San Diego Cost Recovery Program for DUI

If you caused an accident while drunk driving in San Diego, the state can send you a bill to recover the costs of the emergency services needed to attend to the accident, and also for the salary costs of the personnel involved in processing your DUI charge. Reasonable costs incurred by public agencies in dealing with an emergency response include the costs of providing police officers, removing vehicles, providing public safety, investigating the cause of the accident, emergency medical services, firefighting and rescue services at the scene of the incident. This also includes the salaries of all emergency personnel that respond to the incident.

These salary costs for which you are liable can include time spent by officers traveling to and from the scene of the accident, transporting you from the scene to the police station, booking you, performing chemical tests on you to establish your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), writing all the necessary reports and any further time spent on the case that is required to complete those reports.

Liability for these costs is limited to a maximum of $12,000 per incident.

If you were only pulled over and there is no accident then you will not incur any salary costs for the personnel that process your DUI arrest. Only if there is an accident will you be subjected to the Cost Recovery Program.