If you have been arrested or convicted of driving while intoxicated in Minnesota, an alcohol awareness or substance abuse education class may be in your near future. Oftentimes a completion of one of these courses is required if you are convicted of driving under the influence or in the terms of a plea deal, but sometimes defense lawyers ask their clients to voluntarily take one of these courses before trial to show to the judge that they are committed to putting the mistake behind them.
But what can you expect from one of these DUI classes? We explain what’s covered in these DUI classes in today’s blog.
Minnesota DUI Class
Every one of these alcohol education courses is a bit different, but many of them cover a lot of the same topics and curriculum. We’re going to use the DWI course in Hennepin County as an example, but for advice tailored to your specific area, search for DWI classes in your county.
For starters, these DWI classes typically are one-day or two-day programs, oftentimes completed over the course of a weekend, and they tend to run about $100-$150. You may be able to find a virtual course as a result of the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean you’ll just be able to click through the course material in a matter of minutes. Expect to block off your entire Saturday for the course. For example, one in-person course in Hennepin County is a 10-hour session, and that jumps to a 12-hour session if it’s your second DWI or you have a BAC over 0.16. Know that the course is going to take up a large portion of your day.
On the day of your course, you’ll arrive at the program location at a specific time and the course will commence. Your program director will cover a number of different topics throughout the course of the day, but in Hennepin County, they typically focus on:
Alcohol Education – Talking about the effects alcohol has on our body, how it affects decision making and impulse control, and why alcohol laws are what they are in Minnesota and across the US.
Cognitive Therapy – An in-depth look at a person’s thoughts, behaviors and feelings and how they can lead you to make poor choices when it comes to drinking and driving. Moreover, this is designed to help change the way you think about drinking and driving so that you make better choices if you find yourself in a similar situation in the future.
Self-Assessment – These courses also focus on the person at an individual level to examine lifestyle factors that led them to the position they are in, and how they can avoid making the same choices in the future.
Victim Impact Panel – The class will also listen to a victim impact panel, which involves stories from people whose lives have been upended by a DUI or a DWI crash.
At the end of the course, you’ll be given a completion certificate or a completion code to share with the courts to prove that you successfully completed the class.
Hopefully you never need to attend one of these course, but if you find yourself charged with a DUI, know that it might be in your future. For help with any aspect of your DWI case, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today.
