Is a DUI a Felony in Missouri? Priors, Injury, and Jail Time

A DUI is a felony in Missouri when the driver has at least two prior intoxication-related convictions, or when the current incident causes physical injury or death to another person. Missouri calls the offense driving while intoxicated rather than DUI, and felony classifications run from Class E at the low end up to Class A, depending on the number of priors and the harm caused.

Two Prior Convictions Turn a DWI Into a Felony

Repeat offenses are the most common route into felony territory. Missouri labels repeat offenders by tier, and each tier corresponds to a felony class with its own sentence range.

Persistent offender, Class E felony: two or more prior intoxication-related convictions, up to four years in prison.¹
Aggravated offender, Class D felony: three or more prior convictions, up to seven years.²
Chronic offender, Class C felony: four or more prior convictions, three to ten years.²
Habitual offender, Class B felony: five or more prior convictions, five to fifteen years.¹
Class A felony: a driver previously convicted of a Class B felony DWI who commits another qualifying offense faces ten to thirty years, or life imprisonment.²

Not every countable conviction has to be a straight DWI. Section 577.023 also counts intoxication-related involuntary manslaughter and second-degree assault involving impaired driving. Someone with one prior DWI and one prior intoxication-related assault conviction can qualify as a persistent offender on that basis alone.³

Injury or Death Makes a First DWI a Felony

A driver with no prior offenses at all can be charged with a felony when someone gets hurt or killed. The class depends on the severity of the harm and whether the victim is a law enforcement officer or emergency responder:

Physical injury to another person: Class E felony, up to four years.
Physical injury to a law enforcement officer or emergency responder: Class D felony, up to seven years.
Serious physical injury to another person: Class D felony, up to seven years.
Serious physical injury to a law enforcement officer or emergency responder: Class C felony, three to ten years.
Death of another person: Class C felony, three to ten years.
Death of a law enforcement officer or emergency responder: Class B felony, five to fifteen years.

Each of these charges requires proof that the driver acted with criminal negligence while intoxicated.¹

Several additional paths lead to a Class B felony. A driver faces Class B charges when the crash kills a non-passenger, such as a pedestrian or another motorist, when it kills two or more people, or when it kills anyone while the driver’s BAC is 0.18% or higher.¹ The 0.18% threshold applies regardless of who the victim is.

No Time Limit on Priors for Felony Charges

Missouri treats the misdemeanor “prior offender” designation very differently from the felony-level designations. A second-offense misdemeanor DWI only applies if the earlier conviction happened within five years of the new one.³

The felony-level definitions have no such window. A conviction from fifteen or twenty years ago still counts toward persistent, aggravated, chronic, or habitual offender status. A DWI at 22, another at 25, and a third at 50 can add up to a felony charge, because the statute looks at the total count on your record rather than how recent the priors are.

Mandatory Jail Time Before Probation

A felony DWI in Missouri cannot be resolved with a suspended sentence or a fine alone. Every felony-level offender must serve time before becoming eligible for probation or parole.¹ The floors are:

Persistent offender, Class E: 30 days in jail, unless the court substitutes 60 days of supervised community service or a court-ordered treatment program that includes 60 days of community service.
Aggravated offender, Class D: 60 days in jail, with no community service alternative.
Chronic or habitual offender, Class C or B: two years in prison, with no alternative.

These minimums must be served before any release, including release on probation.¹

Fines

Fines for Class C, D, and E felonies in Missouri can reach $10,000.⁴ Class A and B felonies carry higher maximums. Those amounts are separate from court costs, restitution, and reinstatement-related fees.

Where the Misdemeanor Line Sits

A first-time DWI with no aggravating factors is a Class B misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in county jail. The BAC threshold is 0.08% for standard drivers and 0.04% for commercial drivers.⁵ A second DWI within five years is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, with at least ten days served before probation or parole eligibility. A first offense also becomes a Class A misdemeanor if a child under seventeen is in the vehicle.¹ The felony line begins with the third conviction, or with any incident that causes injury or death.

A Felony DWI Stays on Your Record for Life

Missouri’s expungement statute explicitly excludes all intoxication-related traffic offenses. That exclusion covers both misdemeanor and felony DWI convictions. Most other Missouri felonies become eligible for expungement seven years after the sentence is completed; a DWI conviction does not.⁶

Records can only be cleared if the charges were dismissed, you were found not guilty, or the arrest was a case of mistaken identity. A guilty plea or a conviction at trial is permanent. That permanence is what drives the offender-classification ladder: every prior stays on your record and remains available for prosecutors to count against you the next time.

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 577.010 – Driving While Intoxicated – Sentencing Restrictions
2
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 558.011 – Sentence of Imprisonment, Terms – Conditional Release
3
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 577.023 – Intoxication-Related Traffic Offenses – Offender Classifications
4
Missouri State Highway Patrol. Senate Bill 491 Summary
5
Missouri Department of Revenue. Driving While Intoxicated (DWI)
6
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Records