DUI Penalties In Ohio

1ST DUI Conviction Within a Period of Six Years

  • Administrative License Suspension (ALS) of one year if you refuse the blood alcohol test;
  • ALS for 90 days if you test above the legal limit;
  • A mandatory three consecutive days in jail or three-day driver intervention program;
  • Fines of at least $375 and no more than $1,075 plus court costs;
  • Court-order license suspension of at least six months and no more than three years;
  • Potential of up to five years of probation;
  • Installation of an Ignition Interlock Device, at the discretion of the judge;
  • With a high tier blood alcohol test result, a mandatory six days in jail and issuance of restricted license plates.

2nd DUI Conviction Within a Period of Six Years

  • Administrative License Suspension (ALS) of two years if you refuse the blood alcohol test;
  • ALS for one year if you test above the legal limit;
  • A mandatory ten consecutive days in jail or five days in jail plus at least 18 consecutive days of house arrest with electronic monitoring with a maximum of six months;
  • Fines of at least $525 and no more than $1,625 plus court costs;
  • Court-ordered driver intervention program, at the judge’s discretion;
  • 90 day vehicle immobilization;
  • Court-order license suspension of at least one year and no more than five years;
  • Potential of up to five years of probation;
  • Installation of an Ignition Interlock Device and issuance of restricted license plates.

3rd DUI Conviction Within a Period of Six Years

  • Administrative License Suspension (ALS) of three years if you refuse the blood alcohol test;
  • ALS for two years if you test above the legal limit;
  • A minimum of 30 consecutive days in jail with a maximum of one year or 15 days in jail plus at least 55 days of house arrest with electronic monitoring with a maximum of one year – a high tier test result will double the minimum amount of jail time;
  • Fines of at least $525 and no more than $2,750 plus court costs;
  • Mandatory enrollment in a state-approved alcohol treatment program, costs to be paid by the offender;
  • Vehicle forfeiture if vehicle is registered to the offender;
  • Court-order license suspension of at least two years and no more than ten years;
  • Potential of up to five years of probation;
  • Installation of an Ignition Interlock Device and issuance of restricted license plates.

4th DUI Conviction Within a Period of Six Years or 6th DUI Conviction Within 20 Years

  • Administrative License Suspension (ALS) of five years if you refuse the blood alcohol test;
  • ALS for three years if you test above the legal limit;
  • A minimum of 60 consecutive days in jail with a maximum of one year – a high tier test result will double the minimum amount of jail time;
  • Fines of at least $1,350 and no more than $10,500 plus court costs;
  • Mandatory enrollment in a state-approved alcohol treatment program, costs to be paid by the offender;
  • Vehicle forfeiture if vehicle is registered to the offender;
  • Court-order license suspension of at least three years up to Permanent Revocation with no driving privileges for the first three years;
  • Potential of up to five years of probation;
  • Installation of an Ignition Interlock Device and issuance of restricted license plates.

Upon conviction of the DUI charge, the ALS terminates and time is credited toward any court-ordered license suspension. The ALS does not automatically terminated upon a finding of not guilty.

A DUI conviction in the last twenty years, coupled with a test refusal, will result in a sentence equivalent to a high tier test result conviction.

For more information, please click Ohio DUI Penalty Chart (PDF).