or finding of guilty in the case of a juvenile, under the following shall be considered a prior conviction: (i) the provisions of § 18.2-36.1 or the substantially similar laws of any other state or of the United States, (ii) the provisions of §§ 18.2-51.4, 18.2-266, former § 18.1-54 (formerly § 18-75), the ordinance of any county, city or town in this Commonwealth or the laws of any other state or of the United States substantially similar to the provisions of §§ 18.2-51.4, and 18.2-266 through 18.2-269, or (iii) the provisions of subsection A of § 46.2-341.24 or the substantially similar laws of any other state or of the United States.