What Happens When You Get a DUI in Virginia?

Getting arrested for a DUI in Virginia starts two separate processes at once: a criminal case that moves through the courts and an administrative license suspension that the DMV imposes immediately through the arresting officer. A first conviction is a Class 1 misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum $250 fine, a one-year license revocation, mandatory enrollment in the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, and an ignition interlock requirement if you want to drive again during that year.¹ Jail time, higher fines, and felony exposure enter the picture if your BAC was high, if you refused the chemical test, or if you have prior offenses within ten years.

At the Scene: Stop, Tests, and Arrest

An officer who pulls you over for something as minor as a broken taillight is already building a case the moment they reach your window, noting any smell of alcohol, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, or trouble handling your license and registration. If they suspect impairment, you’ll be asked to step out for field sobriety tests and may be offered a roadside preliminary breath test.

You can legally decline both the field sobriety tests and the roadside preliminary breath test without automatic penalties. The officer can still make an arrest based on everything else they’ve observed. Don’t confuse that roadside device with the formal chemical test given at the station after arrest. Those are two different tests, and refusing the second one carries real consequences.

Your License Is Suspended Before Trial

You lose your license on the spot. The arresting officer takes it and hands you a notice of administrative suspension if your breath test shows a BAC of 0.08% or higher, if you’re under 21 with a BAC of 0.02% or higher, or if you refuse the test.²

For a first-offense charge, this pre-trial suspension runs seven days. A second-offense charge brings 60 days. A third or subsequent charge keeps you suspended until your trial date.² This is entirely separate from any revocation that comes later with a conviction. The DMV acts first; the court acts later.

The Breath Test You Can’t Refuse Without Consequences

By driving on any public road in Virginia, you’ve already agreed under the state’s implied consent law to submit to a formal breath or blood test if you’re lawfully arrested for DUI. The test must happen within three hours of the alleged offense.³

Refusing that post-arrest test is its own offense. A first refusal is civil and triggers an automatic one-year license suspension with no restricted license available during that period. A second refusal within ten years becomes a Class 1 misdemeanor, adding a potential three-year suspension, up to a year in jail, and a fine of up to $2,500. The refusal suspension stacks on top of any suspension that follows the DUI conviction itself, so refusing almost never helps.

What Happens in Court

The criminal side begins with an arraignment where a judge reads the charge, addresses your right to counsel, and sets a trial date. Your attorney can often waive your appearance at this first hearing.

Between arraignment and trial, the defense reviews dashcam or bodycam footage, the breath machine’s calibration records, and the circumstances of the stop itself. Motions may challenge whether there was reasonable suspicion to stop you, whether the field sobriety tests were properly administered, or whether the chemical test results are reliable. If no plea agreement is reached, the case goes to trial and a judge decides whether the prosecution proved the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

What a First Conviction Costs You

A first DUI is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The mandatory minimum fine is $250, with a statutory maximum of $2,500. A judge can impose up to 12 months in jail, though jail time is not mandatory for a standard first offense where your BAC was below 0.15%.¹

An elevated BAC changes that. A reading between 0.15% and 0.20% adds five days of mandatory jail time on top of anything else the judge imposes. A reading above 0.20% adds ten days.¹

Every first conviction also carries a one-year driver’s license revocation and mandatory enrollment in the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP), which runs education, intervention, and monitoring.⁴

Getting Back on the Road

You lose your license for a full year, but most first-time offenders don’t have to wait the full year to drive. You can petition the court for a restricted license, and if it’s granted the condition is that every vehicle you drive must have a certified ignition interlock device installed.⁵

The interlock measures your breath alcohol before the engine will start. A reading above 0.02% blocks ignition. The device also demands random rolling retests while you’re driving and logs every result electronically. You must keep it installed for at least 12 consecutive months with no alcohol-related violations before the requirement can be lifted.⁶

Once your full suspension has ended, VASAP is complete, all fines and court costs are paid, and the interlock requirement is satisfied, you can apply to the DMV for full reinstatement. The reinstatement fee is $220.⁷

The Real Price Tag

The $250 mandatory minimum fine barely registers against what a DUI actually costs. VASAP alone can run several hundred dollars, with a typical entry fee of up to $300 plus charges for classes, screenings, and interlock monitoring over the length of the program.

The interlock device has its own monthly cost. Virginia regulations cap the monthly calibration and monitoring fee at $95 plus applicable taxes, and that runs for at least 12 months.⁸ Installation and removal fees are on top of that.

Insurance is the quiet killer. Virginia requires you to file an FR-44 certificate of financial responsibility after a DUI, which means carrying liability coverage at double the state’s normal minimums: $60,000 per person and $120,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $40,000 for property damage.⁹ The FR-44 obligation typically lasts three years, and premiums under it often double or triple.

Add the $220 reinstatement fee, court costs, and attorney fees that commonly run from $1,500 to $7,500 or more for a first offense, and total out-of-pocket cost for a Virginia DUI usually lands between $5,000 and $15,000 before any lost wages from jail time or missed workdays for court.

If It’s Not Your First

Virginia counts prior DUI convictions on a rolling ten-year window, and the penalties climb quickly.

Second Offense Within Five Years

Mandatory minimum fine of $500 and a jail sentence of one month to one year, with 20 days as a mandatory minimum the judge cannot waive.¹

Second Offense Within Five to Ten Years

Mandatory minimum fine of $500 and at least one month in jail, with ten days as the mandatory minimum.¹

High-BAC enhancements apply to second offenses too. A BAC between 0.15% and 0.20% adds ten mandatory days; above 0.20% adds twenty mandatory days plus an additional $500 mandatory fine.¹

Third Offense: A Felony

A third DUI within ten years is a Class 6 felony carrying one to five years in state prison. If all three offenses fell within five years, the mandatory minimum is six months. If the third fell inside a five-to-ten-year window, the mandatory minimum is 90 days. Either way, the mandatory minimum fine is $1,000 and the license revocation is indefinite: you cannot petition for restricted driving privileges for at least three years or full reinstatement for at least five.¹ Your vehicle is also subject to seizure by the Commonwealth.

Special Situations

Drivers Under 21

Virginia holds underage drivers to a much lower threshold. Operating a vehicle with a BAC between 0.02% and 0.08% is a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying a one-year license revocation and either a mandatory minimum $500 fine or 50 hours of community service.¹⁰ At 0.08% or higher, the underage driver faces the same adult DUI charge as everyone else.¹¹

CDL Holders

If you hold a commercial driver’s license, a DUI is career-altering. Federal law requires a minimum one-year CDL disqualification for a first DUI and a lifetime disqualification for a second. If you were hauling hazardous materials at the time, the first-offense disqualification jumps to three years. These disqualifications apply even when the DUI happened in your personal vehicle on your own time, because federal law extends them to drug or alcohol offenses involving any motor vehicle, not just commercial ones.¹² CDL holders also face a lower BAC threshold of 0.04% when operating a commercial vehicle.

A Record That Doesn’t Go Away

A Virginia DUI conviction creates a permanent criminal record. Unlike some states that allow DUI convictions to be expunged or sealed after a waiting period, Virginia explicitly excludes DUI offenses from its record-sealing law. Both the standard DUI statute and the underage DUI statute appear on the list of offenses ineligible for sealing regardless of how much time passes. The conviction will show up on criminal background checks indefinitely, with the usual knock-on effects for employment, professional licensing, housing, and security clearances. For anyone working in or near Washington, D.C., where clearances are common, that last consequence often matters most.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-270 – Penalty for Driving While Intoxicated; Subsequent Offense
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-391.2 – Administrative Suspension of License
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-268.2 – Implied Consent to Post-Arrest Testing
4
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Drugs
5
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-271.5 – Restricted Permits to Operate a Motor Vehicle; Ignition Interlock Systems
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-270.1 – Ignition Interlock Systems; Penalty
7
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Reinstatement Fees
8
Virginia Code Commission. 24VAC35-60-50 – Fees
9
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. FR-44 Certificate of Insurance
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-266.1 – Persons Under Age 21 Driving After Illegally Consuming Alcohol
11
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Drinking and Driving
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications