A few legislative terms ago, a deferred judgment would allow a defendant to plead guilty to a crime without being assessed any fines. In an OWI / DUI, a defendant could be granted a deferred judgment, and instead of the (then $1000.00 + 30% surcharge) minimum fine, the defendant would pay only a supervision fee of $250.00-300.00.
Then, the new “civil penalty” law was passed. This required judges to impose a civil penalty in all OWI cases at an amount equal to the minimum allowable fine if a conviction was entered. This law was vaguely drafted, and it did not allow defendants the opportunity to fully understand their rights and what the possible outcomes could be if they were to be granted a deferred judgment and then if they were to violate it.
So our good Johnson County judges declared this law unconstitutional, and they refused to enforce it. Things were back to normal for a while here in Iowa City.
The rulings were appealed, and our Iowa Supreme Court heard the arguments.
In late December 2007, they announced their ruling. They determined the law was indeed constitutional and ordered the Johnson County judges to resume enforcement of this civil penalty law.
Now, for defendants who are granted deferred judgments in Johnson County, a civil penalty must be imposed.
For a conviction on an OWI charge, the minimum fine is $1,250.00. However, if the defendant obtains a temporary restricted license from the Iowa Department of Transportation, that fine is cut down to $625.00. And with this rule, the Johnson County judges have hence determined that $625.00 is the minimum allowable fine, and therefore this is the amount they are currently requesting for a civil penalty for an OWI in Johnson County.
Therefore, if you are granted a deferred judgment for an OWI in Johnson County, expect to pay $625.00 for the civil penalty, $100.00 for court costs, and $300.00 for the “self supervised probation” fee. That total may be high, but it is still (roughly) $625.00 cheaper than a regular OWI conviction.