Virginia  |  DUI Law

Third offense, very likely since N. Carolina borders the Commonwealth and the two jurisidictions routinely share information on their respective licensed drivers.

There is no doubt the Virginia prosecutor will know about the N.C. conviction, because it would come up on a criminal background check (regardless of where it happened, since this does not depend on whether states share DMV information). However, in order for an out-of-state conviction to be counted as a prior offense for purposes of Virginia's repeat offender statutes, the prosecution must prove that the other state's laws are "substantially similar" to Virginia's DUI laws. Because of a few technicalities, North Carolina's DUI laws do not qualify as such. Therefore, the North Carolina conviction will not count as a prior and you cannot be convicted of the felony 3rd DUI w/in 10 years. You are looking at a 2nd in 10 at worst. A misdemeanor with some significant consequences (10 day mandatory jail time), but still better than a felony. The prosecution may threaten to charge you with a felony to extort a plea, but a good DUI lawyer will see that as an empty threat.