RSMo 577.010: Driving While Intoxicated in Missouri

Missouri DWI law, set out in Revised Statute 577.010, makes it a crime to operate a vehicle in an intoxicated condition and punishes it on a sliding scale that starts at a six-month misdemeanor and climbs to a felony carrying up to life in prison.¹ Where you land on that scale depends on two things: how many prior intoxication-related offenses you have, and whether anyone was hurt or killed. The license consequences run on a separate track and often hit before the criminal case is resolved.

What the State Has to Prove

The offense itself is short. A person commits DWI by operating a vehicle while in an intoxicated condition.¹ Both words carry more weight than they look.

“Operating” does not require movement. Missouri courts have found probable cause for DWI where a driver was unconscious behind the wheel with the engine running and the transmission in drive.² Sitting in the driver’s seat of a running car is enough exposure to be charged.

“Intoxicated condition” is defined in Section 577.001 as being under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, or any combination of them.³ A sedating prescription mixed with one drink can qualify. Officers can prove intoxication without a chemical test by relying on slurred speech, odor of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, poor balance, and field sobriety test performance.

The BAC thresholds themselves are:

0.08 percent for most adult drivers, which creates a legal presumption of impairment on the number alone.⁴
0.02 percent for drivers under 21, which means any detectable alcohol can trigger enforcement.⁵
0.04 percent for CDL holders operating a commercial vehicle. In a personal vehicle, the normal 0.08 threshold applies, but any DWI conviction brings CDL disqualification consequences.

Criminal Penalties by Prior-Offense Tier

Section 577.010 ties the offense class to how many prior intoxication-related traffic offenses you have. The classifications are defined in Section 577.001, and every step up means a harsher authorized sentence under Section 558.011.⁶

First offense, no priors: Class B misdemeanor, up to six months in jail.
Prior offender (one prior within five years) or any offense with a child under 17 in the vehicle: Class A misdemeanor, up to one year in jail.
Persistent offender (two or more priors on separate occasions, or one prior involving injury or death): Class E felony, up to four years in prison.
Aggravated offender (three or more priors, or two or more with at least one involving injury or death): Class D felony, up to seven years.
Chronic offender (four or more priors, with alternative paths involving injury or death): Class C felony, three to ten years.
Habitual offender (five or more priors, with similar alternative paths): Class B felony, five to fifteen years.

One detail catches people off guard. Only the “prior offender” category has a five-year lookback. Persistent, aggravated, chronic, and habitual status count every qualifying conviction regardless of age.³ A twenty-year-old DWI still counts. And “intoxication-related traffic offense” is defined broadly to include DWI, driving with excessive BAC, and driving under the influence under any state, county, municipal, federal, or military law, so an out-of-state DUI or a military conviction counts as a prior.

When Injuries or Deaths Are Involved

Harm caused by the driver raises the offense class on its own, independent of prior offenses. The ladder under 577.010 runs:¹

Physical injury to another person: Class E felony, up to four years.
Physical injury to a law enforcement officer or emergency worker: Class D felony, up to seven years.
Serious physical injury to another person: Class D felony, up to seven years.
Serious physical injury to law enforcement or emergency personnel: Class C felony, three to ten years.
Death of another person: Class C felony, three to ten years.
Death of law enforcement or emergency personnel: Class B felony, five to fifteen years.
Death of a non-passenger, death of two or more people, or death of anyone where the driver’s BAC was 0.18 percent or higher: Class B felony, five to fifteen years.

The statute’s most severe charge, a Class A felony carrying ten to thirty years or life, applies only when a person previously convicted of one of those Class B felony DWI-death offenses commits another one.⁶ That is the only path to a Class A felony under this statute.

Sentencing Restrictions Worth Knowing

Even on a first offense, the court cannot grant a suspended imposition of sentence, which can keep the conviction off a public record, unless the judge places you on probation for at least two years.² For a first-time offender with a BAC of 0.15 percent or higher, in circuits that have a DWI court or court-ordered treatment program, the judge may require participation in that program as a condition of any SIS. Any probation violation, including drinking, can revoke the SIS and trigger the original sentence.

What Happens to Your License

The license consequences move on their own schedule and can arrive before the criminal case is resolved.

Under Missouri’s implied consent law, anyone driving on public roads is deemed to have consented to a chemical test of breath, blood, saliva, or urine when arrested on reasonable grounds for intoxicated driving.⁵ Refusal does not stop prosecution, because officers can seek a warrant for a blood draw, but it brings an administrative action.

A first refusal, or a BAC at or above 0.08 percent, results in a 90-day administrative suspension. If you already have a prior alcohol-related suspension, the action becomes a one-year revocation.⁴

Points stack on top of that. A first DWI conviction adds 8 points to your driving record; subsequent DWIs and any DWI involving injury or death add 12.⁷ Point accumulation triggers its own suspensions on a separate track from the DWI-specific action.

The long-term consequence is license denial under Section 302.060. More than two DWI convictions makes you ineligible for a driver’s license. You may petition the circuit court for restoration after ten years from the last conviction, but only if you have had no alcohol-related offenses, no pending charges, and no other alcohol-related enforcement contacts during that period.⁸ A DWI involving a death, or two DWI convictions within five years, triggers a separate denial that allows a petition after five years on the same conditions. The petition can only be granted once.

Getting Back on the Road

Reinstatement after a DWI is not automatic. Most offenders have to complete the Substance Awareness Traffic Offender Program (SATOP), install an ignition interlock, carry SR-22 insurance, and in many cases apply for a limited driving privilege to drive at all in the meantime.

SATOP

SATOP completion is typically required for reinstatement, as a condition of probation, or as part of a plea.⁹ It begins with a $126 screening plus a $249 supplemental fee. Based on screening results, offenders are placed in one of four levels:

Level I, Offender Education Program: 10 hours, around $200.
Level II, Weekend Intervention Program: 20 hours of education and counseling over a weekend, around $475.
Level III, Clinical Intervention Program: 50-hour outpatient program typically completed over five weeks, around $1,083.
Level IV, Serious and Repeat Offender Program: at least 75 hours of outpatient treatment over no fewer than 90 days, around $1,523.

Fees are paid entirely by the offender. An alternative path exists for people who complete at least 120 hours of substance use treatment (with at least 40 hours of individual or group counseling) at a state-certified or nationally accredited agency, though the $249 supplemental fee still applies.

Ignition Interlock

Missouri may require an ignition interlock device before reinstating a suspended license, issuing a limited driving privilege, or issuing certain restricted privileges.¹⁰ Anyone with more than one alcohol offense, or with an active chemical revocation, must install one before a limited driving privilege will be issued.¹¹

Drivers under a five- or ten-year denial have to install a camera-equipped IID, and the court may add GPS monitoring. Monthly maintenance visits at a certified installer are mandatory. A violation reported by the device extends the requirement: 30 additional days for someone on an immediate 90-day restricted privilege, or enough time to produce three consecutive violation-free months in other cases.¹⁰ Driving without a required IID is itself an offense: one-year revocation on a first conviction, five-year revocation on a second.

Limited Driving Privilege and SR-22

A limited driving privilege lets you drive for work, school, medical appointments, or other court-approved purposes while your license is suspended or revoked. An SR-22 certificate, filed by your insurance company as proof of financial responsibility, is required for the duration of the LDP. If the SR-22 lapses before the LDP expires, the privilege is cancelled automatically.¹¹ SR-22 coverage typically costs significantly more than standard insurance and can continue for years after the arrest.

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 577.010 – Driving While Intoxicated – Sentencing Restrictions
2
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 577.010 – Driving While Intoxicated – Sentencing Restrictions
3
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 577.001 – Chapter Definitions
4
Missouri Department of Revenue. Missouri Driver Guide – Section: Administrative Actions
5
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 577.020 – Implied Consent
6
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 558.011 – Imprisonment Terms
7
Missouri Department of Revenue. Missouri Driver Record Traffic Violation Descriptions and Points
8
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 302.060 – License Denial
9
Missouri Department of Mental Health. Substance Awareness Traffic Offender Program
10
Missouri Department of Revenue. Ignition Interlock Device
11
Missouri Department of Revenue. Limited Driving Privilege