duistatelaws.com Almost everyone arrives at this problem searching the wrong word. People arrested in Iowa search for a DUI lawyer; Iowa has no offense by that name. People arrested in Texas search for a DUI lawyer and read about an offense that only applies to drivers under 21. The words are not interchangeable, and which one applies to you decides everything that follows.
The same thing, called nine different names
This is the table to read first. The left column is what people type; the middle column is what the statute in that state actually says; the right column is the part that costs money. Every row carries the section that was read to write it.
| What people search | What the statute calls it | What the difference changes |
|---|---|---|
| DWI lawyer | Texas driving while intoxicated, Penal Code § 49.04 Tex. Penal Code § 49.01(2)(B) | Texas also has an offense literally called DUI, but it reaches only drivers under 21. Searching the wrong one returns the wrong penalty range. |
| DUI lawyer | California driving under the influence, Veh. Code § 23152 Cal. Veh. Code § 23152(b) | Seven subdivisions, not one. A rideshare driver carrying a passenger for hire is at 0.04 under subdivision (e), half of everyone else’s limit. |
| DUI lawyer | Georgia driving under the influence, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391 O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391(a)(5) | Georgia charges DUI less safe and DUI per se from the same stop. Excluding the breath result does not end the case, because the other count needs no number. |
| DUI lawyer | Florida driving under the influence, Fla. Stat. § 316.193 Fla. Stat. § 316.193(1)(b)–(c) | The suspension starts the day the notice is issued, and asking for review does not stop it — Fla. Stat. § 322.2615(9). |
| DUI or DWAI lawyer | Colorado driving under the influence and driving while ability impaired, C.R.S. § 42-4-1301 C.R.S. § 42-4-1301(2)(a) | DWAI has no BAC floor at all. It is the charge the statute was drafted for in the band above 0.05 and below 0.08. |
| DUI or extreme DUI lawyer | Arizona driving under the influence, A.R.S. §§ 28-1381 and 28-1382 A.R.S. § 28-1381(A)(2) | The reading alone sets the jail floor: ten consecutive days at the ordinary limit, thirty at 0.15, forty-five at 0.20. |
| OWI lawyer | Iowa operating while intoxicated, Iowa Code § 321J.2 Iowa Code § 321J.2(1)(b) | Iowa writes the acronym into the section heading. A first offense is a serious misdemeanor with a forty-eight hour minimum under § 321J.2(3)(a). |
| OUI lawyer | Maine criminal OUI, 29-A M.R.S. § 2411 29-A M.R.S. § 2411 | Maine’s statute is headed “Criminal OUI”. Searching DUI returns another state’s law, which is the usual way people read the wrong penalty. |
| DWI or DWAI lawyer | New York driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired, N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1192 N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1192 | Three offenses in one section. Subdivision 1, DWAI, is a traffic infraction rather than a crime; subdivisions 2 and 3 are misdemeanors. |
What the name does not change
Three things are the same in every row of that table, and knowing them saves a great deal of reading.
The number is 0.08 almost everywhere
Every state on this site sets the per se limit at 0.08. What varies is what sits around it: Arizona stacks extreme DUI at 0.15 and super extreme at 0.20 as separate offenses; Colorado runs DWAI below the limit with no figure attached; New York splits one section into three offenses at different levels. The headline number is the least state-specific thing about impaired-driving law.
There is always a second case, against the license
Every state runs an administrative proceeding against the driving privilege that starts at the arrest and ends by default if nobody acts inside a deadline measured in days. In every state on this site but Minnesota and Virginia an administrative agency decides it; Minnesota revokes at the notice and leaves review to a district court petition, and Virginia suspends at the warrant and lets the general district court review it while the suspension runs. It is the single most common thing people lose without knowing it existed.
The same diagram as a table
| State | Days | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 7 | C.R.S. § 42-2-126(6)(d), (7)(b) |
| Virginia* | 7 | Va. Code § 46.2-391.2(A), (C) |
| Washington | 7 | RCW 46.20.308(7) |
| California | 10 | Cal. Veh. Code § 13558(b) |
| Florida | 10 | Fla. Stat. § 322.2615(1)(b)3. |
| Texas | 15 | Tex. Transp. Code §§ 524.031, 724.041 |
| Arizona | 30 | A.R.S. § 28-1321(F), (G) |
| Georgia | 30 | O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1(g)(1) |
| South Carolina | 30 | S.C. Code § 56-5-2951(B)(1) |
| Minnesota* | 60 | Minn. Stat. § 169A.53, subd. 2 |
A test result is not the only way to prove it
Every statute in the table has a route to conviction that needs no number at all — Texas on loss of normal faculties, Arizona on impairment to the slightest degree, Georgia on DUI less safe, California on subdivision (a) of section 23152. That is why refusing the breath test does not end a case, and why what refusing actually trades is a narrower question than it looks.
Not sure which statute applies to you?
Enter the ZIP code where the arrest happened and the full form opens with it filled in.
What the statute sets, and what it does not
Fine ranges are the one cost figure that can be quoted rather than estimated, because they are written into the sentencing sections. Across the states on this site they run from $200 — Colorado, dwai, first (§ 42-4-1307(4)(a)(II)) — to $14,000 — Minnesota, within 10 years of three prior incidents (Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 2).
| State | First offense | Top of the ladder |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | up to $2,000 First offense · § 12.22 | up to $10,000 DWI in a school crossing zone · § 12.35(b) |
| California | $390 to $1,000 First offense · § 23536(a) | $390 to $1,000 Fourth offense within 10 years · § 23550(a) |
| Georgia | $300 to $1,000 First conviction · § 40-6-391(c)(1) | set by the felony sentencing provisions Fourth conviction in 10 years · § 40-6-391(c) |
| Florida | $500 to $1,000 First conviction · § 316.193(2)(a)1.a. | not less than $2,000 Fourth conviction, any interval · § 316.193(2)(b)3. |
| Colorado | $200 to $500 DWAI, first · § 42-4-1307(4)(a)(II) | set by the felony sentencing provisions Fourth offense · § 42-4-1301(1)(a) |
| Arizona | at least $250 First offense · § 28-1381(I)(2) | at least $750 Aggravated DUI · § 28-1383(J)(3) |
| Washington | $350 to $5,000 First, under 0.15 · RCW 46.61.5055(1)(a) | set by the felony sentencing provisions Three or more priors in 15 years · RCW 46.61.5055(4) |
| Minnesota | up to $1,000 First, no aggravating factor · Minn. Stat. § 609.03(3) | up to $14,000 Within 10 years of three prior incidents · Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 2 |
| South Carolina | $400 First, under 0.10 · § 56-5-2930(A)(1) | none set for this tier Fourth or more, under 0.10 · § 56-5-2930(A)(4) |
| Virginia | $250 minimum, up to $2,500 First offense · §§ 18.2-270(A), 18.2-11(a) | $1,000 minimum Fourth or more within 10 years · § 18.2-270(C)(3) |
It is the fine the statute sets, and nothing else. It does not include the mandatory assessments some states stack on top — Arizona adds a $500 prison fund and a $500 public safety assessment to a first-offense fine of at least $250 — nor the licensed education program that several states make a condition of getting the license back, nor an attorney’s fee, which no statute sets and which this site does not estimate. Any number you see quoted as “the cost of a DUI” is somebody’s model, not a figure from a code.
What the first weeks actually consist of
The order is set by the deadlines rather than by what feels urgent.
The license request, inside the deadline
It goes to the agency, in writing — in Minnesota, to the district court as a petition, and in Virginia, to the general district court while the suspension runs — and it is the shortest clock in the case. Filing in time does two things: in most states it stays the suspension until a hearing, and in most it puts the arresting officer under oath on a record months before any criminal trial. That transcript is frequently the most useful document in the file, which is why the request goes in even where the suspension looks unwinnable. Florida is the exception worth knowing: its statute says in terms that asking for review does not stop the suspension.
Working out whether this is really a second offense
The prior-offense window is where the largest single swing usually is, and the states count it differently enough that the answer is not obvious. Georgia measures ten years from the date of the previous arrest to the date of the current arrest, so delay on the old case works in your favour. Arizona counts 84 months by the dates the offenses were committed, and for the felony third-offense count excludes time spent incarcerated. Texas has no window at all.
The reading, and what it has to survive
Where a number decides the sentencing floor — and in Arizona it decides it outright — the questions are about the instrument, the sample and the interval between driving and testing rather than about the stop.
Which page you actually want
This page is the entry point, not the answer. The state pages carry the full penalty matrix, the license deadline with its section number, the interlock terms and what happens to the record.
- Texas DWI law
- California DUI law
- Georgia DUI law
- Florida DUI law
- Colorado DUI law
- Arizona DUI law
- Washington DUI law
- Minnesota DWI law
- South Carolina DUI law
- Virginia DUI law
And if the question is about the stop itself rather than about the state:
- Are DUI checkpoints legal?
- Ignition interlock requirements
- DUI classes and evaluations
- DUI vs DWI
- How long it stays on your record
- Expungement, sealing and set aside
- Every state we have read, in one table
Common questions
Is a DUI lawyer the same as a DWI lawyer?
In the great majority of states, yes, because the state uses only one of the two words for one offense. It is not the same question in the states that run two offenses at once. Texas charges DWI under Penal Code section 49.04 and keeps a separate, much lesser offense called DUI for drivers under 21. New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law section 1192 contains driving while ability impaired, driving while intoxicated per se, and driving while intoxicated as three separate subdivisions.
What is OWI, OUI or DWAI?
State acronyms for the same conduct. Iowa writes OWI into the heading of Iowa Code section 321J.2 itself. Maine's section is headed “Criminal OUI”. DWAI means different things in two states: in New York it is subdivision 1 of section 1192 and a traffic infraction rather than a crime, while in Colorado it is a separate misdemeanor under C.R.S. section 42-4-1301 with no BAC figure attached to it at all.
Does the acronym change the penalty?
The acronym does not; the statute behind it does, and they vary enormously. The statutory fine ranges on this page run from $200 at the bottom of Colorado's DWAI range to $10,000 at the top of a Texas third-degree felony. What actually moves a case is the prior-offense window, the reading, and whether the license deadline was met.
How quickly do I have to do something?
Faster than most people expect, and in every state but Minnesota and Virginia the deadline belongs to an administrative agency rather than to a court. Colorado gives seven days from the notice and revokes on the seventh. Washington also gives seven, and charges $375 to ask. California and Florida give ten. Texas gives fifteen. Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina give thirty, and Georgia charges a $150 filing fee to make the request at all. Minnesota revokes at the notice and gives sixty days to petition a court. Virginia suspends at the warrant for seven days on a first charge, and the general district court reviews it only if asked while it runs. No court starts any of these for you.
What does a DUI lawyer actually do first?
Two things at once, on two different clocks. The license request goes to the state agency (in Minnesota, a petition to the district court; in Virginia, a request to the general district court) inside the deadline above, because it is the only proceeding in which the stop gets examined before the criminal case moves. Then the criminal side: which statute was charged, whether the prior that makes this a second offense is really inside the window, and whether the reading survives its own chain of custody.
Do you recommend a particular attorney?
No. This site is not a law firm, does not rank attorneys and does not match anyone to a “right” lawyer. The only payment we accept from an attorney is a fixed advertising fee per inquiry that does not depend on the outcome of any case or on any fee they charge. The disclaimer sets out the arrangement in full.
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Sources
- Texas — Tex. Penal Code § 49.01(2)(B), read in force 2026
- California — Cal. Veh. Code § 23152(b), read in force 2026
- Georgia — O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391(a)(5), read reproduction current as of 2024-03-28 — the state publishes the authoritative text at its own portal
- Florida — Fla. Stat. § 316.193(1)(b)–(c), read in force 2026
- Colorado — C.R.S. § 42-4-1301(2)(a), read in force 2026 — the state publishes the authoritative text at its own portal
- Arizona — A.R.S. § 28-1381(A)(2), read in force 2026
- Iowa — Iowa Code § 321J.2(1)(b), read read 2026-09-21
- Maine — 29-A M.R.S. § 2411, read read 2026-09-21
- New York — N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1192, read read 2026-09-21
Nine states are on this page because nine states’ statutes were opened and read. Ohio, Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin and Massachusetts are absent because their legislatures’ own sites refused requests from the machine that builds this site, and an acronym is not worth publishing from memory. They will be added when the statute can be read.