How Long Do You Stay in Jail for a DUI in Alabama?

Jail time for a DUI in Alabama runs from no required time at all on a clean first offense up to ten years in prison for a fourth conviction. Alabama Code Section 32-5A-191 sets a mandatory minimum at each tier: zero days for a first offense, five days for a second, sixty days for a third, and ten days for a fourth, with maximums climbing in step.¹ How much time you actually serve depends on which prior convictions fall inside Alabama’s ten-year lookback window, whether aggravating factors apply, and whether anyone was hurt.

First Offense: Up to One Year, No Required Minimum

A standard first DUI is a misdemeanor with a maximum of one year in a county or municipal jail. The statute uses “or” between jail and fines, so a judge can impose jail, a fine of $600 to $2,100, or both.¹ There is no mandatory minimum. Many first-time offenders without aggravating facts avoid jail entirely and receive probation with conditions.

Aggravating circumstances change the picture. A BAC of 0.15% or higher, a child under 14 in the vehicle, an injury to someone other than the driver, or refusal of a chemical test all enhance the administrative penalties on a first offense and can double the minimum penalties the judge imposes. The statute requires a 90-day license suspension that cannot be shortened by electing a brief interlock period, plus a full year of mandatory ignition interlock use.¹

Some counties offer pretrial diversion for first-time offenders. You typically enter a guilty plea that is held in abeyance while you complete substance abuse counseling, community service, and check-ins. Finish the program and the charge is dismissed. Fail it and the plea stands, with the original sentence imposed immediately.

Second Offense: Five Days Mandatory

A second DUI conviction within ten years carries a mandatory minimum of five days in jail that cannot be suspended or probated. The maximum remains one year in county or municipal jail, and the sentence may include hard labor. Fines run from $1,100 to $5,100.²

A judge may allow 30 days of community service in place of the five-day jail term. That substitution is discretionary and not available in every case. A second conviction also brings a one-year license revocation and a one-year interlock requirement once driving privileges are restored.

Third Offense: Sixty Days Mandatory

A third DUI within ten years requires at least 60 days in county or municipal jail. The statute is explicit that the 60 days cannot be probated or suspended. The maximum is still one year, and the sentence may include hard labor.³ Fines range from $2,100 to $10,100.

Two months behind bars with no possibility of early release is where most people feel the full weight of Alabama’s DUI sentencing. The court will also revoke your license for three years and require a three-year interlock period once you are eligible to drive again.

Fourth or Subsequent Offense: One to Ten Years in Prison

A fourth or later DUI conviction within ten years is a Class C felony. The prison range is one year and one day to ten years, with fines between $4,100 and $10,100.⁴ The same felony classification applies if you have any prior felony DUI conviction, regardless of when it occurred.

Within that range the statute requires a mandatory minimum of ten days actually served in the county jail. The remainder beyond those ten days can be suspended or probated, but only if you enroll in and successfully complete a state-certified chemical dependency program recommended by the court referral officer and approved by the sentencing court. If the total sentence does not exceed three years, confinement can be in the county jail rather than state prison. When probation is granted, the judge may impose electronic monitoring or house arrest during the probationary period.⁴

License revocation at this level runs five years, and the interlock requirement runs four years from the date a restricted license is issued.

How the Ten-Year Lookback Decides Your Tier

Every mandatory minimum above depends on how many prior DUI convictions fall inside a ten-year window. The clock runs from conviction date to conviction date, not from arrest. A prior that lands even one day outside ten years drops out of the count and the new offense is sentenced at the lower tier.

The practical effect is severe. Someone with two priors from nine years ago who picks up a new charge faces 60 days as a third offender. The same person with the same priors, but with the oldest conviction eleven years back, is sentenced as a second offender with a five-day minimum. The felony threshold works the same way: four convictions inside a decade, and the next one is prison time rather than county jail.

When a DUI Causes Injury or Death

If a drunk driving incident injures or kills someone, the jail numbers above are only part of the exposure. Alabama treats DUI-related serious bodily injury as first-degree assault, a Class B felony with up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $30,000. A DUI resulting in death can be prosecuted as vehicular manslaughter, also a Class B felony with the same sentencing range. These are separate charges, so the driver faces penalties under both the DUI statute and the assault or homicide statute.

Alabama’s general “homicide by vehicle” statute specifically excludes DUI offenses from its scope, which pushes prosecutors to the heavier felony assault and manslaughter statutes when alcohol or drugs are involved.⁵ A DUI crash that kills someone therefore carries substantially heavier incarceration than an ordinary traffic fatality.

Probation and Alternative Sentencing

Alabama courts have real flexibility on first and second offenses, less on third, and almost none on the ten-day floor at the felony level. Probation for a first-time offender commonly includes a substance abuse evaluation and treatment, community service, abstention from alcohol and drugs, and payment of all fines. The court referral program is mandatory for every DUI conviction, not only those on probation.

Probation violations can send you back to serve the suspended portion of your sentence. The burden of proof at a revocation hearing is lower than at trial: the judge needs only reasonable evidence that a violation occurred. In serious cases, particularly when new charges are filed, the court can revoke probation entirely and order you to serve the remainder of the original jail sentence.

Commercial Drivers Face Separate Federal Jail-Free Consequences

A CDL holder’s incarceration under Alabama law is the same as anyone else’s, but the license consequences are not. Under federal regulations, a first DUI in any motor vehicle results in a one-year CDL disqualification. Refusing a breath or blood test, or registering a BAC of 0.04% or higher while driving a commercial vehicle, triggers the same one-year disqualification.⁶

A second qualifying offense results in lifetime CDL disqualification. A state may allow reinstatement after ten years if the driver completes an approved rehabilitation program, but a third offense after reinstatement means permanent disqualification.⁶ For a driver whose income depends on the CDL, a first DUI can end a career even when it produces no jail time at all.

1
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 32-5A-191 – Driving While Under Influence of Alcohol, Controlled Substances, Etc.
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 32-5A-191 – Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Controlled Substances, Etc. – Section: (f)
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 32-5A-191 – Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Controlled Substances, Etc. – Section: (g)
4
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 32-5A-191 – Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Controlled Substances, Etc. – Section: (h)
5
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 32-5A-190.1 – Homicide by Vehicle
6
eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51