What Happens When You Get a DUI in Michigan: Jail, Fines, License

Getting arrested for drunk driving in Michigan sets two separate cases in motion at once: a criminal case in court and an administrative action against your license through the Secretary of State. A first-offense Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) conviction, which is what Michigan calls a DUI, is a misdemeanor that can carry up to 93 days in jail, fines between $100 and $500, and a license suspension of up to 180 days.¹ The real cost runs higher once you add ignition interlock fees, insurance increases, mandatory treatment, and attorney’s fees, and the two cases don’t always move on the same timeline.

From the Traffic Stop to the Station

Most arrests start with a stop for something ordinary like weaving or speeding. If the officer suspects you’ve been drinking, you’ll be asked to perform field sobriety tests and blow into a roadside Preliminary Breath Test (PBT). For most drivers, refusing the PBT is only a civil infraction. For commercial drivers, that same refusal is a misdemeanor with up to 93 days in jail and a $100 fine.²

After the arrest, you’ll be taken to a station or medical facility for a chemical test of your blood, breath, or urine. Michigan’s Implied Consent law requires you to submit. Refusing adds six points to your driving record and triggers an automatic license suspension that applies even if the criminal charge is later dismissed.²

Police will take your physical license and give you a paper permit called a DI-177. The permit lets you keep driving under your normal restrictions until the court resolves your case or the Secretary of State suspends, restricts, or revokes your license.³

Which Charge You’re Facing

Michigan uses several impaired driving charges, and the one on your paperwork drives everything that follows.

OWI applies if your blood alcohol content (BAC) is 0.08% or higher, or if alcohol or drugs substantially impaired your ability to drive. You don’t actually need a BAC over the limit; visible impairment plus other evidence can be enough.¹

Operating While Visibly Impaired (OWVI) is a lesser charge that doesn’t rely on a specific BAC. The prosecution has to show your driving was noticeably affected. OWVI often comes up as a plea bargain when the evidence for a full OWI has weaknesses. A first OWVI carries up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $300.¹

High BAC, often called “Super Drunk,” applies when your BAC hits 0.17% or higher. It’s still a misdemeanor for a first offense, but the ceiling climbs to 180 days in jail and $200 to $700 in fines, with much tougher license consequences.¹

Drivers under 21 face a zero tolerance threshold of 0.02% BAC or any presence of alcohol from drinking, low enough that a single beer can trigger a charge.¹

How the Court Case Moves

Your first appearance is the arraignment. The judge reads the charge, explains your rights, takes a plea, and sets bond conditions. Those conditions often include random alcohol or drug testing while the case is pending, and violating them can land you in jail before the case is even decided.

From there the case enters pre-trial. Your attorney gets the police report, any dashcam or bodycam video, and the chemical test results, and holds conferences with the prosecutor. Most OWI cases are resolved at this stage, frequently through a plea to a reduced charge like OWVI when the evidence has gaps.

If no deal is reached, the case goes to trial. OWI trials usually focus on whether the stop was lawful, whether the field sobriety tests were done correctly, and whether the chemical test equipment was properly calibrated and maintained.

Jail, Fines, and Probation by Offense Level

Penalties climb sharply with each repeat, and a third offense is a felony no matter how long ago the earlier convictions happened.

First Offense

A standard first OWI is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail, a fine of $100 to $500, and up to 360 hours of community service. Many first offenders avoid jail and get probation, but that’s up to the judge. A first offense at 0.17% or above raises the jail ceiling to 180 days with fines of $200 to $700, and the court can order vehicle immobilization.¹

Second Offense Within Seven Years

A second conviction within seven years of a prior one triggers mandatory jail time of at least five days and up to one year, a fine of $200 to $1,000, and 30 to 90 days of community service. The jail sentence can’t be suspended unless you enter and complete a specialty court program like a sobriety court. Vehicle immobilization is required unless the court orders the vehicle forfeited.¹

Third Offense (Felony)

A third OWI at any point in your lifetime is a felony. The sentence is a $500 to $5,000 fine and either one to five years in state prison, or probation with at least 30 days in county jail plus 60 to 180 days of community service. Under the probation option, at least 48 hours of the jail time must be served consecutively. Immobilization or forfeiture is mandatory.¹

Causing Death or Serious Injury

Causing a death while driving impaired is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $2,500 to $10,000 fine. Causing serious bodily injury is a felony punishable by up to five years and a $1,000 to $5,000 fine. If your BAC was 0.17% or higher and you had a prior conviction within seven years, the prison ceiling for a fatal crash climbs to 20 years.¹

What Happens to Your License

The Secretary of State acts on its own, separate from the court. For a first OWI below 0.17%, you face up to 180 days of suspension and six points on your record. In practice that’s typically a 30-day hard suspension followed by 150 days of restricted driving for work, school, court-ordered treatment, and medical appointments.⁴

A High BAC conviction brings a full year of suspension plus six points. After 45 days you can apply for a restricted license, but only with a breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID) installed on your vehicle. The BAIID requires a clean breath sample before the car starts and at intervals while you drive.⁴

A second offense means license revocation for at least one year. A third offense carries a five-year revocation. Revocation isn’t the same as suspension; there’s no automatic end date, and you have to earn the license back through a formal hearing.

What It Actually Costs

Court fines are usually the smallest piece. If you’re ordered to use a BAIID, budget roughly $3 per day for the device, plus installation, monthly monitoring, calibration visits, and removal. Over a year, the device alone runs past $1,000.

Insurance is often the biggest hit. Insurers reclassify you as high-risk and typically require an SR-22 certificate of financial responsibility on file with the Secretary of State for three years. The form itself is cheap, but premiums behind it can double or more.

Legal fees for a standard OWI case commonly run $1,500 to $7,500 depending on complexity and whether the case goes to trial. Add court costs, mandatory screening and treatment, probation supervision fees, and reinstatement fees when your license sanction ends. Michigan eliminated its old driver responsibility fees, so you won’t be hit with those annual surcharges.

Added up, a first-offense OWI in Michigan commonly costs $5,000 to $15,000. Repeat offenses cost considerably more.

Alcohol Assessment and Treatment

Every OWI conviction brings a mandatory alcohol screening or substance use evaluation before sentencing. The results tell the court what level of treatment to require as a probation condition.

At a minimum, most first offenders complete an Alcohol Highway Safety Class of about eight hours. If the assessment points to a more serious problem, the court can order outpatient counseling, intensive outpatient treatment, or residential treatment, all at your expense.⁵

Probation often includes random drug and alcohol testing, sometimes several times per week. A missed or positive test is a probation violation, and that’s where plenty of people who originally avoided jail at sentencing end up incarcerated anyway.

Getting a Revoked License Back

If your license was revoked (the typical consequence for second and third offenses), you can’t just wait out the revocation period and renew. You have to petition the Secretary of State’s Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight (OHAO) for restoration.⁶

The hearing officer wants evidence that you’ve genuinely changed your relationship with alcohol. The package typically includes a formal substance use evaluation, a laboratory 12-panel drug screen (not an instant test), three to six letters from people who can speak to your sobriety, and proof of treatment or support group participation. Approvals aren’t automatic, and many first petitions are denied.⁶

Expunging a First Offense Later

Since February 2022, Michigan has allowed expungement of a first-offense OWI under MCL 780.621d. Before that, drunk driving convictions were permanently on your record. Eligibility is narrow: it has to be your only OWI-related conviction, at least five years must have passed since you finished every part of your sentence, your record has to be clean during that wait, and convictions for OWI causing death or serious injury or offenses committed in a commercial vehicle don’t qualify.

Expungement seals the conviction from most employers, landlords, and background checks, but it does not erase the entry from your Secretary of State driving history. A future OWI will still count the expunged case as a prior for escalating penalties, and law enforcement, courts, and certain professional licensing boards can still see it.

Travel to Canada

An OWI conviction can block entry to Canada. Since December 2018, Canada has treated impaired driving as a serious crime, making a person with a DUI conviction criminally inadmissible. For offenses on or after that date, the inadmissibility is effectively permanent unless you obtain a Temporary Resident Permit or apply for Criminal Rehabilitation through Canadian immigration.⁷

For offenses before December 18, 2018, you may qualify for “deemed rehabilitation” once ten years have passed since you completed every element of your sentence, including probation and license reinstatement. Even then, you have to bring documentation proving you’ve met the requirements.⁷

If You Hold a CDL

A commercial driver’s license carries harsher federal consequences. A first impaired driving conviction brings a minimum one-year CDL disqualification, even if you were driving your personal vehicle at the time. A second offense disqualifies you from commercial driving for life. Refusing a chemical test carries the same penalties as a conviction.⁸ If driving is your livelihood, one OWI can end the career.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 257.625 – Operating Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws MCL 257.625a
3
State of Michigan. DI-177 Breath, Blood, Urine Test Report
4
State of Michigan. Impaired Driving Law
5
State of Michigan. Substance Use Assessments and Classes
6
State of Michigan. Office of Hearings and Administrative Oversight – License Restoration
7
Temporary Resident Permit Canada. Deemed Rehabilitation Canada (DUI or Criminal Record)
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications