Vehicle · DUI penalties

DUI Penalties by State: Jail, Fines, and License Loss

The jail, fines, and license loss for a DUI in each state by offense, when a DUI becomes a felony, and the lookback period that counts your priors. Each cited to the statute.

10 of 50 states so far, starting with the largest. Every state bans driving at a 0.08 BAC, but the penalties, the felony line, and how long a prior counts against you differ a lot.A first offense is usually a misdemeanor; repeat offenses climb toward a felony. Every page links to the statute for the exact ranges.

Read this first: two cases, and the lookback that matters

A DUI usually runs as two separate cases: a criminal case for the jail and fines below, and an administrative case where the DMV suspends your license, often on a short deadline that starts at the arrest. The pages here cover the criminal penalties; do not miss the separate, quick DMV deadline to challenge the suspension.

The figure that surprises people most is the lookback (or washout) period: how far back a prior DUI counts to make this one a second or third offense. It ranges from a few years to ten years or more, and a few states count priors for life. A high BAC, a child in the car, an injury, or refusing the breath test can each push the charge up a level. Every figure links to the statute, and pages still pending verification say so.

Every state in one table

The first-offense penalty, the lookback, and the statute in each row.

All states (10)

State	First-offense DUI	Lookback	Statute
California	Misdemeanor, up to 6 months	10-year lookback	Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23152
Florida	Misdemeanor, up to 6 months	3rd within 10 yrs	Fla. Stat. § 316.193
Georgia	10 days to 12 months, mostly probatable	10 years, measured arrest to arrest	O.C.G.A. § 40‑6‑391
Illinois	Class A misdemeanor	No lookback	625 ILCS 5/11‑501
Michigan	Misdemeanor, up to 93 days, no mandatory jail	7 years for the second, none for the felony	Mich. Comp. Laws § 257.625
New York	Misdemeanor, up to 1 year	10-year lookback	N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law §§ 1192
North Carolina	A six-tier grid, not a set number	7 years for sentencing, 10 for the felony	N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 20‑138.1
Ohio	Misdemeanor, 3 days minimum	10 years, plus a 20-year route for five or more priors	Ohio Rev. Code §§ 4511.19
Pennsylvania	Misdemeanor, tiered by BAC	10-year lookback	75 Pa.C.S. §§ 3802
Texas	Class B misdemeanor	No lookback	Tex. Penal Code §§ 49.04

What these pages are, and what they aren't

Each state page is a reference for the DUI penalty ranges and the neutral first steps. They are deliberately not advice for your case: the charge and penalty turn on your BAC, your priors, and the facts, so each page links to the statute and a way to find a defense attorney. This is legal information, not legal advice.