OFFICE OF THE STATE
ATTORNEY
FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY

DAVE ARONBERG
STATE ATTORNEY

August 9, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael B. Edmondson
medmondson@sa15.org
561-324-6816

STATE ATTORNEY ARONBERG’S COMMENTS ON RECENT EVENTS
RELATING TO THE FIRST TIME DUI OFFENDER PROGRAM
WEST PALM BEACH -- Dave Aronberg, State Attorney for Palm Beach County, issued the
following statement today on the Office’s First Time DUI Offender Program:
“I am not permitted to discuss pending cases. I want to provide
information, however, on our First Time DUI Offender Program, which
has been a huge success since its inception in 2013. More than 2,100
defendants have entered the program, and very few have committed a DUI
again.
In addition to its success rate, our Program is truly unique in that it is the
only of its kind endorsed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
The Program is an important effort to make our community safer by
ensuring that drivers prosecuted for first-time DUIs (for both alcohol and
drug use) have their underlying substance abuse issues addressed.
Defendants accept responsibility for their actions, our streets are safer,
and taxpayers benefit from fewer trials and lower costs to our criminal
justice system.
In situations where a first time DUI offender meets the conditions of
entering the Program, the defendant is required to plead guilty at
arraignment to Reckless Driving. The defendant will have the
adjudication withheld upon completion of a rigorous set of requirements,
such as DUI school, victim impact panels, and 12 months of probation,
which includes a ban on alcohol and drug possession and consumption.
The First Time DUI Offender Program has two tiers: Tier 1 for those
whose blood alcohol level registers below a .15, and Tier 2 (which

 provides for more extensive conditions) for those who refuse to submit to
a breath test or whose blood alcohol level registers between .15 and .20.
Anyone whose blood alcohol level exceeds .20 is ineligible for the
Program.”
State Attorney Aronberg has dedicated much of his career to addressing the national addiction
epidemic. In 2001, he led the Florida Attorney General’s investigation into the marketing
practices of Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin. Later, he became the “Drug Czar”
for the Florida Attorney General, where he worked to close down illicit prescription drug “pill
mills.” As State Attorney for Palm Beach County since 2012, Aronberg has been a leader in the
fight against opioid abuse, as he heads a task force that has made 30 arrests since October 2016
for fraud and abuse in the drug recovery industry. His task force has spearheaded changes in
State law to clean up the State’s rehab industry and protect from exploitation the vulnerable class
of people with substance use disorder.
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