Were you arrested for DUI? Learn how much you can expect it to cost, fine to license.
How Much Does a DUI Cost? The Fines, Fees and Charges States Publish
Learn the fine range your state's statute sets (it can run from a $100 minimum to a $5,000 maximum), the fees the agencies publish and the costs no source states. Choose your state in the free tool below to see its rules with every source. Your license hearing has its own clock: in 21 jurisdictions you can have 10 days or fewer to request it.
Quick answer
A first-offense DUI fine set by statute can run from a $100 minimum (Michigan, Rhode Island and West Virginia) to a $5,000 maximum (Massachusetts and Washington); 28 states publish a minimum and 27 a maximum in this dataset. Other charges sit in separate laws: Louisiana charges $50 to return your license after an administrative suspension (Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:667), and Mississippi's driver services page lists $175 to reinstate, $175 for the interlock and $56 for the interlock-restricted license. The documents read for this guide state no court-cost total and no lawyer fee for any state, so neither is quoted here. Figures were checked on October 14, 2026.
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Choose your state to learn its statutory fine range, the first-offense rules and your hearing window, each with its source.
By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
What to do next
1
Find the arrest date on your papers
It is on the citation or on the notice of suspension the officer handed you. Your license hearing window counts from it in some states and from a notice or a mailing in others, so pin that date down first.
2
Choose your state in the free lookup
It shows you the statutory fine range for a first offense, the jail, suspension and interlock rules, and your hearing window, with the day it ends when you enter an arrest date.
3
Open the statute or agency page under Sources for the figure you need
Court costs, the reinstatement fee schedule and the interlock vendor's price are set outside the DUI statute and are not totaled here; the Sources list links the page each figure was read from.
Every figure here is the statute's range for a first offense; the court sets the amount, so none is a prediction for your case.
At the high end, Alaska sets a first-offense minimum of $1,500 (AS 28.35.030) and Iowa a fine of $1,250 (Iowa Code 321J.2). Massachusetts allows $500 to $5,000 (M.G.L. c. 90, s. 24) and Washington $350 to $5,000 (RCW 46.61.5055). Illinois treats a first DUI as a Class A misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $2,500 (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55).
In the middle, Ohio sets $565 to $1,075 (R.C. 4511.19) and Colorado $600 to $1,000. At the low end, Michigan allows $100 to $500 (MCL 257.625), Rhode Island $100 to $300 (R.I. Gen. Laws 31-27-2) and West Virginia $100 to $500 (W. Va. Code 17C-5-2). South Carolina writes a single figure of $400 (S.C. Code 56-5-2930) and Pennsylvania $300 for a general-impairment first offense (75 Pa.C.S. 3804).
Hawaii shows why a range is not a bill. Its statute lets the court impose one or more of 72 hours of community service, 48 hours to 5 days in jail, or a fine of $250 to $1,000 (HRS 291E-61), so the statute permits a first-offense sentence with no fine in it.
Learn the fixed surcharges and assessments some statutes add to the fine.
Some statutes add fixed charges to the fine:
Hawaii: trauma fund surcharges
A $25 surcharge to the neurotrauma special fund on every first-offense sentence, and up to $25 more to the trauma system special fund if the court orders it (HRS 291E-61(b)(1)).
Oklahoma: victims impact program
A person found guilty attends a victims impact program where one is offered in the county and pays a $75 fee to the program, if the court finds the person able to pay (47 O.S. 11-902).
Rhode Island: refusal assessments
A refusal carries a $500 highway safety assessment, a $200 Department of Health chemical testing assessment and a license reinstatement fee (R.I. Gen. Laws 31-27-2.1).
Vermont: refusal surcharge
A suspension for a refusal carries a $50 surcharge that the Department of Motor Vehicles collects before reinstatement (23 V.S.A. 1205).
New York: refusal civil penalty
The DMV lists a $500 civil penalty and a revocation of at least one year for a first refusal, and $750 with an 18-month revocation within five years of a prior alcohol-related charge or refusal.
Learn the reinstatement fees the statutes and agency pages state.
Reinstatement is a separate charge from the fine, and you pay it to the licensing agency. Louisiana requires a $50 reinstatement fee to the department after an administrative suspension ends, and returns the license without it when the test showed less than 0.08 or the charge is dismissed without a conviction (La. R.S. 32:667). Mississippi lists $175 to reinstate a regular license after an implied-consent suspension has been served.
Illinois states the rule without a figure: driving privileges are not restored until all applicable reinstatement fees are paid to the Secretary of State (625 ILCS 5/6-208.1). Other states set the fee in a schedule not recorded here. 24 rows in the state chart carry the first-offense suspension: for example 90 days in Vermont (23 V.S.A. 1206), a 180-day revocation in Oklahoma (47 O.S. 6-205.1) and 1 to 3 years in Ohio. Georgia's 12-month suspension can end after 120 days with a DUI Risk Reduction certificate, per its Department of Driver Services.
Learn who has to use an interlock and the one published price.
26 jurisdictions require an ignition interlock for all offenders, first offense included, and 12 only above a high blood alcohol threshold; 17 of the all-offender cells rest on NCSL's March 2024 table and GHSA's October 2025 state pages agreeing (both marked secondary in the Sources list), the rest on the statute or, for Tennessee, the state agency page. Alaska's statute, for one, requires a first offender to use an interlock for at least six months after the license comes back (AS 28.35.030).
The device is leased from a vendor, and the dataset holds no lease or installation price for any state. The one agency page in the dataset that prices the interlock is Mississippi's: $175 when the interlock-restricted license is issued, plus $56 for the license itself.
Learn why no court-cost total is recorded for any state.
Court costs in a criminal case are set by separate fee statutes and local court rules, and none of the pages read for the state chart stated a total for a DUI case, so all 51 rows leave it blank. Hawaii's and Oklahoma's fixed charges above are the exceptions that appear in the DUI statute itself.
Learn why no lawyer fee appears on this page.
Lawyers set their fees by private agreement, and no statute, court page or licensing agency page read for this section states a figure for any state. National survey averages are not state figures, and this site does not estimate them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to see the answer.
It is a range in the statute, not a single price: it can run from a $100 minimum to a $5,000 maximum in this dataset. The court sets your amount within the range.
Surcharges and assessments set by statute (Hawaii adds a $25 neurotrauma fund surcharge, Oklahoma a $75 victims impact program fee), court costs set by fee statutes and local rules, a license reinstatement fee, and interlock charges where an interlock is required.
Louisiana charges $50 after an administrative suspension (La. R.S. 32:667) and Mississippi lists $175; Illinois requires all reinstatement fees first without stating the amount (625 ILCS 5/6-208.1).
Mississippi's driver services page lists $175 when the interlock-restricted license is issued and $56 for the license; no vendor price is recorded for any state.
No statute or agency page read for this guide states a figure, and this site does not estimate one. Fees are a private agreement between a lawyer and a client.
No. Court costs are a separate charge set by fee statutes and local court rules, and no total is recorded for any of the 51 jurisdictions.
Often, in license time and fixed charges. Rhode Island assesses $500 plus $200 on a refusal (31-27-2.1), New York's DMV lists a $500 civil penalty, Vermont adds a $50 surcharge before reinstatement (23 V.S.A. 1205), and Florida suspends for one year on a first refusal (322.2615).
No. The statute sets a range, and several raise the penalty at a higher blood alcohol level: Virginia adds a mandatory 5 days in jail at 0.15 to 0.20 (Va. Code 18.2-270). North Carolina sorts first offenses into sentencing levels, with a fine of up to $200 at Level Five (G.S. 20-179).
Insurance pricing is set by insurers under each state's insurance rules, and it is outside this dataset, so this guide gives no figure.
Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of October 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a prediction for any matter. Rules and fees change; check the court or agency page linked for each figure.
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