California DUI Electronic Monitoring

Drivers who are convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) may be able to avoid jail time with a sentencing alternative such as electronic monitoring.  Electronic monitoring, also known as “house arrest,” involves having the California DUI offender wear an ankle or wrist bracelet that ‘electronically’ monitors the individual’s whereabouts.  This option is generally offered as a condition of probation and allows those convicted of a California drunk driving offense to avoid jail by limiting when and where they can go.  The device sends a signal to a computer either at the probation office or to a monitoring contractor.  The signal indicates whether or not the California DUI offender is in compliance with the terms of the house arrest. 

California drunk driving offenders who are electronically monitored are generally allowed to continue to go to work, attend school, go grocery shopping, attend court-order alcohol programs, etc., typically during the day, with the requirement that they are at home during the evening when most drunk-driving arrests occur.  Some electronic monitoring alternatives require that California DUI offenders respond to periodic phone calls in order to insure that they are in compliance with the house arrest.  Other alternatives sometimes involve the use of global positioning systems (GPS) that monitor and record (via satellite) whether or not the individual stays within assigned areas. Courts do require that electronically monitored California DUI defendants adhere to specific rules that include being home by a certain time.  If CA DUI defendants deviate from these specific restrictions, then it is a violation of the terms of their probation and most likely they will have to serve jail time.