What are the DUI laws and penalties in California?
What happens after a DUI arrest in CaliforniaAs of October 20, 2026
- Arrest and chargeChemical test, notice of license action, first court date set.
- 10-day deadlineRequest a DMV hearing within 10 days of arrest or the suspension starts automatically.
- Court casePlea or trial, then sentencing: fine, program, probation or jail.
- License backSuspension served, interlock if ordered, reinstatement fee paid.
A first DUI in California is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 months in county jail and a fine. It becomes a felony when the DUI causes bodily injury to another person, on a fourth offense within 10 years, or when you already have a felony DUI conviction within 10 years.
What are the penalties for a first-offense DUI in California?
A first DUI in California is a misdemeanor: a $390 to $1,000 fine before penalty assessments, up to 6 months in county jail, 3 to 5 years of probation, a 3-month DUI program and a 6-month license suspension.
| Penalty | First offense | Second offense (within 10 years) |
|---|---|---|
| Offense level | Misdemeanor | Misdemeanor |
| Jail | 96 hours to 6 months; optional with probation | 90 days to 1 year; at least 96 hours on probation |
| Fine | $390 to $1,000 plus penalty assessments | $390 to $1,000 plus penalty assessments |
| License | 6 months on conviction; 4 months DMV after arrest | 2 years on conviction; 1 year DMV after arrest |
| Ignition interlock | Not mandatory; court may order up to 6 months | Mandatory 12 months |
| Also | 3 to 5 years probation, 3-month DUI program, SR-22 for 3 years | 3 to 5 years probation, 18- or 30-month DUI program |
The base fine is $390 to $1,000, but penalty assessments and fees are stacked on top. Kern County Superior Court's own worked example turns the minimum $390 fine into $1,873: a $1,131 penalty assessment ($29 for every $10 of fine), a $78 state surcharge, a $50 alcohol program fee, a $150 restitution fine, a $40 court security fee, a $30 conviction assessment and a $4 EMS fee. Assessments differ by county, and the total is commonly described as roughly $2,000.
Probation is the usual outcome: 3 to 5 years (VC § 23600) with two standing conditions, no measurable alcohol in your blood while driving and no refusing a chemical test. You must complete a licensed DUI program, at least 3 months and 30 hours if your BAC was under 0.20, at least 9 months and 60 hours if it was 0.20 or more or you refused the test; failing to finish it revokes probation. The court can also impound your car for up to 30 days.
California has no separate high-BAC offense, but a BAC of 0.15 or more, or a refusal, is a statutory "special factor" (VC § 23578) the court must weigh toward a harsher sentence, stricter probation terms or denying probation altogether.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23536(a), 23538(a)-(b), 13352(a)(1)(A), 23575.3(h)(1)(A) — imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 96 hours, at least 48 hours of which shall be continuous, nor more than six months, and by a fine of not less than three hundred ninety dollars ($390), nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000)
Do you go to jail for a first DUI in California?
Not necessarily. Without probation the law requires 96 hours to 6 months in county jail; with probation, the usual outcome, jail is optional and runs 48 hours to 6 months if the court orders it.
Without probation, VC § 23536 sets 96 hours to 6 months in county jail, at least 48 hours of it continuous, and the time is served on days you do not work. With probation, the court may order 48 hours to 6 months under VC § 23538 or no jail at all. If a passenger under 14 was in the car, 48 continuous hours are added.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23536(a), 23538(a)-(b), 13352(a)(1)(A), 23575.3(h)(1)(A)
How long is your license suspended for a DUI in California?
Two suspensions. The DMV suspends your license for 6 months after a conviction and, separately, for 4 months after the arrest under Administrative Per Se; on conviction they run at the same time. A restricted license is available for both.
After a conviction the court orders you to surrender your license and the DMV suspends it for 6 months (VC § 13352). You can usually keep driving on a restricted license: either an ignition-interlock restricted license with no waiting period, or, without an interlock, a 12-month restricted license for work and DUI-program travel once you prove program enrollment and financial responsibility and pay the fees (VC § 13352.4). The court can deny a restricted license if it finds you a traffic-safety risk. An interlock is not mandatory for a first offense without injury; the court may order one for a term it sets, up to 6 months from conviction.
The separate 4-month Administrative Per Se suspension the DMV imposes after the arrest runs at the same time, capped at the longer of the two, and it ends on conviction if you qualify for and install an interlock for the restricted license. Full reinstatement requires proof that you completed the DUI program plus an SR-22 proof of financial responsibility, which you keep on file for 3 years.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23536(a), 23538(a)-(b), 13352(a)(1)(A), 23575.3(h)(1)(A)
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 13353.2(a)(1), 13353.3(a)-(c), 13382(b), 13558(b), 13353.7(a)
How many days do you have to request a DMV hearing after a DUI arrest in California?
10 days. The officer takes your license at arrest and gives you a 30-day temporary one; unless you request a DMV hearing within 10 days, the suspension starts 30 days after the arrest.
At the arrest the officer takes your California license and hands you an Order of Suspension that doubles as a 30-day temporary license (VC § 13382). The DMV's Administrative Per Se suspension for a first failed test at 0.08 or more (0.04 in a commercial vehicle) takes effect 30 days later unless you request a hearing within 10 days of receiving the order, which in practice means 10 days from the arrest. A driver under 21 who tests at 0.01 or more faces at least 1 year.
APS is a civil matter separate from the criminal case. Once you have served 30 days and enrolled in a DUI program, a first offender aged 21 or older can get a restricted license for work and program travel for the remaining 5 months (VC § 13353.7), or install an ignition interlock and drive right away on an interlock-restricted license that ends 4 months after the suspension's effective date. If the criminal case ends in an acquittal or a dismissal for insufficient evidence, the DMV reinstates the license, and you may renew a hearing request within 1 year of the arrest. The DMV reviews every APS action; in 2022, 9.2 percent were set aside after a hearing.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 13353.2(a)(1), 13353.3(a)-(c), 13382(b), 13558(b), 13353.7(a)
What happens if you refuse a breathalyzer in California?
A first refusal brings a 1-year DMV suspension with no restricted license, and the refusal can be used against you in court; if convicted, you also face a mandatory fine, possible jail and the 9-month DUI program.
Under California's implied-consent law (VC § 23612) anyone lawfully arrested for DUI must take a blood or breath test. Refusing or not completing it brings a DMV suspension of 1 year for a first refusal, a 2-year revocation if a DUI or wet-reckless conviction, APS action or refusal lies within the previous 10 years, and 3 years with two or more such priors (VC § 13353), effective 30 days after notice. Because the DMV's restricted-license options are open only to drivers who completed a chemical test, a refusal suspension is a hard suspension: no driving at all.
Refusal is not a separate crime, but the officer must warn you that it "will result in a fine and mandatory imprisonment" if you are convicted, and the refusal itself may be used against you in court. On a first DUI conviction after a refusal the court must impose the probation terms of VC § 23538, fine plus possible jail, rather than anything lighter, and send you to the longer 9-month DUI program instead of the 3-month one; on a second offense the refusal adds 96 hours of mandatory jail. These jail enhancements apply to breath and urine refusals, not to a refused blood test.
You can still request a DMV hearing within 10 days, but the hearing does not pause a refusal action and cannot shorten it. The issues are narrow: whether the officer had reasonable cause, whether the arrest was lawful, whether you actually refused and whether you were warned of the consequences.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 13353(a)(1), 23612(a)(1)(D), 23577(a), 13558(b) — Suspend the person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a period of one year.
What is the penalty for a second DUI in California?
A second DUI within 10 years is a misdemeanor with 90 days to 1 year in jail, a $390 to $1,000 fine plus assessments, a 2-year license suspension, a mandatory 12-month ignition interlock and an 18- or 30-month DUI program.
A prior counts if the earlier offense happened within 10 years of the new one, measured offense date to offense date, and it can be a DUI, a DUI with injury or an alcohol-related "wet reckless" (VC § 23540); out-of-state convictions count too. Without probation the jail term is 90 days to 1 year; with probation the court chooses either at least 10 days or at least 96 hours served as two continuous 48-hour blocks, up to 1 year (VC § 23542). A passenger under 14 adds 10 days. Probation again runs 3 to 5 years, and the DUI program is 18 or 30 months; the license is not restored until the DMV has proof you finished it.
The DMV suspends the license for 2 years on conviction and the court orders it surrendered. An interlock-restricted license is available once you prove enrollment in the 18- or 30-month program, interlock installation and financial responsibility; if the conviction was for drugs only, 12 months of the suspension must be served first, and the court may disallow the restricted license. The interlock is mandatory for 12 months (VC § 23575.3). The separate Administrative Per Se suspension after the arrest is 1 year instead of 4 months when a prior conviction, APS action or refusal lies within 10 years, and the court must impound the vehicle for up to 30 days for a second offense within 5 years.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23540(a), 23542(a)-(b), 13352(a)(3)(A), 23575.3(h)(1)(B) — the offense occurred within 10 years of a separate violation of Section 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5, 23152, or 23153, that resulted in a conviction, that person shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year
Source: Cal. Veh. Code § 23540(a)
Is a DUI a felony in California?
Usually not. A first, second or third DUI is a misdemeanor; it becomes a felony when it injures someone, when it is your fourth within 10 years, or when you have a prior felony DUI within 10 years.
Three situations turn a DUI into a felony "wobbler" that the prosecutor can file either way. A fourth DUI within 10 years, meaning three or more prior DUI, DUI-with-injury or wet-reckless convictions, carries imprisonment under Penal Code § 1170(h) or 180 days to 1 year in county jail, a $390 to $1,000 fine, a 4-year DMV revocation and habitual-traffic-offender status (VC § 23550). Any DUI within 10 years of a prior DUI punished as a felony, a felony DUI with injury or felony vehicular manslaughter can be sentenced to state prison or up to 1 year in jail (VC § 23550.5). And a DUI causing bodily injury to another person (VC § 23153) is punishable even on a first offense by state prison or 90 days to 1 year in county jail, with a 1-year license suspension and a mandatory 12-month ignition interlock.
A third DUI within 10 years stays a misdemeanor, with 120 days to 1 year in jail. A child passenger under 14 does not make a DUI a felony. A DUI that kills someone can be charged as vehicular manslaughter or murder.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23550(a), 23550.5(a), 23153, 23554
How long does a DUI stay on your record in California?
A DUI conviction stays on your California driving record for 10 years from the offense date and on your criminal record permanently, unless a court dismisses it after probation.
The DMV shows a DUI conviction on your public driving record for 10 years from the date of the offense (VC § 1808), and the suspension itself while it is in effect and for 3 years after reinstatement. On the state criminal record the misdemeanor conviction is permanent and shows up on employment and licensing background checks unless a court dismisses it.
Once probation is over, typically after 3 years, or earlier if you are discharged from it, and as long as you are not on probation, serving a sentence or facing charges, you can petition under Penal Code § 1203.4 to withdraw the plea and have the case dismissed. For a DUI the judge grants this at their discretion "in the interest of justice" rather than automatically. Even after dismissal you must disclose the conviction when applying for public office, a state or local license or a State Lottery contract, it can still be pleaded as a prior in a later case, and the dismissal does not undo any DMV license action. California does not otherwise seal adult DUI convictions.
Source: Cal. Veh. Code § 1808(b)(1), (c), (f); Cal. Penal Code § 1203.4(a)(1), (c)
How much does a DUI lawyer cost in California?
Law firms report flat fees of about $2,500 to $7,500 for a first-offense California DUI without an accident; that is a reported range, not a quote, and a DMV hearing, trial or refusal pushes it higher.
The figures are what law firms publish, not a bar survey. My Rights Law Group quotes $2,500 to $5,000 for a straightforward first-time case and $4,000 to $10,000 for experienced DUI attorneys, with hourly billing of $150 to $500; DUI Central lists tiers of $1,000 to $2,000, $2,500 to $3,500 and $4,000 to $7,500 short of a jury trial; Shouse Law Group gives $3,000 to $15,000 depending on complexity. Fees climb with a DMV hearing, a trial, a high BAC, a refusal, an accident, a child passenger or a prior record.
The lawyer is only part of the bill. The court fine starts at $390 (maximum $1,000) and becomes about $1,873 with penalty assessments and fees. Add $500 to $800 for the 3- or 9-month DUI program, a $125 DMV reissue fee ($100 if under 21), $350 to $500 for an ignition interlock if one is ordered, and the SR-22 insurance you must carry for 3 years, with the premium increase reported at $3,000 to $6,000 over those three years. Shouse Law Group puts the all-in cost of a first DUI at $8,615 to $24,565.
Fee range: My Rights Law Group, DUI Central, Shouse Law — reported figures, not a quote.
California statutes and official sources
- Offense: Cal. Veh. Code § 23152
- Penalties (first offense): Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23536, 23538, 23600
- Implied consent / refusal: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23612, 13353, 23577
- Administrative suspension: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 13353.2, 13353.3, 13382, 13558
- Prior offenses / lookback: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23540, 23542, 23546, 23550
- Court-triggered DMV suspension: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 13352, 13352.4
- Ignition interlock: Cal. Veh. Code § 23575.3
- Felony DUI: Cal. Veh. Code §§ 23550.5, 23153, 23554
- Driving record: Cal. Veh. Code § 1808
- Cal. Veh. Code § 23152 — DUI offense (Legislature)
- Cal. Veh. Code § 23536 — first-offense punishment (Legislature)
- Cal. Veh. Code § 13352 — DMV suspension after conviction (Legislature)
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