In Rhode Island, it is possible that the Police will report your DUI arrest to your college. We have represented hundreds of college students arrested and charged with drunk driving in our nearly a decade of experience. There is no uniform or standard way that DUI arrests are handled when it comes to the arresting Police Department notifying the school.

There is no statutory or legal requirement that the Police notify your college or university of a DUI arrest or conviction. We typically see three different scenarios play out when it comes to interaction between an arresting Police Department and a local Rhode Island College or University.

What will happen?  Three possible scenarios that could play out between your College and your DUI arrest

First, it is quite possible that the arresting Police Department will take no action and will not notify your college or university of a DUI arrest. This typically happens, in our experience, when you are arrested by a Police Department that is not geographically close to your college or university. For example, if you were arrested for DUI by the Warwick Police Department and you attend school at Roger Williams University. This is also typically the case when you are arrested and charged with DUI by a larger, and more impersonal, police department such as the Providence Police Department or the Rhode Island State Police.

Second, it is possible that the arresting Police Department will notify your college or university that you were arrested and charged with a DUI and the school takes no action. Different colleges and universities take different approaches to student conduct and punishment for violations of both the criminal laws and the student code of conduct. Some schools take the approach that they will leave discipline to the Judicial System when it involves student conduct outside of school time and outside of school grounds.

Lastly, we have seen a more recent trend to severe punishment being handed down by colleges and universities for drunk driving allegations even when they are unrelated to both the school grounds and the school timeframe. These Rhode Island DUI arrests seem to be reported by Police Departments that have close intimate relationships with the University faculty and security. For instance, we represented a young lady in the spring semester 2017 who was arrested and charged by the Narragansett Police Department with DUI. The Narragansett Police Department notified the University of Rhode Island. URI took swift harsh action penalizing our Client severely, and without waiting for a resolution of the criminal case in Court. Other local Police Departments have close working relationships with University officials such as the Bristol, RI Police Department and Roger Williams University and the Smithfield Police Department and Bryant University.

What to do if you have questions?  Contact an experienced Rhode Island DUI Lawyer 

If you attend college in Rhode Island and you have been arrested for driving under the influence, it is important to take the matter extremely seriously. You may face sanction and penalties from both the Judicial System in Court as well as from your college or university. It is important that you review your student code of conduct, respond appropriately and in a timely fashion to all request for information and communications with your University officials. If you need help, or have questions about what you should do, do not hesitate to contact our offices. Attorney Matthew Marin has assisted hundreds of college students facing DUI charges in his near decade of DUI defense experience. We are available 24/7 at 401-228-8271 to discuss your case and prepare a DUI defense strategy.