If you are charged with DUI after an accident in Kansas, you face two separate cases: a criminal case over the charge and an administrative case over your driver’s license. In the criminal case, a crash that injured or killed someone can lead to a felony charge and limit your options for resolving it. In the license case, you have 14 days to request a hearing to challenge the suspension.
Charges You Can Face After a DUI Crash in Kansas
When no one is hurt, a first DUI in Kansas is a misdemeanor under K.S.A. 8-1567, with up to six months in jail and a fine of $750 to $1,000.
An injury or death can turn the case into a felony. Kansas ranks most felonies on a scale of severity levels from 1 to 10, where level 1 is the most serious and level 10 is the least. The felony charge after a DUI crash depends on how serious the harm was:
- Serious injury: Causing great bodily harm or disfigurement to another person while driving under the influence is a severity level 5 felony under Kansas’s aggravated battery law.
- Less serious injury: Causing an injury in a way that could have led to great bodily harm or death is also aggravated battery, charged as a severity level 8 felony.
- Death: Causing a death is involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence, a severity level 4 felony under K.S.A. 21-5405.
These are sometimes called aggravated DUI charges, though they fall under Kansas’s battery and manslaughter laws rather than its DUI statute.
Do You Have to Take a Breath or Blood Test After a DUI Crash?
Not automatically. Under Kansas’s implied consent law, every driver is considered to have agreed to testing. But an officer can request a breath, blood, or urine test only when two things are true: there is probable cause to believe you were driving under the influence, and either you were arrested, or the crash caused property damage, injury, or death. Probable cause means facts that would lead a reasonable officer to believe a DUI occurred, so the crash alone is not enough.
A first refusal leads to a one-year suspension of driving privileges, and the refusal can be used as evidence at a DUI trial.
When an Injury Rules Out Diversion
An injury affects whether diversion is an option. Diversion is an agreement with the prosecutor that ends the case without a conviction if you meet its conditions. Under K.S.A. 22-2908, a prosecutor cannot offer DUI diversion when the crash injured or killed another person, though a crash that damaged only property does not rule it out on its own. When diversion is available, completing it still leaves the arrest and charge on file. The diversion counts as a prior offense if you are ever charged with another DUI.
The 14-Day Deadline to Protect Your License
The license case moves faster than the criminal case. Under K.S.A. 8-1020, you have 14 days from the day the officer serves you with a notice of suspension to request a hearing on whether your driving privileges are suspended.
A timely request keeps your temporary license in effect until the hearing officer rules. If you miss the deadline, license suspension after a DUI in Kansas takes effect as the notice describes, and the criminal case cannot undo it.
Talk With a Lawyer About a DUI After an Accident in Kansas
A DUI arrest on top of a crash is a lot to manage at once. Keep in mind the 14-day window started on the date the officer handed you the notice of suspension. At Henderson Legal Defense, we offer a free consultation about a DUI after an accident in Kansas. You can contact us or call (913) 782-4030.