Home › DUI diversion & deferred program costs

DUI diversion costs: the program fees behind the second chance

Diversion, ARD and deferred adjudication promise the same trade — complete a supervised program and avoid a DUI conviction — but there is no national program and no national price. Fees are set by the county that runs the program, two states in this comparison bar or sharply limit DUI diversion by statute, and the honest way to price the idea is county by county. Pennsylvania publishes the clearest figures, so it anchors this page.

Pennsylvania ARD: county-published program fees

Pennsylvania's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) is a pre-trial program run by each county's district attorney for eligible first offenders, including DUI cases under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3802. Lancaster County's official ARD page states the administrative fee plainly: $950, reduced to $650 for offenders who qualify for court-appointed counsel, payable before the ARD hearing — plus, in the county's own words, a fine, court costs, a fee for the alcohol safe driving class, and a probation supervision fee on top of that administrative fee.

Monroe County's official public-defender guidance builds the same stack from the other direction: ARD costs about $1,000 in total between court costs, safety school and probation fees; the Alcohol Highway Safety School itself runs $300 or $450 depending on its length; a DUI processing fee of $35 per month applies for six months; and the probation supervisory fee is $35 per month for each month of the 12-month ARD probation. Published multi-county comparisons put total ARD costs in a broad $1,000–$3,000 band depending on county — a range this page reports as a published comparison, not a schedule, because the binding figures are always the individual county's.

What ARD buys, and its eligibility price tags

Successful ARD completion leads to dismissal and eligibility to expunge the arrest record — the outcome whose filing costs are covered on our expungement costs page. The license consequence is shorter than a conviction's but is priced by blood-alcohol tier in the county schedules: Monroe and Lancaster both publish no suspension below 0.10, 30 days from 0.10 to under 0.16, and 60 days at 0.16 or higher, on refusal, or after an accident — with PennDOT adding a separate one-year suspension for a test refusal.

Eligibility is where cases fall out, and falling out has a cost: the diversion track closes. Lancaster County's published exclusions bar ARD where the driver had a DUI conviction or ARD within 10 years, where a crash killed or seriously injured someone else, where a passenger under 14 was in the vehicle, or where the driver held a CDL. A driver outside those lines is priced by the ordinary conviction schedules instead — for Pennsylvania, the fine tiers summarized on our Pennsylvania DUI costs page.

Sources: Lancaster County, PA official ARD/DUI page and FAQ (administrative fee $950/$650; suspension tiers); Monroe County, PA Public Defender DUI/ARD guidance (about $1,000 total; school $300/$450; $35/month fees); Texas Code of Criminal Procedure arts. 42A.102, 42A.408, 42A.652; California Vehicle Code § 23640 and Penal Code §§ 1001.80, 1001.95. Last verified: October 2026.

Texas deferred adjudication, and California's bar

Texas offers a different instrument: since September 1, 2019, deferred adjudication community supervision has been available for a first DWI under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42A.102, limited to drivers whose level was under 0.15, who did not hold a CDL, and whose offense involved no injury accident. The judge must order an ignition interlock as a condition under art. 42A.408, supervision runs up to two years, and the monthly community-supervision fee follows the $25–$60 range in art. 42A.652 detailed on our probation costs page. Successful completion avoids a conviction, though the deferred case still counts to enhance a later DWI and record sealing requires a separate nondisclosure petition after a waiting period.

California is the counterexample that proves the county-by-county rule: Vehicle Code § 23640 prohibits pretrial diversion in DUI cases, and California courts have held that the general misdemeanor diversion statute, Penal Code § 1001.95, does not override that bar. The surviving California exception is military diversion under Penal Code § 1001.80 for eligible service members and veterans. Any California source advertising 'DUI diversion' to the general public is describing something the statute forecloses — the realistic California alternatives are negotiated reductions such as the wet reckless plea, priced on its own page.

Common questions

How much does ARD cost in Pennsylvania?

It is set by county. Lancaster County publishes a $950 administrative fee ($650 with court-appointed counsel) plus fine, court costs, safety school and supervision fees; Monroe County estimates about $1,000 all-in for its stack. Multi-county comparisons run roughly $1,000–$3,000.

Is diversion available for a DUI in California?

No — Vehicle Code § 23640 bars pretrial diversion for DUI, and courts have held the general misdemeanor diversion statute does not change that. Military diversion under Penal Code § 1001.80 is the exception.

Does completing diversion erase the arrest?

Not automatically. Pennsylvania ARD completion makes the record eligible for expungement, which requires its own petition and fees; Texas deferred adjudication requires a later nondisclosure petition after a waiting period.

Sources: Lancaster County and Monroe County, PA official ARD guidance; Texas Code Crim. Proc. arts. 42A.102, 42A.408, 42A.652; California Vehicle Code § 23640; Penal Code § 1001.80. Last verified: October 2026. This page is educational information about costs only — not legal advice. Laws and fees change; confirm current figures with your court and your state's driver-licensing agency.