Driving While Suspended with a Prior in Indiana: Felony or Misdemeanor?

In Indiana, driving while suspended with a prior is a Class A misdemeanor when your earlier DWS judgment was entered within the last ten years. That is a criminal charge, not a traffic ticket, and it carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. The charge climbs to a Level 6 or Level 5 felony in narrower situations: if you were suspended because of a criminal conviction and cause injury or death while driving, or if you drive at all while designated a habitual traffic violator.

When a Prior Turns DWS Into a Misdemeanor

A first DWS offense in Indiana is a Class A infraction, a civil matter that ends with a fine.¹ The second time is different. Under Indiana Code 9-24-19-2, driving on a suspended license within ten years of a prior DWS judgment is a Class A misdemeanor, the most serious misdemeanor the state recognizes.² It creates a permanent criminal record, and officers can arrest you at the roadside instead of writing a citation.

The ten-year window is measured from the date your prior DWS judgment was entered to the date you were caught driving again. A DWS from eight years ago triggers the enhancement. One from twelve years ago does not. Prior judgments under Indiana’s repealed DWS statutes, specifically IC 9-1-4-52 and IC 9-24-18-5(a), also count as qualifying priors.²

Only a prior DWS counts. Other traffic offenses that may have contributed to your suspension, like speeding or running a red light, do not qualify as the predicate judgment, even though they can rack up points on your record.

When the Charge Becomes a Felony

Two situations push a driving while suspended case out of misdemeanor territory.

The first is a suspension that stems from a criminal conviction. Driving while suspended under those circumstances is already a Class A misdemeanor on its own, under Indiana Code 9-24-19-3, with no prior required. If you cause bodily injury to another person while driving on that kind of suspension, it becomes a Level 6 felony. If someone dies or suffers catastrophic injury, it becomes a Level 5 felony, and the prosecution can bring a separate charge for each victim.³

The second is a habitual traffic violator designation. Driving at all while under an HTV suspension is an automatic Level 6 felony. No accident, no injury, no additional prior DWS judgment required. The suspension itself is what makes the driving a felony.⁴ HTV status itself is built up over time through accumulated judgments within a ten-year period: two serious offenses like DUI or reckless homicide, three mid-level offenses including DWS with a prior, or ten general traffic violations that must be reported to the BMV.⁵ That matters here because a DWS-with-prior conviction counts toward HTV status, so each new case raises the stakes on the next one.

What Each Charge Carries

Class A Misdemeanor

A DWS with a prior conviction exposes you to up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.⁶ Judges have broad discretion within that range. Sentencing typically turns on why your license was suspended in the first place, your overall driving history, and whether the stop involved any reckless conduct or a crash.

Probation is common for first-time misdemeanor DWS convictions. Standard conditions include community service, driver improvement courses, and regular check-ins with a probation officer. Violating those conditions can send you back to serve the balance of the jail sentence.

Level 6 Felony

A Level 6 felony carries six months to two and a half years in prison, with an advisory sentence of one year, plus a fine of up to $10,000.⁷ This is state prison time rather than county jail, and the conviction brings all the long-term collateral consequences that come with a felony record.

Level 5 Felony

The Level 5 felony reserved for fatal or catastrophic-injury DWS cases is the most serious tier under this statute. Because the prosecution can file a separate count for each victim, and because a court can order sentences to run consecutively, exposure in a multi-victim case can stack quickly.³

What the State Has to Prove

To convict you of DWS with a prior, prosecutors need to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you were driving, that your license was suspended, that you knew about the suspension, and that you had a qualifying prior DWS judgment within the last ten years.²

The prior is proved with certified court records, BMV documentation, or earlier judgments showing a DWS conviction. Those records have to be properly authenticated. They also have to show that the prior was actually a DWS violation and that the judgment was entered inside the ten-year window.

Knowledge is the element defendants most often contest. Courts generally find it satisfied when the BMV mailed a suspension notice to the address on your record, but you can challenge that by showing you never received notice or that the BMV had the wrong address. If a prior conviction was overturned, dismissed, or expunged, it cannot be used to elevate the current charge. Errors in BMV records are another weak spot. A successful challenge to the prosecution’s documentation can knock the case back down to a Class A infraction.

Collateral Consequences

A DWS conviction adds suspension time on top of whatever caused the original suspension, and the BMV generally will not reinstate your license until both the original issue and the new suspension are cleared.

The larger risk is accumulation. Because a DWS with a prior counts toward HTV status, each conviction moves you closer to the designation that turns future driving into an automatic felony. For drivers already carrying serious offenses on their record, one more DWS can be the judgment that triggers it.

Your vehicle may also be towed at the time of arrest. Indiana State Police policy authorizes impoundment when the driver is not properly licensed, though officers generally must give you a chance to designate someone to take the vehicle before towing it. Impoundment becomes more likely when no licensed driver is at the scene, when the vehicle cannot safely be left where it is, or when the property owner does not consent to it staying.⁸ Towing and storage fees build up daily.

Getting Back on the Road

Indiana does not offer a traditional hardship license, but you can petition a court for specialized driving privileges. These let you drive under limited, court-approved conditions, usually for work, school, medical appointments, or essential household needs.⁹

You file in the circuit or superior court in your county of residence. If the suspension was court-ordered, the petition goes to the court that imposed it. If it was a BMV administrative suspension, you open a new case and serve both the BMV and the county prosecutor. The petition must disclose every active suspension on your record. If you leave one off, any privileges you receive will not cover it.⁹

Some drivers are ineligible: people who have never been Indiana residents, people suspended for refusing a chemical test, people found incompetent to drive under IC 9-24-10-7, and people whose conviction involved causing a death. Anyone who has violated specialized privilege conditions more than once in a case involving serious bodily injury or death is also barred.⁹

If the court grants the petition, you have to carry SR-22 insurance, keep a copy of the order in your vehicle at all times, and show it to any officer who asks. CDL holders cannot use specialized driving privileges to operate commercial vehicles during the suspension.⁹

Full reinstatement means resolving the original cause of the suspension, paying BMV reinstatement fees that vary by suspension type, and in most cases filing SR-22 insurance. SR-22 is not a separate policy; it is a certificate your insurer files electronically with the BMV showing that your coverage meets Indiana’s minimum liability limits.¹⁰ Any lapse in coverage during the required SR-22 period typically restarts the clock, so the practical cost of a DWS conviction keeps running long after the court case ends.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-24-19-1 – Class A Infraction
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-24-19-2 – Class A Misdemeanor; Commission Within Ten Years of Prior Similar Infraction
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-24-19-3 – Operating While Suspended; Penalties
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-30-10-16 – Operating a Motor Vehicle While Privileges Are Suspended; Level 6 Felony
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-30-10-4 – Habitual Violators
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-3-2 – Class A Misdemeanor
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-7 – Level 6 Felony
8
Indiana State Police. Towing and Impounding of Vehicles
9
Indiana Supreme Court. Special Processes and Procedures Driving Privileges
10
Indiana State Government. Proof of Financial Responsibility