DUI Penalties State by State
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have per se laws defining it as a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above a proscribed level, 0.08 percent.
License suspension or revocation traditionally follows conviction for alcohol-impaired driving. Under a procedure called administrative license suspension, licenses are taken before conviction when a driver fails or refuses to take a chemical test. Because administrative license suspension laws are independent of criminal procedures and are invoked right after arrest, they’ve been found to be more effective than traditional post-conviction sanctions. Forty-one states and the District of Columbia have administrative license suspension laws.
Forty-five states permit some offenders to drive only if their vehicles have been equipped with ignition interlocks. These devices analyze a driver’s breath and disable the ignition if the driver has been drinking.
In 30 states, multiple offenders may forfeit vehicles that are driven while impaired by alcohol.
Forty-three states and Washington D.C. have laws prohibiting the driver, passengers or both from possessing an open container of alcohol in the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
| State | BAC defined as illegal per se | Admin. license suspension 1st offense1 | Restore driving privileges during suspension? 1, 2 | Do penalties include interlock / forfeiture?3 | Open Container Laws |
| Alabama | 0.08 | 90 days | no | no/no | driver/passenger |
| Alaska | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver |
| Arizona | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Arkansas | 0.08 | 180 days | yes | yes/yes | – |
| California | 0.08 | 4 months | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Colorado | 0.08 | 3 months | yes | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Connecticut | 0.08 | 90 days | yes | no/no | – |
| Delaware | 0.08 | 3 months | no | yes/no | – |
| District of Columbia | 0.08 | 2-90 days | yes | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Florida | 0.08 | 6 months | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Georgia | 0.08 | 1 year | yes | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Hawaii | 0.08 | 3 months | after 30 days | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Idaho | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Illinois | 0.08 | 3 months | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Indiana | 0.08 | 180 days | after 30 days | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Iowa | 0.08 | 180 days | after 90 days | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Kansas | 0.08 | 30 days | no | yes/no | driver |
| Kentucky | 0.08 | – | – | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Louisiana | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Maine | 0.08 | 90 days | yes | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Maryland | 0.08 | 45 days | yes | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Massachusetts | 0.08 | 90 days | no | no/no | driver/passenger |
| Michigan | 0.08 4 | – | – | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Minnesota | 0.08 | 90 days | after 15 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Mississippi | 0.08 | 90 days | no | yes/yes | – |
| Missouri | 0.08 | 30 days | no | yes/yes | – |
| Montana | 0.08 | – | – | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Nebraska | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Nevada | 0.08 | 90 days | after 45 days | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| New Hampshire | 0.08 | 6 months | no | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| New Jersey | 0.08 | – | – | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| New Mexico | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| New York | 0.08 | variable 5 | yes | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| North Carolina | 0.08 | 30 days | after 10 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| North Dakota | 0.08 | 91 days | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Ohio | 0.08 | 90 days | after 15 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Oklahoma | 0.08 | 180 days | yes | yes/yes | driver |
| Oregon | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Pennsylvania | 0.08 | – | – | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Rhode Island | 0.08 | – | – | yes/yes | driver |
| South Carolina | 0.08 | – | – | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| South Dakota | 0.08 | – | – | no/no | driver/passenger |
| Tennessee | 0.08 | – | – | yes/yes | driver 6 |
| Texas | 0.08 | 60 days | yes | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Utah | 0.08 | 90 days | no | yes/no | driver/passenger |
| Vermont | 0.08 | 90 days | no | no/yes | driver/passenger |
| Virginia | 0.08 | 7 days | no | yes/yes | – |
| Washington | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| West Virginia | 0.08 | 6 months | after 30 days | yes/no | – |
| Wisconsin | 0.08 | 6 months | yes | yes/yes | driver/passenger |
| Wyoming | 0.08 | 90 days | yes | no/no | driver |
Notes
- Information pertains to drivers in violation of the BAC defined as illegal per se for all drivers, not the special BAC for young drivers.
- Drivers usually must demonstrate special hardship to justify restoring privileges during suspension, and then privileges often are restricted.
- A multiple offender’s vehicle may be seized and disposed.
- The 0.08 per se BAC law in Michigan contains a sunset clause which states that the legal BAC will revert to 0.10 on October 1, 2013.
- In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.
- In Tennessee, the open container law does not prohibit any municipality, by ordinance, or any county, by resolution, from prohibiting passengers from possessing an open container.
