Length of Michigan OWI Court Process

Answer: The OWI court process is going to take an unpredictable amount of time based on several factors. Those factors would be: which charge is it? Is it a first offense, second offense or more? Also, whether or not somebody has a breath test, a blood test or there's some kind of drugs involved. Here in the state of Michigan, a general rule that is to be followed by the courts is that all drunk driving cases should be wrapped up within 77 days, and that's through trial. Unfortunately, that is a very unrealistic timeframe. The true drunk driving process is going to take, from arrest to completion of the case, somewhere around five to six months. The reason for this is that there's a delay between actually getting the case charged and then further being able to fully understand and negotiate a case and reach some kind of successful resolution. However, if there is something like a blood test, that can actually extend the time period of a case because there is specialized testing that is required.

Currently, the Michigan state testing lab is not getting a blood result for one to two months. Without that information, many prosecutors won't even charge the case. Secondarily, if it is a drug case, in order to not only test the drugs but to verify what they are and their levels, it could take almost a year before a prosecutor could have the information to even begin charging the case. It is obviously very important to understand that these things do take time. But just like anything in life, when you're going through it, it is going to seem like it is taking forever but the second you're done with it, it seemed that it went by in a flash.