Is a DUI a Misdemeanor or Felony in Georgia?

In Georgia, a DUI is a misdemeanor for the first and second offense within ten years, a “high and aggravated” misdemeanor for the third within ten years, and a felony for the fourth within ten years. A DUI is also a felony, regardless of prior history, when it causes serious injury or death, when the driver is operating a school bus, or on a third or later conviction for DUI with a child under 14 in the vehicle. Whether your case is a misdemeanor or a felony turns on two things: how many prior DUIs you have inside the lookback window, and whether anything about the current incident pushes it into felony territory on its own.

How Georgia Counts Prior DUIs

The ten-year lookback runs from arrest date to arrest date, not conviction to conviction. The date you were arrested on the earlier case is the anchor, no matter how long that case took to resolve.¹ That detail decides which tier applies, so it is worth checking the arrest date on any prior case before assuming you are a first offender.

First DUI: Misdemeanor

A first DUI inside the ten-year window is a standard misdemeanor. The penalties include:

Fine of $300 to $1,000.
Jail sentence of 10 days to 12 months. Judges routinely probate most of that time, so many first offenders serve very little actual jail.
At least 40 hours of community service. For an underage DUI with a BAC below 0.08, the minimum drops to 20 hours.
Probation of 12 months minus any days actually served.
A state-certified DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program, completed within 120 days of conviction. The course runs at least 20 hours and must be finished within four weeks.
A clinical substance abuse evaluation, with treatment if the evaluator recommends it.

You will sometimes see the first-offense minimum described as 24 hours of jail. The statute itself says 10 days, with the judge free to probate almost all of it.¹

Second DUI: Misdemeanor With Mandatory Jail

A second DUI within ten years is still a misdemeanor, but the floor rises:

Fine of $600 to $1,000.
Jail sentence of 90 days to 12 months. At least 72 hours must be served as actual incarceration and cannot be probated.
At least 30 days of community service.
Probation of 12 months minus time served.
Risk Reduction Program and clinical evaluation on the same terms as a first offense.¹

The community service requirement jumps from hours to days, which can disrupt a work schedule in a way the first offense usually does not.

Third DUI: High and Aggravated Misdemeanor

A third DUI within ten years is classified as a “high and aggravated” misdemeanor. It is still not a felony, but it is its own category sitting above a standard misdemeanor. The practical consequence is that earned-time jail credits and early-release provisions are sharply restricted, so you serve a larger share of whatever sentence the judge imposes.

Third-offense penalties include:

Fine of $1,000 to $5,000.
Jail sentence of 120 days to 12 months, with at least 15 days of actual incarceration that cannot be probated.
At least 30 days of community service.
Probation of 12 months minus time served.
Risk Reduction Program and clinical evaluation, with treatment mandatory if recommended.

Because good-time credits are restricted, someone sentenced to a full 12 months at this level serves roughly 328 of the 365 days rather than earning the two-for-one credit a standard misdemeanor inmate might.¹

When a DUI Becomes a Felony

Several situations push a Georgia DUI across the felony line.

Fourth DUI Within Ten Years

A fourth conviction inside the ten-year lookback is a felony. Penalties include:

Fine of $1,000 to $5,000, which the judge cannot suspend or probate.
Prison term of one to five years, though the judge may suspend all but 90 days.
At least 60 days of community service, unless the judge imposes three or more years of actual imprisonment.
Probation of five years minus time served.
Risk Reduction Program and clinical evaluation on the same terms as the misdemeanor tiers.¹

DUI Causing Serious Injury or Death

Causing serious bodily harm while driving under the influence is charged as serious injury by vehicle, a felony carrying one to fifteen years in prison. The statute defines serious bodily harm as an injury that causes the loss or uselessness of a body part, serious disfigurement, or organic brain damage.² If someone dies in a DUI-related crash, the charge becomes vehicular homicide, also a felony with substantial prison time.

School Bus and Child Endangerment

Driving a school bus while under the influence is a felony whether or not students are on board. Having a child under 14 in the vehicle during a DUI is charged separately as endangering a child by DUI; a first or second such offense is a misdemeanor, but a third or later child-endangerment DUI is a felony.

The 30-Day License Hearing Deadline

One deadline runs on its own clock and has nothing to do with whether your case is ultimately a misdemeanor or a felony. Under Georgia’s implied consent law, driving on Georgia roads means you have already agreed to submit to chemical testing when an officer has reasonable grounds to suspect impairment. Refusing the test triggers an automatic one-year administrative license suspension through the Department of Driver Services, and a test result of 0.08 or higher can trigger an administrative suspension as well, separately from your criminal case.³

You have 30 days from the date you receive notice to request an administrative license suspension hearing in writing, with a $150 filing fee. Miss that window and the right to challenge the administrative suspension is gone. The clock starts at arrest, not at your first court date.³ If your DUI is recent, this is the deadline to put on the calendar first.

1
Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-6-391 – Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Drugs, or Other Intoxicating Substances
2
Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-6-394 – Serious Injury by Vehicle, Penalty
3
Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-5-67.1 – Chemical Tests, Implied Consent Notice