A DUI in Kentucky is a felony when it is your fourth offense within a ten-year lookback window, or when impaired driving causes serious physical injury or death. Everything below that line is a misdemeanor: first and second offenses are Class B misdemeanors, and a third within ten years is a Class A misdemeanor. A fourth offense is a Class D felony carrying one to five years in prison.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189A.010
The Fourth-Offense Rule and the Ten-Year Lookback
Kentucky counts prior DUI convictions over a ten-year window. Three qualifying DUIs within that period automatically push a fourth charge to a Class D felony, regardless of how the fourth arrest unfolded.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189A.010 No crash, no high BAC, no aggravator is required. The count alone does the work.
The window runs from the dates of your prior offenses to the date of the new offense. That timing matters. If your oldest qualifying conviction falls outside the ten years, it drops out of the count, and the new charge can stay at the misdemeanor level. A conviction that happened eleven years ago does not elevate a current charge; one from nine years and ten months ago does.
Penalties for a Felony DUI
A Class D felony DUI in Kentucky carries one to five years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of 120 days that cannot be suspended or probated. Fines run from $1,000 to $10,000. Your license is suspended for five years. You must also complete a one-year substance abuse treatment program that may include residential treatment.2FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes Title XVI Motor Vehicles – 189A.040 The mandatory $425 service fee that applies to every Kentucky DUI conviction is layered on top of the criminal fine.3Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. DUI Manual 4th Edition
If an aggravating circumstance is present, the 120-day mandatory minimum doubles to 240 days, and that doubled minimum still cannot be suspended or probated.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189A.010
Injury or Death: A Separate Felony Path
You do not need a prior record to be charged with a felony if someone is hurt or killed. Causing serious physical injury to another person while driving impaired can be charged as second-degree assault, a Class C felony.4FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes Title L Kentucky Penal Code – 508.020 Causing a death can be charged as second-degree manslaughter, also a Class C felony.5FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes Title L Kentucky Penal Code – 507.040 A Class C felony carries 5 to 10 years in prison, more severe than the Class D felony DUI itself.
These charges are filed in addition to the underlying DUI, not in place of it. A first-time offender with a clean record can face both the DUI penalties and separate Class C felony penalties stacked together. This is the scenario where impaired driving sends someone to prison for years after a single arrest.
Aggravators That Can Double the Minimum
Aggravating circumstances do not themselves turn a misdemeanor DUI into a felony, but they double whatever mandatory minimum jail time applies, including at the felony level. The statute lists these aggravators:1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189A.010
- Driving 30 mph or more over the speed limit
- Traveling the wrong way on a limited-access highway
- Causing an accident that results in death or serious physical injury
- A blood alcohol concentration of .15 or higher
- Refusing to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test
- Having a passenger under 12 years old in the vehicle
Each doubled minimum is still non-suspendable and non-probatable. One aggravator is enough to trigger the doubling.
Where Misdemeanor DUIs Fit
So you can place yourself on the spectrum, here is where the misdemeanor tiers sit. A first DUI is a Class B misdemeanor with fines of $200 to $500, a license suspension of four to six months, up to 30 days in jail, and a 90-day substance abuse program.2FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes Title XVI Motor Vehicles – 189A.040 A second DUI within ten years is still a Class B misdemeanor, but the mandatory minimum climbs to seven days in jail, fines run $350 to $500, the suspension stretches to 12 to 18 months, and treatment runs a full year.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189A.010
A third DUI within ten years is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to 12 months in jail.6Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 532.090 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Misdemeanor Fines run $500 to $1,000, the suspension is 36 months, and at least 30 days in jail are mandatory. The next DUI after that, if it falls inside the ten-year window, is the felony.
Commercial Drivers Face Extra Consequences
If you hold a commercial driver’s license, a DUI conviction brings federal disqualification rules on top of Kentucky’s penalties. A first DUI results in at least a one-year CDL disqualification. If you were hauling hazardous materials, that disqualification is at least three years. A second DUI results in a lifetime CDL disqualification.7GovInfo. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications
The disqualification applies even if you were driving your personal vehicle when arrested. A DUI in your own car on a Saturday night still costs you your commercial driving privileges. A hardship or restricted license cannot be used to operate commercial vehicles during the disqualification period.
Expungement Odds
Kentucky allows expungement of misdemeanor DUI convictions, but only after a ten-year wait from the date you were charged, mirroring the lookback period.8Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. Guide to Expungement in Kentucky Felony DUI convictions are significantly harder to expunge and may not be eligible at all. A felony DUI on your record is, in practical terms, likely to stay there.