What Happens If You Refuse a Breathalyzer in CT?

If you refuse a breathalyzer in Connecticut, the DMV will suspend your license for 45 days and require you to drive with an ignition interlock device for at least a year afterward, and the refusal itself can be used against you if the DUI case goes to trial. These consequences are automatic and administrative, meaning they apply even if you’re never convicted of anything.

The 45-Day License Suspension

The suspension starts with the traffic stop itself. When you refuse a chemical test, the arresting officer revokes your license on the spot for 24 hours on behalf of the DMV Commissioner.¹ The DMV then mails a formal suspension notice, and the 45-day hard suspension begins 30 days after the arrest date.² During those 45 days you cannot drive at all.

The 45-day period is the same whether this is your first refusal or your fourth.¹ What changes with repeat offenses is what comes after. And because this suspension is imposed by the DMV rather than a court, it applies even if the DUI charge is dropped or you’re acquitted at trial.

One point worth separating: refusing roadside field sobriety tests, the walk-and-turn or the pen-tracking exercise, is not the same as refusing a chemical test. The implied consent penalties described here attach only to the chemical test after a DUI arrest.

The Ignition Interlock Device That Follows

You don’t just serve the 45 days and go back to normal driving. Connecticut requires an ignition interlock device, which forces you to pass a breath test before your engine will start, on every vehicle you own or operate as a condition of getting your license back. The length depends on your refusal history:¹

First refusal: one year with the IID
Second refusal: two years
Third or subsequent refusal: three years

The DMV will not restore full, unrestricted driving privileges until the IID period runs out.² So a first-time refusal realistically means something over a year of restricted driving from start to finish.

You pay for the device. The DMV charges a $100 IID administration fee before installation, and the vendor bills you separately for installation, a monthly lease, periodic calibration, and removal.³ The DMV directs drivers to approved vendors for current pricing. Expect a running monthly cost for the full IID period.

Trying to start your car with alcohol on your breath, tampering with the device, or missing required service appointments can extend the IID period or trigger a further suspension.

Refusal Can Still Be Used Against You in Court

Declining the breathalyzer does not make the DUI charge disappear. Connecticut law explicitly allows prosecutors to introduce your refusal at trial.¹ The usual argument is that you refused because you knew the number would incriminate you.

A DUI conviction in Connecticut does not require a BAC reading. Under Connecticut General Statutes 14-227a, the state can convict based on the officer’s observations alone: slurred speech, the smell of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, erratic driving, body camera footage, witness testimony.⁴ A common assumption, that without a number the state can’t make its case, is wrong more often than drivers expect.

If the criminal case does end in a conviction, the court-imposed penalties (fines starting at $500 for a first offense, possible jail time, and a separate 45-day suspension with its own IID period) stack on top of the administrative penalties you already have from the refusal.⁴

Challenging the Suspension at a DMV Hearing

You can contest the administrative suspension, but the deadline is short. You must request a hearing within seven days of the date the DMV mails your suspension notice.⁵ Those are calendar days, though if day seven lands on a day the DMV is closed, you get until the next business day. Miss the window and the suspension takes effect automatically.

The hearing officer is limited to four questions:¹

Did the officer have probable cause to arrest you for DUI?
Were you actually placed under arrest?
Did you refuse the test?
Were you operating a motor vehicle?

If any one of these is not established, the suspension is overturned. In practice, the strongest challenges tend to focus on probable cause or on whether the officer gave you the required advisement that refusal would cost you your license and could be used against you.¹ You can represent yourself, but an attorney who regularly handles these hearings is more likely to spot procedural failures. If the DMV upholds the suspension, you can appeal to Connecticut Superior Court, but you’ll need to point to a legal error in the decision.

Police Can Still Get Your BAC With a Warrant

Refusing the breathalyzer doesn’t guarantee the state ends up with no BAC evidence. Connecticut officers can apply for a telephonic search warrant to compel a blood draw, and if a judge issues one, refusing to comply is a separate problem on top of the implied consent penalties.

The constitutional backdrop comes from two U.S. Supreme Court cases. Birchfield v. North Dakota (2016) allows warrantless breath tests after a DUI arrest but requires a warrant for blood tests.⁶ Mitchell v. Wisconsin (2019) added that when a DUI suspect is unconscious or incapacitated and can’t take a breath test, officers may almost always order a warrantless blood draw.⁷

If You’re Under 21 or Hold an Out-of-State License

Drivers under 21 face the same 45-day suspension and one-year IID requirement for a first refusal. The underlying BAC threshold for this age group is .02% rather than .08% under Connecticut General Statutes 14-227g, and the criminal provisions of 14-227a reach them through a cross-reference, so the exposure is real at very low levels of impairment.⁸

If you drive on an out-of-state license, Connecticut can suspend your privilege to drive within the state and apply the same IID conditions, even though it can’t physically confiscate a license it didn’t issue. Connecticut has been a member of the Driver License Compact since 1992, so your home state will be notified of the refusal and may add its own penalties under its own rules.⁹

What Reinstatement Will Cost You

Getting your license back after the 45-day suspension involves a $175 DMV reinstatement fee.¹⁰ Add the $100 IID administration fee and the vendor’s monthly charges over the full IID period, and the direct cost adds up quickly.³

Insurance is the quieter expense. Premiums usually jump sharply after a DUI-related suspension, many standard carriers won’t write competitive rates while you have an IID requirement, and some will drop coverage. The increase tends to persist for several years after your driving privileges are fully restored. Connecticut may also require you to file proof of insurance with the DMV as a reinstatement condition.

1
Justia. Connecticut Code 14-227b – Implied Consent to Test Operator’s Blood, Breath or Urine
2
CT.gov. Driving Under the Influence: Laws and Penalties
3
CT.gov. Ignition Interlock Device (IID) Program
4
Justia. Connecticut Code 14-227a – Operation While Under the Influence of Liquor or Drug or While Having an Elevated Blood Alcohol Content
5
Connecticut eRegulations. Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies 14-227b-12
6
Justia. Birchfield v. North Dakota, 579 U.S. ___ (2016)
7
Justia. Mitchell v. Wisconsin, 588 U.S. ___ (2019)
8
Justia. Connecticut Code 14-227g – Operation by Person Under Twenty-One Years of Age While Blood Alcohol Content Exceeds .02%
9
Connecticut General Assembly. OLR Report 95-R-1143 – Interstate Reciprocity for Motor Vehicle Violations
10
CT.gov. Pay Your License Reinstatement Fee in CT