DUI/DWI laws
March 2010
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, currently 0.08 percent (0.08 g alcohol per 100 ml blood).
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. Administrative license suspension laws are in place in 41 states and the District of Columbia.
More than half of all U.S. states require DUI offenders to install ignition interlocks on their vehicles in order to drive during a license suspension and/or require interlocks for specified time periods before fully relicensing offenders. These interlock devices analyze a driver’s breath and disable the ignition if the driver has been drinking. In 13 states (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington), such a restriction is applied to all offenders, including first time offenders. California applies a similar restriction to all offenders, but only in 4 counties. An additional 9 states apply the restriction to all offenders with high BACs (usually 0.15 or higher) and to repeat offenders, and 6 states apply the restriction only to repeat offenders.
Laws in the remaining states do not require interlocks at all, though courts or DMVs in 18 states and the District of Columbia have the discretion to apply interlock requirements. Only 3 states (Alabama, South Dakota, and Vermont) have no interlock laws.
| Alabama |
90 days
|
no
|
no state interlock laws |
| Alaska |
90 days
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Arizona |
90 days
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Arkansas |
6 months
|
yes1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| California |
4 months
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders (in 4 counties)2
(effective 07/01/10) |
no
|
| Colorado |
3 months
|
yes1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Connecticut |
90 days
|
yes1
|
no
|
no
|
| Delaware |
3 months
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
| District of Columbia |
2-90 days
|
yes1
|
no
|
no
|
| Florida |
6 months
|
after 30 days1
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
| Georgia |
1 year
|
yes1
|
no
|
no
|
| Hawaii |
3 months
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
(effective 01/01/11) |
yes
|
| Idaho |
90 days
|
after 30 days1
|
no
|
no
|
| Illinois |
3 months
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Indiana |
180 days
|
after 30 days1
|
no
|
no
|
| Iowa |
180 days
|
after 90 days1
|
no
|
no
|
| Kansas |
30 days
|
no
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
| Kentucky |
no
|
not applicable
|
no
|
no
|
| Louisiana |
90 days
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Maine |
90 days
|
yes1
|
no
|
no
|
| Maryland |
45 days
|
yes1
|
no
|
no
|
| Massachusetts |
90 days
|
no
|
no
|
yes
|
| Michigan |
no
|
not applicable
|
no
|
no
|
| Minnesota |
90 days
|
after 15 days1
|
no
|
no
|
| Mississippi |
90 days
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
| Missouri |
30 days
|
no
|
no
|
yes
|
| Montana |
no
|
not applicable
|
no
|
yes
|
| Nebraska |
90 days
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Nevada |
90 days
|
after 45 days1
|
no
|
no
|
| New Hampshire |
6 months
|
no
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
| New Jersey |
no
|
not applicable
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
| New Mexico |
90 days
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| New York |
variable3
|
yes1
|
all offenders
(effective 08/18/10) |
yes
|
| North Carolina |
30 days
|
after 10 days1
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
| North Dakota |
91 days
|
after 30 days1
|
no
|
no
|
| Ohio |
90 days
|
after 15 days1
|
no
|
no
|
| Oklahoma |
180 days
|
yes1
|
no
|
yes
|
| Oregon |
90 days
|
after 30 days1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Pennsylvania |
no
|
not applicable
|
no
|
no
|
| Rhode Island |
no
|
not applicable
|
no
|
no
|
| South Carolina |
no
|
not applicable
|
no
|
yes
|
| South Dakota |
no
|
not applicable
|
no state interlock laws |
| Tennessee |
no
|
not applicable
|
no
|
no
|
| Texas |
90 days
|
yes1
|
no
|
yes
|
| Utah |
120 days
|
no
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| Vermont |
90 days
|
no
|
no state interlock laws |
| Virginia |
7 days
|
no
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
| Washington |
90 days
|
yes1
|
all offenders
|
yes
|
| West Virginia |
6 months
|
after 30 days 1
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
| Wisconsin |
6 months
|
yes1
|
high-BAC offenders only
(effective 07/01/10) |
yes
|
| Wyoming |
90 days
|
yes1
|
high-BAC offenders only
|
yes
|
