ARD is generally considered a first-time offender program, but some people who have relatively minor offenses or possibly more severe offenses in the distant past may be considered by the district attorney for admission into the ARD program. A person charged with BUI is NOT eligible to participate in ARD if the person was convicted or accepted ARD for a BUI charge within the seven years of the date of the current offense. Even some first-time offenders of BUI are not eligible to participate in ARD if an accident occurred and someone other than the defendant was killed or seriously injured.
Even if a person had no prior offenses of BUI and was not involved in an accident, those factors only make the person eligible to participate in ARD. Not all first-time offenders are approved to participate in the ARD program. The district attorney in the county in which the criminal incident occurred can still consider other factors in determining whether or not a person is approved to participate in ARD. The district attorney will often consider factors such as the person's criminal history, level of cooperation with the officer during the investigation, the officer's opinion with regard to ARD, and the person's alcohol concentration level.