A review of court records examined DUI arrests in Duval and Clay counties and reductions to reckless-driving charges. The findings raise broader questions about how DUI cases move through the system.
The News4JAX I-Team found that nearly 3 in 10 DUI cases in Duval and Clay counties were lowered to reckless driving.
The review examines DUI arrests and how cases move through the court system.
DUI Diversion Programs Vary by County
Some Florida counties offer diversion programs for qualifying first-time DUI offenders, and eligibility rules vary.
Eligibility rules for such programs vary by county.
A Fatal Crash
The review's findings echo an earlier case the station detailed involving Kevin Hoffman, who was arrested for DUI in 2025. According to court records, Hoffman pleaded no contest to a reckless-driving charge in a negotiated deal, and his first-offense DUI charge was reduced to reckless driving — not a DUI conviction.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Hoffman was driving about 90 mph in a 45 mph zone on State Road 16 when his car struck 64-year-old Delinda Heinrich, who was riding a scooter, on July 8. Investigators said his blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.
Family Wants Tougher Consequences
Rhonda Clay, identified by the station as connected to Heinrich's family, said the family believes the driver should not have been released. Clay said she wants lawmakers to impose stricter penalties and said the justice system should consider victims and families and make offenders pay.
A new state law, known as Trenton's Law, took effect October 1, 2025. It makes a first refusal to take a chemical test a criminal offense and increases penalties for repeat fatal DUI offenders, including doubling maximum sentences in some cases. Statewide, impaired driving was tied to more than 5,100 traffic fatalities during the same five-year review period covered by the court-records analysis.
What Florida Law Allows
Under Florida Statute Section 316.193, a first DUI can bring up to six months in jail, while a third DUI conviction within 10 years carries mandatory imprisonment. A fourth or fifth DUI is classified as a felony that can lead to prison time and permanent loss of a driver's license, and the law allows up to five years in prison for a third DUI depending on when earlier convictions occurred. A DUI conviction involving a death carries a mandatory minimum four-year prison sentence under the statute.
Florida has no statewide DUI diversion program; individual county state attorneys decide whether such programs exist and what rules govern them, according to Robert Malove Law. Qualifying first offenders who complete a diversion program typically resolve their case as reckless driving with a withhold of adjudication instead of a DUI conviction, the firm notes, and eligibility generally requires no crash and a breath result under the county's threshold. In Broward and Palm Beach counties specifically, demanding discovery or setting a case for trial at arraignment can waive eligibility for diversion altogether — a reminder that how these programs work can vary significantly from one Florida county to the next.
