St. Louis boating while intoxicated lawyers

It’s not illegal to drink alcoholic beverages while on a boat in Missouri, but it is illegal to drive a boat if you’ve been drinking.

If you or a loved one is charged with Operating a Vessel While Intoxicated, you need representation with experience in alcohol and drug intoxication cases. Contact a St. Louis BWI lawyer with JCS Law today at (314) 561-9690 for a free consultation.

What are the BWI laws in St. Louis?

Missouri law prohibits boating while intoxicated (BWI)—that is, operating a vessel while intoxicated due to alcohol or any combination of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs.

BWI charges may range from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class A Felony, one of the most serious charges you can face, depending on the circumstances.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and their Water Patrol Division, along with other Missouri law enforcement, are aggressively policing Missouri’s recreational lakes and rivers. JCS Law helps those facing a BWI charge.

What are the different types of BWI charges?

Missouri designates two classifications of BWI charges, each carrying different penalties:

• Per Se BWI, also referred to as boating with excessive blood alcohol concentration (BAC), which is greater than 0.08%
• Impairment BWI, in which the prosecutor must prove that the boater was impaired by drugs or alcohol

Penalties can increase if there are aggravating factors in the incident.

Boating while intoxicated (BWI)

In Missouri, a BWI charge is usually treated as a misdemeanor as long as no one was harmed.

However, if someone is a routine offender or is under the influence of alcohol or drugs and causes an accident or otherwise harms another person, then their BWI charge is elevated to a felony.

Aggravated Boating While Intoxicated (Aggravated BWI)

Missouri Revised Statutes – § 577.023 covers aggravated BWI charges. An aggravated offender is someone who has been convicted of or pled guilty to three or more intoxication-related offenses or who has been convicted of or pled guilty to one of the following charges:

• Involuntary manslaughter
• Second-degree murder
• Second-degree assault
• Assault of a law enforcement officer or second-degree assault of a law officer

A prosecutor may assess an aggravated BWI charge against you if you have been convicted of other crimes in which intoxication was a factor, such as DWI or DUI. The penalties for an aggravated BWI charge, considered a Class D felony, are:

• Up to seven years in prison
• Maximum fines of $10,000

Boating Under the Influence of Drugs (BUID)

Boating under the influence of drugs is illegal in Missouri. There is no legal limit to the amount of an illicit substance you can have in your bloodstream like there is alcohol.

If any amount of drug is present in your system while you are operating a boat, you face the same penalties for a BUID charge as you would for a BWI.

What are potential defenses for a BWI case?

We have many defenses to deploy in a BWI case, depending on the circumstances of your arrest.

Field sobriety tests can be notoriously unreliable since the boat is moving. And, the breath testing equipment for the Water Patrol Division gets moved around a lot, which means that their calibration is notoriously unreliable.

We may argue that you were stopped without cause or that the field sobriety tests were unreliable. We could also call into question the equipment used for your BAC testing and argue that it delivered a false result.

A skilled St. Louis BWI lawyer conduct investigations into your case, including witness interviews and examining any breath or sobriety tests you were given.

What are the legal consequences of a BWI?

BWI charges in Missouri may be either a misdemeanor or felony, depending on whether anyone was harmed and whether you are a first-time or repeat offender.

Criminal penalties

Criminal penalties for a BWI charge depend on whether you were charged with a misdemeanor or a felony. In addition, if you have more than one BWI charge, you could face enhanced penalties

The Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo Section 306.113 set the following penalties for BWI:

Misdemeanor BWI charges

• First offense: Class B misdemeanor, with up to six months in jail and up to $500 in fines
• Second offense: Class A misdemeanor, with up to a year in jail and fines up to $1,000
• Third and subsequent offenses: Class D felony, with up to four years in jail and fines up to $5,000

Prior boating BWI offenders and those charged with BWI when a passenger less than 17 years old aboard the boat will automatically be charged with a Class A misdemeanor felony.

Felony BWI charges

• Class E felony: Persistent BWI offenders or those who operate the boat with reckless criminal negligence and cause injury to another. Penalties of up to four years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
• Class D felony: Aggravated BWI offenders, or standard BWI offenders who operate the boat with criminal negligence and cause injury to emergency responders or a law enforcement officer or who cause serious bodily injury to another person. Penalties of up to seven years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
• Class C felony: Chronic BWI offenders, or first offenders who operate the boat with criminal negligence, causing serious injury to emergency responders or law officers, or who cause the death of another person. Penalties of 3-10 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
• Class B felony: Habitual BWI offenders (more than three BWI charges) or first-time offenders who act with criminal negligence, causing the death of an emergency responder or law officer. Penalties of 5-15 years in prison and fines set by the judge’s discretion.
• Class A felony: Habitual BWI offenders who have previously been convicted of BWI and those who have caused another person’s death or catastrophic injury. Penalties of 10 years to life in prison and a fine set by the judge’s discretion.

If these penalties haven’t convinced you, here’s why it’s in your best interest to work with a skilled St. Louis BWI lawyer: An attorney can negotiate your charge to a lesser one, such as a plea arrangement to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor or reduce the severity of your classification.

Administrative penalties

You may not lose your driver’s license if you are charged with a BWI. However, you will be considered a habitual or chronic intoxication offender with a BWI charge. This means that if you make the mistake of driving under the influence and are charged, your DWI charge may be elevated, even if it’s your first DWI charge.

In any BWI case, a judge may order mandatory substance abuse treatment and continuous alcohol monitoring (such as regular testing).

Resources for boaters in St. Louis

Safe boating practices

The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Water Patrol Division issued a pamphlet for safe boating practices that all boaters should read before setting out on the water.

Missouri law doesn’t make having alcohol or drinking alcohol on a boat a crime as long as the people partaking are 21 and older. For safety, though, you may wish to have a designated boat operator just as you would a designated driver for a night out.

Emergency response resources

Boating accidents can quickly turn tragic simply because help may be so far away. Unlike a DWI traffic accident, a BWI accident may not get the fast response that an accident on land would get.

If you are in a boating emergency:

• Call (800) 525-5555 OR
• *55 from any cell phone

What are the benefits of working with a BWI lawyer?

Boating while intoxicated charges can be serious, with repercussions that include a felony charge on your permanent record, jail time, and hundreds of dollars in fines. Don’t take these charges lightly – you have the right to legal counsel to defend you against these charges, and you should take advantage of them.

A St. Louis BWI lawyer can negotiate a better plea arrangement that you would be able to on your own, reduce a felony charge to a misdemeanor, and even help you avoid jail time, arguing for probation and fines instead.

A felony conviction may affect your career – if you hold a professional license, you may have it suspended or revoked because of the felony. If you end up going to jail, you may have a much harder time getting a job after getting out.

Don’t risk your freedom by navigating the complex Missouri laws regarding BWI charges alone. Hire a skilled DWI lawyer St. Louis who understands the law and is committed to your interests alone.

Why hire JCS Law?

At JCS Law, we focus on BWI and DWI charges and know the impact a conviction could have on your life, career, and reputation in your community.

Working with us has many benefits:

• An experienced St. Louis BWI lawyer who understands complex BWI laws
• Fierce litigators who vigorously defend you in trial
• Timely response to all your questions and concerns

We know where the prosecutor’s case may be weak, and we have well-prepared arguments in your favor.

Let our St. Louis BWI lawyer help you

Boat trips are a popular way to cool off on hot summer weekends, but when alcohol is thrown into the mix, good times can take a quick turn for the worse.

John Schleiffarth defends clients facing BWI charges in Camden County (Lake of the Ozarks), Monroe County (Mark Twain Lake), St. Charles County (Lake St. Louis), St. Louis County (Meramec River and Missouri River), and all other Missouri counties. Contact us today at (314) 561-9690 for a free case review.