Is Monroe County in Michigan tough on drunk driving? Will I go to jail at the 1st District Court?

In Michigan, a drunk driving case can really vary depending upon what police department makes the arrest, because it determines what courthouse the case is heard, an who the prosecutor on the case is going to be.  Some prosecutors are quick to reduce Operating While Intoxicated or Super Drunk charges down to Impaired Driving, but rarely anything below this offer.  Judges typically put people on at least 12 months of probation, and some courts do send first offenders to jail.  

Prosecutors typically view DUI cases as serious charges, and pretty straight forward to prosecute.  Prosecutors look for evidence of driving the car then the chemical test result being over the legal limit.  If they have evidence of both of those, they are confident in their case, and typically hold firm in standard offers to the defendant.  

Some prosecutors have "policies" and will not make offers or will play hard ball day one, inviting a trial if you don't like the offer.  The majority of prosecutors don't want to set DUI's for trial and make themselves much busier; they have large caseloads and want to resolve cases.  

Most prosecutors will give some benefit of the doubt to someone with no prior DUI convictions, but will look harshly upon accidents, poor driving, an exceptionally high BAC number, and any funny business in terms of acting poorly toward the police officers.  If the case is a clean traffic stop, a relatively common BAC number, there's likely to be an opening offer that might be appealing to some defendants.  ​