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Loudoun County DUI Arrest Process

If you’re arrested for a DUI in Loudoun County, you’ll likely be taken to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center, which is located on Loudoun Center Parkway off Sycolin Road near the Leesburg Airport. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be taken to the hospital prior to being taken to the detention center, however in most cases the detention center is your first stop because that is where the breath room is located.

Sobriety Testing

After an arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence, an individual will be offered either a breath or blood test to determine the amount of alcohol in their system at the time of the stop.  A breath test is far more common in a DUI stop that does not involve an accident, since the person’s ability to blow is not affected. In the Commonwealth of Virginia there may be different areas where the breath machine is located, though in most jurisdictions, the breath test machine also known as an EC/IR2, is located at the local adult detention center. In Loudoun County there are actually two local EC/IR2 machines, one at the Eastern Loudoun substation in Sterling, Virginia and the other at the Loudoun ADC, which is located in Leesburg, Virginia.

Can You Refuse the BAC Test in Loudoun County?

If you refuse to take the blood alcohol test you’ll be likely violating Virginia Code Section 18.2-268.2, which outlines the Virginia implied consent law. This means you may be charged with an unreasonable refusal pursuant to 18.2-268.3. Unreasonable refusal is a civil violation for the first offense, but it’s a civil violation with serious consequences. The consequences for this civil violation are 12 months hard loss of license, meaning no restricted privileges are permitted.

Central Booking in Loudoun County

 

The Loudoun County Adult Detention Center is the county jail, and in Virginia many detention centers are also the local county jails.  However, when someone is arrested on suspicion of DUI, they are typically not processed with the rest of the jail population. They are held in a holding cell for the purposes of conducting the breath test and making the initial bond determination. Very often, they are required to be sober before they are taken before the magistrate to make the initial bond determination, so they may be waiting several hours or longer after their arrest, depending on the circumstances of their offense.

Possibility of Jail in Loudoun DUI Cases

It is possible to go to jail for a DUI in Loudoun County. Very often, people are arrested and held at the local adult detention center for a DUI offenses. Once they blow 0.00 on the portable breath test (PBT) at the jail, they appear in front of the magistrate to make the initial bond determination. There are some DUI cases, including repeat DUI offenses, serious accidents, or manslaughter, in which the magistrate may decline to make an initial bond determination. In these offenses, the person may be held without bond until a Judge makes a bond determination.

Class I misdemeanors in Virginia are punishable by up to 12 months in jail, up to $2,500.00 fine, or a combination thereof. In certain types of DUI offenses, such as cases with elevated BACs or subsequent offenses, an individual may also incur a mandatory minimum period of incarceration at a local jail. An individual cannot go to prison for a DUI misdemeanor in Virginia. They may go to prison, however, for felony DUI offenses and DUI manslaughter or maiming offenses.

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