What Is the Penalty for First Offense DUI in Massachusetts?

A first offense DUI in Massachusetts (charged as OUI, operating under the influence) carries statutory penalties of a $500 to $5,000 fine, up to two and a half years in a house of correction, and a one-year license revocation.¹ That is the ceiling, not the usual outcome. Most first-time offenders are offered the 24D First Offender Program, which avoids a formal conviction, shortens the license loss to 45 to 90 days, and substitutes probation and a 16-week class for jail. What you actually face depends on your blood alcohol level, whether you refused the breath test, your age, and whether anyone else was in the car or was hurt.

The 24D Program Most First Offenders Receive

The 24D disposition, named for Massachusetts General Laws chapter 90, section 24D, is the track most people take on a first OUI.² You admit to enough facts for a finding of guilt, and the judge enters a Continuance Without a Finding (CWOF) instead of a conviction. Complete probation, and the case is dismissed.

The terms:

Probation for up to two years
Completion of the Massachusetts Impaired Driving Program, a 16-week state-approved education course that costs $1,535.84 as of July 2025³
License suspension of 45 to 90 days, rather than the one-year revocation that follows a conviction²
All court fines plus mandatory assessments of $250 to the Head Injury Treatment Services Trust Fund and $50 to the Victims of Drunk Driving Trust Fund⁴

Drivers under 21 face a 210-day suspension under 24D rather than the standard 45 to 90 days.²

A CWOF is not a clean record. It keeps a conviction off your criminal history, which matters for employment background checks and professional licensing, but if you are ever arrested for OUI again, the CWOF counts as a prior. The next case is charged as a second-offense OUI no matter how many years have passed, with the harsher mandatory minimums that go with it. The 24D program is available once.

What a Straight Conviction Looks Like

If you turn down the 24D track or lose at trial, the judge works from the full statutory range: a fine between $500 and $5,000, up to two and a half years in a house of correction, and a one-year license revocation.¹ The $250 and $50 mandatory assessments still apply and cannot be waived.⁴

Jail time for a standard first offense without aggravating facts is uncommon. Probation of up to two years is far more typical, with conditions like random alcohol and drug testing, regular check-ins, and any court-ordered treatment.⁵ Violate those conditions and the original sentence, jail included, is back on the table.

License Suspensions Start Before Court

The RMV can suspend your license based on the traffic stop alone, well before any judge sees your case. Massachusetts is an implied consent state, so by driving you have already agreed to submit to a breath test if arrested.⁶

Refuse the test and the RMV suspends your license for 180 days, with no temporary license and no notification period. Your vehicle is impounded for 12 hours. Under-21 drivers who refuse face a three-year suspension.⁶

Take the test and fail (.08% BAC or higher) and the suspension is 30 days, or until the case resolves, whichever comes first.⁶

These administrative suspensions happen whether or not you are ever found guilty, and they stack on top of any court suspension. A 180-day refusal suspension plus a 24D disposition is served consecutively: the court clock does not start until the refusal clock finishes.⁶

Hardship License and Ignition Interlock

A real advantage of the 24D program is early eligibility for a hardship license, sometimes called a Cinderella license. You can apply to the RMV for one immediately upon entering the program.² If approved, it allows driving within a fixed 12-hour window, seven days a week, for work, school, or medical appointments. The RMV can deny the application based on the facts of your case.⁷

If you refused the breath test, no hardship license is available until the 180-day refusal suspension is served in full and a 24D disposition is in place. People do not always anticipate that at the moment of arrest.

Since July 2021, a first offender who registered a BAC of .15 or higher at the time of arrest must install an ignition interlock device (IID) in their vehicle to use a hardship license.⁸ For first offenders the device is required only during the hardship period, not for years afterward. Expect installation and monthly lease costs to total $500 to $1,600.

What a First OUI Actually Costs

The court fine is a small share of the total. A realistic accounting for someone going through the 24D program:

Court fine of $500 to $5,000¹
$300 in mandatory assessments ($250 head injury fund, $50 victims fund)⁴
$1,535.84 for the Impaired Driving Program³
Defense attorney fees, typically $1,500 to $5,000 for a first offense
$500 to $1,600 for an ignition interlock device, if required
Auto insurance roughly 88% higher, averaging about $183 more per month for full coverage

The insurance increase is what people underestimate most. It lasts for years, not months. A CWOF through 24D still counts as a surchargeable event, so avoiding a conviction does not avoid the rate hike. Total out-of-pocket cost on a first OUI routinely lands between $10,000 and $20,000 over the first few years.

Facts That Make a First Offense Worse

Some circumstances push a first offense out of the 24D range entirely.

A Child Passenger

Driving under the influence with a passenger aged 14 or younger triggers a separate child endangerment charge under section 24V, with a mandatory minimum of 90 days in jail, a fine of $1,000 to $5,000, and a maximum of two and a half years.⁹ The RMV adds a one-year license suspension. The jail time runs consecutively to the OUI sentence, and a CWOF is not an option on the child endangerment charge.

Serious Bodily Injury

An OUI that causes serious bodily injury is a felony under section 24L. Reckless or negligent driving in that circumstance carries two and a half to ten years in state prison; even without recklessness, impaired driving causing serious injury carries up to two and a half years in a house of correction and a minimum $3,000 fine. Either version brings a two-year license revocation.¹⁰

High BAC

Massachusetts has no separate aggravated OUI statute keyed to BAC, but a reading of .15 or higher triggers the interlock requirement for any hardship license⁸ and shifts how prosecutors and judges handle the 24D terms.

Consequences Beyond the Courtroom

Commercial Drivers and Licensed Professionals

A commercial driver’s license holder faces a federal one-year disqualification from operating a commercial motor vehicle after a first DUI-related offense, regardless of what kind of vehicle was involved in the arrest. If hazardous materials were being transported, the disqualification is three years.¹¹

Nurses, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and others with state-issued professional licenses should expect their licensing board to find out. Many boards require self-reporting of criminal charges, and even a CWOF can trigger a fitness-to-practice review. Outcomes vary by profession.

Non-Citizens and Travel to Canada

For non-citizens, a straightforward first offense without aggravating facts is not usually deportable on its own, but it can delay a green card or citizenship application, raise “good moral character” questions during naturalization, and complicate visa renewals. An OUI combined with drugs, a child in the vehicle, or injury to another person can be classified as a more serious immigration offense.

Travel to Canada is affected regardless of immigration status. Canadian law treats any alcohol-related driving offense as criminal inadmissibility. Within five years of completing your sentence you need a Temporary Resident Permit to enter. Between five and ten years out, you can apply for Criminal Rehabilitation. Only after ten years with a single offense may you be considered “deemed rehabilitated” and admitted without a special application. Plan well ahead of any trip.

Should You Refuse the Breath Test?

There is no universally right answer. Refusing eliminates the strongest evidence against you at trial, which can make the criminal case harder for the prosecution. The administrative cost is steep and immediate: 180 days with no license, no hardship license during that window, and no early reinstatement.⁶ If the case later resolves as a 24D, the court suspension runs after the refusal suspension, not alongside it.

Taking and failing the test triggers a 30-day administrative suspension and keeps you eligible to apply for a hardship license as soon as you enter the 24D program.² For someone who needs to get to work, the difference between six months of no driving and a few weeks with a restricted license is significant.

1
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part I, Title XIV, Chapter 90, Section 24
2
Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c.90 Section 24D
3
Mass.gov. Massachusetts Licensed and Court-Approved Impaired Driving Programs
4
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 24
5
Mass.gov. Order of Probation Conditions
6
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. Alcohol and Drug Suspensions for Over 21 Years of Age
7
Mass.gov. Apply for a Hardship Drivers License
8
Mass.gov. Ignition Interlock Device Program
9
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 24V
10
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 24L
11
eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers