DUI Attorney in Huntington Beach

Reviewed by Ron Chini, Esq. · CA State Bar No. 263308 · DUI defense attorney in Irvine, CA since 2009.
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Huntington Beach is California's 'Surf City USA'—a coastal destination with year-round beach crowds, vibrant nightlife on Pacific Coast Highway, downtown Main Street bars, and major events like the US Open of Surfing every summer. That blend of tourism and entertainment creates a DUI-enforcement environment unlike inland Orange County cities: the Huntington Beach Police Department and California Highway Patrol focus checkpoint and saturation-patrol resources on PCH, Beach Boulevard, and downtown entertainment corridors where most impaired driving occurs.

How DUIs are policed in Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach faces one of California's higher DUI arrest and alcohol-involved-collision profiles for a city its size. In the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) rankings, it lands within its peer group for both DUI arrests and alcohol-involved collisions, reflecting its large summer visitor population and the intensity of local enforcement.

• The Huntington Beach Police Department conducts regular DUI checkpoints along Beach Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, with checkpoints announced via press releases on its official city website. Recent operations include checkpoints scheduled for May and June 2026.
• Checkpoints often target downtown Huntington Beach and beach-access routes during weekend evenings and peak visitor seasons, and intensify during large events like the US Open of Surfing.
• The California Highway Patrol handles freeway DUI arrests on the I-405 corridor and the highways feeding Huntington Beach, while DUIs along Pacific Coast Highway and Beach Boulevard are typically worked by Huntington Beach PD.

Where a Huntington Beach DUI case is heard

A DUI arrest in Huntington Beach is handled at the Stephen K. Tamura West Justice Center, 8141 13th Street in Westminster. The Superior Court's location page lists Huntington Beach among the nine cities this building serves and describes it as handling traffic, minor offenses, and criminal matters. Because Huntington Beach is a long coastal city, people can face a sizable trip inland for every hearing, so it helps to read the courthouse address on your paperwork before you map the drive. Our West Justice Center page describes the building and its procedures.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office prosecutes the case. Huntington Beach is not a city that runs its own DUI prosecutions.

Arrests here can start on Pacific Coast Highway, downtown near Main Street, or on the Beach Boulevard corridor, but the venue does not change with where the stop happened inside the city limits. Felony-level charges are the exception to watch for. According to the court's own page, the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana hears felony hearings for all Orange County cities, so a case that is raised to a felony may be set there.

Booking and bail at the Huntington Beach city jail

The Huntington Beach Police Department runs a city jail at 2000 Main Street, and its booking page walks through what happens after an arrest. Staff record your personal information and physical description, take photographs, fingerprint you, check state records, document your property and cash, and ask medical and mental health screening questions. State law, Penal Code section 851.1, gives you telephone calls during booking, so use them to reach someone who can start the paperwork on a DMV request.

For a DUI arrest, one line on that page matters most. Inmates at the city jail are eligible for release on bail or bond, except people held on a warrant, under a court order, or too intoxicated to be released safely. In practice that means a driver who is still impaired may wait before release even when bail is posted.

The city accepts cash bail, including cashier's checks, money orders, or personal checks from California banks, with personal checks capped at $7,500. Funds are returned after the court appearance under court rules. A bond comes from a licensed bail company, and the department does not recommend any particular company. The department's phone number for questions is (714) 536-5691.

Getting around Surf City without a license

Huntington Beach has no Metrolink station, so OCTA buses are the main public option. OCTA's route list shows Routes 25 and 33 (Fullerton to Huntington Beach), Route 29 (La Habra to Huntington Beach), Route 64 (to Tustin), Routes 66 and 178 (to Irvine), Route 76 (to John Wayne Airport), Route 123 (Anaheim to Huntington Beach), and Route 529. Check current schedules before relying on any line for an early court call.

For license and registration business apart from your hearing, the DMV's office locator, searched with a Huntington Beach ZIP code, lists Costa Mesa (650 West 19th Street) first, then Westminster (13700 Hoover Street) and Santa Ana (1330 East First Street). The listing shows no field office inside the city. Read about the limits on driving during a suspension on our license suspension page.

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Ron Chini, Esq.

DUI Defense Attorney · CA State Bar No. 263308

Ron defends DUI cases across Southern California from his Irvine office — and works directly with you, not a call center.

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