DUI in Lawrence, Kansas
Driving Under the Influence
Lawrence, Kansas Court Website
Lawrence, Kansas Municipal Court
1006 New Hampshire
Lawrence, Kansas 66044
(785) 832-6190
The Lawrence, Kansas Municipal Court hears misdemeanor DUI cases written by the Lawrence Police Department and the University of Kansas Police Department. So, if a person was stopped and arrested on the campus of KU, the case will be handled in Lawrence Municipal Court. Arrests made in the City of Lawrence by a Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper or the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department will be prosecuted in the Douglas County District Court and not in the city court. Checklanes in Lawrence are few and far between, but downtown Lawrence and the campus are heavily patrolled by law enforcement looking for DUI’s.
In the Lawrence Municipal Court a DUI charge is actually called an OUI, which stands for “Operating Under the Influence”. An OUI is exactly the same as a DUI and the penalties for a Lawrence OUI are the same as for a DUI elsewhere in Kansas. You can expect that the prosecutors and judge will refer to the charge as an OUI pretty consistently.
The Lawrence Municipal Court has one judge and two prosecutors. Court is generally held on Thursdays and Fridays, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Attorneys and defendants can discuss their cases with the municipal prosecutors. The judge will take the bench at around 9:00 a.m. and begin calling cases. Any cases scheduled for trial will be heard after the other cases have been continued or resolved short of a trial. That usually means that trials start around 10:00 a.m., or a trial may be specially set for a specific time during the week.
In addition to Lawrence OUI charges, the Lawrence Police Department and the KU Police Department write a lot of citations for M.I.P. (minor in possession or consumption of alcohol), or M.I.C. (minor in consumption). With the University of Kansas being located in the middle of Lawrence, there is a fair amount of alcohol consumption going in the city and the Lawrence Police are on the lookout for underage drinking, including going into bars and restaurants and checking I.D.’s. Alcohol is generally not permitted on the campus of KU, so the campus police will enforce the laws concerning alcohol on campus. An M.I.P. (or M.I.C.) will likely be prosecuted in the Lawrence Municipal Court.