TWO CHARGES PEOPLE BADLY UNDERESTIMATE
A first-offense DUI under § 18.2-266 is a Class 1 misdemeanor, not a ticket. It carries a mandatory license suspension, a fine and a referral to the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program. In Chesapeake it is arraigned in the General District Court, and the days between the arrest and that appearance are where the productive work sits — the grounds for the stop, how the field sobriety tests were actually administered, the calibration and maintenance history of the instrument that produced the reading.
Reckless driving is the one people misread most often. Under § 46.2-862 it is a criminal misdemeanor rather than a traffic infraction: twenty over the posted limit, or eighty-five and above whatever the limit happens to be. On Route 168 and the interstates through this city, eighty-five arrives without much effort. The result goes on a record an employer can read, which is a different kind of problem from a fine.
Neither charge is rare. Virginia recorded 14,602 DUI convictions in 2024 according to DMV figures, and 231,874 speeding convictions — the latter up more than twenty percent in a single year. Being one of a large number does not help you individually, but it does mean these courts see the charge constantly and have settled expectations about how it should be handled. Joseph Rigney, who grew up in this city and once prosecuted, is one of the people here who can tell you what those expectations are.
WHAT IS ACTUALLY AT STAKE
CHARGED HERE, LIVING SOMEWHERE ELSE
Chesapeake carries a lot of traffic that is only passing through. Route 168 runs the Outer Banks corridor. I-64 and I-464 cross the north of the city. Route 17 over Dominion Boulevard is a freight route. A large share of the traffic charges written here are written to people who live an hour away, or five, or in another state entirely.
Jurisdiction does not care where you live. A charge is answered where it was issued, which means the arraignment is in Chesapeake, any continuance is in Chesapeake, and every appearance is another day taken and another long drive. People routinely decide that is not worth fighting and simply pay, which is how a criminal misdemeanor ends up on a record that follows someone for years over a trip they took once.
This is the part where a local firm is worth the most. We are in this courthouse anyway. Much of what a case needs — the appearance, the discovery request, the conversation with the Commonwealth — does not require you to be in the room, and we would rather spend our drive than yours. If you were charged in Chesapeake and you are reading this from somewhere else, that is the specific problem to call us about.
DECKER LAW IN CHESAPEAKE:
DEFENDING CLIENTS SINCE 1961
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41,000+
criminal clients represented firmwide since 1995
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4
years one of our attorneys spent as a prosecutor
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65+
years defending these charges in Hampton Roads courts
ARRAIGNMENT COMES FAST
Tell us what the charge puts at risk — the clearance, the license, the job. Free, confidential, any hour — 757-622-3317.