How Long Does a DUI Stay on Your Record?
The honest answer starts with a question back: which record? Three different clocks run at once, and only one of them decides what happens if it occurs again.
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Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
Three Records, Three Clocks
The sentencing lookback is the one that matters most. It decides whether a new charge is treated as a first offence or as a repeat — often the difference between a fine and a mandatory jail term. This is the clock we have measured state by state below.
Your driving record runs on its own schedule, set by the licensing authority and used for insurance and points, not for criminal sentencing. Your criminal record generally keeps the conviction indefinitely unless it is expunged, and several states exclude DUI from expungement entirely. Articles that give a single number for “how long a DUI stays on your record” are answering only one of these three, usually without saying which.
What the Lookback Periods Look Like
Across the 37 jurisdictions we have verified, 22 use a ten-year period, which is why ten years is the figure most often quoted. But the spread underneath that is real: 4 states use five years, 6 use seven, and two use fifteen.
And two states are in a category of their own. KS and NM set no limit at all — a conviction from any point in a person’s life continues to count towards a second or third offence. That is the harshest rule in the dataset and it almost never appears in the national write-ups.
| State | Prior counts for |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 10 years 10 years, measured from the date of the current offense back to the date of the prior conviction (offense-date to offense-date, per statute wording "within 10 years of the date of the current offense"). If the person has any prior FELONY DUI conviction, that felony prior counts forever (no lookback) for classifying all subsequent DUIs as felonies. Ala. Code § 32-5A-191(p)(1)-(2) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| Arkansas | 10 years 10 years for a second (through fifth) offense to count as a repeat DWI/DUI (increased from 5 years by a 2021 amendment, Act 785 of 2021); for a sixth or subsequent offense the lookback extends to 20 years. Unusually, the statute measures the window from the date of the FIRST offense forward, not from the immediately preceding prior offense. Ark. Code Ann. § 5-65-111(b) · as of 2024-01-01 |
| Arizona | 7 years 84 months (7 years). For repeat-offense classification and sentencing enhancement, prior DUI/extreme-DUI/aggravated-DUI convictions count if they fall within the 84 months preceding the current offense; the period is generally measured offense-date to offense-date, not conviction-date to conviction-date. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-1381(K) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| California | 10 years 10 years, measured offense-date to offense-date (the current offense must occur within 10 years of the prior qualifying violation that resulted in conviction) for a DUI to be charged/sentenced as a second (or subsequent) offense. Cal. Veh. Code § 23540(a) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Connecticut | 10 years 10-year lookback: a prior DUI conviction counts as a prior offense (raising the new charge to a 'second offense' with enhanced penalties) if the new offense occurs within ten years after the prior conviction. The clock runs from the date of the PRIOR CONVICTION, not the prior arrest or the current offense date. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227a(g)(2) · as of 2024-01-01 |
| District of Columbia | 15 years 15-year lookback for counting a 'prior offense' toward DUI sentencing enhancement. Crucially, the clock does NOT run from the date of the prior offense or conviction — it runs from the date the prior sentence (incarceration, supervised release, parole, or probation, whichever ended latest) CEASED OR EXPIRED, measured forward to the date of ARREST on the new offense. If that end date is more than 15 years before the new arrest, the prior offense no longer counts at all. D.C. Code § 50-2206.01(17) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Delaware | 10 years 10-year lookback applies specifically to elevate a new DUI to 'second offense' status: under 21 Del. C. §4177(d)(2), a second offense must occur within 10 years of the prior offense to trigger second-offense penalties. Important nuance: for THIRD and subsequent offenses under §4177(d)(3)-(7), Delaware law places NO time limitation on how far back a prior offense counts — those look-back periods are effectively unlimited/lifetime. 21 Del. C. § 4177(d)(2) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Florida | 5 years Florida uses a TWO-TIER lookback: a SECOND DUI conviction is enhanced if it occurs within 5 years of the date of the prior conviction (Fla. Stat. §316.193(6)(b)); a THIRD OR SUBSEQUENT conviction is enhanced (felony tier) if it occurs within 10 years of the date of the prior conviction (§316.193(6)(c)). The 5-year figure reported here is the threshold that first converts a new offense from 'first' to an enhanced repeat offense; the clock runs from the DATE OF THE PRIOR CONVICTION to the date of the new offense. Fla. Stat. § 316.193(6)(b)-(c) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| Georgia | 10 years 10-year lookback for Georgia's CRIMINAL sentencing tiers: a person has 'no conviction of and no plea of nolo contendere accepted to a charge of violating this Code section within the previous ten years' to be treated as a first offender; second/third/fourth-or-subsequent convictions are likewise defined by occurring within a rolling ten-year period. The window is measured from the dates of PRIOR ARRESTS that produced convictions to the date of the CURRENT ARREST. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391(c) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| Hawaii | 10 years 10-year lookback: an offense is treated as a 'first offense' (lightest penalty tier) if it is 'not preceded within a ten-year period by a conviction' for OVUII under this section or HRS §291E-4(a). If a prior conviction falls within that same 10-year window, the new offense is instead sentenced under the enhanced 'one prior conviction' tier (HRS §291E-61(b)(2)), which also uses the same ten-year measuring period. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 291E-61(b)(1)-(2) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Iowa | 12 years 12 years. Under Iowa Code § 321J.2(8)(a), a prior OWI conviction or revocation no longer counts as a 'previous offense' once it is deleted from the person's operating record, and Iowa Code § 321.12(4) requires the department to delete an OWI conviction/revocation from the operating record 12 years after the date of conviction or the effective date of revocation — i.e., the lookback runs from the CONVICTION (or revocation) date, not the date of the underlying offense. Iowa Code §§ 321J.2(8)(a), 321.12(4) · as of 2026-01-01 |
| Idaho | 10 years 10 years. Idaho Code § 18-8005(4) counts a prior DUI conviction (or withheld judgment) as an enhancing offense if it occurred 'within ten (10) years' of the new violation. The 10-year window is measured from the date of the prior judgment/guilty plea to the date of the new offense, not from arrest or release dates. Idaho Code § 18-8005(4) · as of 2025-07-01 |
| Indiana | 7 years 7 years. Under Indiana Code § 9-30-5-3(a)(1), a repeat OWI is elevated to a Level 6 felony if the person has a previous OWI conviction 'that occurred within the seven (7) years immediately preceding the occurrence' of the new violation — the clock is measured from the date the PRIOR offense occurred to the date of the new violation, not from the conviction date of the prior offense. Ind. Code § 9-30-5-3(a)(1) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| Kansas | No lookback — counts for life No lookback period (lifetime), with a statutory classification anchor date. K.S.A. 8-1567(i)(1) counts only convictions/diversions occurring on or after July 1, 2001 toward classifying an offense as a first, second, third, fourth or subsequent conviction for sentencing tier purposes — but the same subsection explicitly preserves the court's ability to consider a defendant's ENTIRE lifetime record (including pre-2001 offenses) when setting the sentence within that tier's range. K.S.A. 8-1567(i)(1) · as of 2026-01-01 |
| Kentucky | 10 years 10 years, measured from the date the PRIOR offense occurred (not the conviction date) to the date of the new offense. KRS 189A.010(5) tiers penalties by 'first offense within a ten (10) year period', 'second offense within a ten (10) year period', etc., and subsection (10) specifies how that 10-year window is calculated. KRS 189A.010(5), (10) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| Louisiana | 10 years Louisiana uses a 10-year 'cleansing period' running from the date of the current offense back to the date of the prior conviction: a prior DWI conviction enhances a new DWI only if it occurred within 10 years before the new offense. Time the person spent awaiting trial, on probation or parole for a qualifying offense, or incarcerated (in Louisiana or any other state) is excluded from — i.e., does not count toward filling — that 10-year window, which can push the effective lookback well past 10 calendar years. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14:98(C)(3) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Maryland | 5 years Maryland's DUI statute only treats a prior conviction as a 'prior conviction' for purposes of the higher (second-offense) statutory penalty range if it occurred within 5 years before the conviction for the new offense; a prior conviction older than 5 years does not raise the applicable maximum sentence for a later DUI charge under this subsection. Md. Code Ann., Transp. § 21-902(a)(1)(iv); see also § 21-902(f)(2)(i) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Maine | 10 years Maine measures the OUI lookback as a 10-year period counting back from the current offense to the date of the prior OUI offense/conviction; a person with no prior OUI offense within that preceding 10-year window is sentenced as a first offender under 29-A M.R.S. § 2411. 29-A M.R.S. § 2411(1-A)(B), (5)(A) · as of 2025-10-01 |
| Minnesota | 10 years Minnesota's DWI 'aggravating factor' enhancement uses a 10-year lookback measured from the date of the current offense back to a qualified prior impaired driving incident. Note that a 'qualified prior impaired driving incident' is broader than a conviction — it also includes certain prior license revocations for impaired driving, not only prior convictions. Minn. Stat. § 169A.03, subd. 3(1) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Missouri | 5 years Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 577.023, a defendant is only a 'prior offender' (triggering enhanced sentencing) if the earlier intoxication-related traffic offense occurred within five years of the occurrence of the new offense (offense-date to offense-date). Missouri layers a second, harsher classification on top: a 'persistent offender' (two or more prior intoxication-related offenses) uses a TEN-year lookback instead of five. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 577.023.1 (definition of 'prior offender') · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Mississippi | 5 years A prior DUI/DWI conviction counts toward Mississippi's second- or third-offense sentencing enhancement under Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30 only if the offenses were committed within a period of five (5) years of each other (offense-date to offense-date). For a fourth or subsequent offense there is NO time limitation — every prior conviction counts for life. Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(b)-(c) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| Montana | 10 years Under Mont. Code Ann. § 61-8-1011, a prior DUI conviction counts toward a SECOND-offense enhancement only if fewer than 10 years elapsed between the commission of the new offense and the earlier conviction. This 10-year window applies only to a second offense — for a third or subsequent offense, ALL prior convictions count regardless of when they occurred (lifetime lookback). Mont. Code Ann. § 61-8-1011(1) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| North Carolina | 7 years A prior impaired-driving conviction counts as a 'grossly aggravating factor' — triggering mandatory Level Two sentencing or worse even on a technically 'first' DWI charge — only if it occurred within 7 years before the date of the current offense. Measured prior-conviction-date to current-offense-date. Priors older than 7 years still count as an ordinary (lesser) 'aggravating factor' with no further time limit stated in the statute. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-179(c)(1)(a) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| North Dakota | 7 years North Dakota uses a 7-year lookback for counting prior DUI convictions toward escalated sentencing tiers (1st/2nd offense in 7 years = class B misdemeanor, 3rd in 7 years = class A misdemeanor); a separate 15-year window applies specifically for reaching the 4th-or-subsequent-offense felony tier. N.D. Cent. Code § 39-08-01(3) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Nebraska | 15 years Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,197.02(1), a prior conviction counts for DUI sentencing purposes only if it occurred within the fifteen-year period before the new offense, computed from the date of the PRIOR offense to the date of the new offense that results in the conviction being sentenced. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,197.02(1) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| New Hampshire | 10 years Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265-A:18, a prior conviction (in New Hampshire or another jurisdiction) counts toward the enhanced penalty for a first-offense complaint later found to involve priors only if that prior conviction occurred within 10 years preceding the date of the new offense. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265-A:18 · as of 2025-01-01 |
| New Jersey | 10 years 10-year 'step-down' rule measured offense-date to offense-date: if a second DWI offense occurs more than 10 years after the first, the court must sentence it as a first offense; if a third occurs more than 10 years after the second, it is sentenced as a second offense. There is no general lifetime lookback for a standalone prior — the 10-year gap resets the sentencing tier. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a)(3) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| New Mexico | No lookback — counts for life New Mexico's DWI statute (66-8-102 NMSA) counts prior convictions for enhanced sentencing with no stated time limit — there is no washout/lookback period in the statutory text; a conviction from any point in the person's life counts toward second/third/fourth-and-subsequent-offense tiers. NMSA 1978 § 66-8-102 · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Nevada | 7 years Under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484C.400(1), a prior conviction counts toward second- or third-offense sentencing only if it occurred within 7 years immediately preceding (or after) the date of the current/principal offense. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484C.400(1) · as of 2025-01-01 |
| New York | 10 years New York uses a 10-year lookback: a DWI/aggravated DWI/DWAI-drug/DWAI-combination violation committed within 10 years of a prior conviction for the same category of offense triggers enhanced (felony) penalties. Measured from the current violation date back to the date of the prior conviction. N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law § 1193(1)(c)(ii) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Ohio | 10 years Ohio's standard OVI lookback for escalating from a first-tier misdemeanor to the next penalty tier is 10 years: a prior OVI conviction within 10 years of the new offense makes it a first-degree misdemeanor with a mandatory 10-day jail term (versus 3 days for an undistinguished first offense). A longer 20-year lookback applies specifically when counting toward the 5-or-more-priors felony tier, and for a prior high-test/refusal violation under division (A)(2). Ohio Rev. Code § 4511.19(G)(1)(b) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Tennessee | 10 years 10-year lookback measured from the date of the present violation back to the date of any immediately preceding DUI conviction; a prior conviction more than 10 years old does not make the person a multiple offender. An absolute cap applies separately: a violation more than 20 years before the instant violation shall never be considered a prior offense. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-405 · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Utah | 10 years 10-year lookback: a prior DUI conviction counts toward multiple-offender enhancement (including third-degree felony treatment for a third offense) if it falls within 10 years of the current conviction/violation. Utah Code § 41-6a-503 · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Virginia | 10 years 10-year lookback: a second, third, or subsequent DUI conviction within 10 years of a prior § 18.2-266 conviction triggers escalated mandatory penalties (e.g., felony status and mandatory minimum prison time for a 3rd/4th offense within 10 years). Va. Code § 18.2-270 · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Washington | 7 years 7-year lookback applies for standard sentencing-enhancement purposes (whether a person has a 'prior offense' for gross-misdemeanor tier and mandatory minimums): a prior offense counts if the arrest for it occurred within 7 years before or after the arrest for the current offense. A separate, longer 15-year lookback applies specifically to determine felony DUI status (three or more prior offenses within 15 years). RCW 46.61.5055 · as of 2026-09-01 |
| West Virginia | 10 years 10-year lookback: a prior DUI/DWI conviction counts as a predicate offense if it occurred within the 10-year period immediately preceding the date of arrest in the current proceeding (arrest-to-arrest window). W. Va. Code § 17C-5-2(n)(1) · as of 2026-09-01 |
| Wyoming | 10 years 10-year lookback for penalty enhancement, running from the prior conviction to the current conviction: a second, third, or fourth-plus DUI offense is charged as such if the current conviction occurs within 10 years after a prior conviction under this section or another state's/jurisdiction's DUI law. Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-233(e) · as of 2026-09-01 |
37 of 51 jurisdictions shown. 22 use a ten-year period; KS and NM set no limit at all, so a conviction counts for life. A missing state does not mean there is no rule — it means our source check has not cleared that entry yet. Penalties are amended often; each row carries its own date and citation. This is general information, not legal advice.
The Detail That Moves the Answer by Years
A lookback period is meaningless without knowing what it is measured from. Some statutes run offence date to offence date, others from the date of the earlier conviction, and a few from the completion of the earlier sentence. On a ten-year period, that choice can shift the boundary by two or three years — enough to decide whether a case is charged as a first or second offence. Each entry above states its own anchor where the statute does.
If It Is a First Offence
The immediate consequence is usually the licence rather than the court date — and the suspension length varies from one month to a full year depending on the state. See first-offence DUI penalties by state.
Common Questions
How long does a DUI stay on your record?
That question has three different answers and they are routinely mixed up. For sentencing — whether a new offence counts as a second or third — most states use a lookback period, and 22 of the 37 we have verified set it at ten years. On your driving record the entry usually lasts a different length of time, set by the licensing authority rather than the criminal code. On your criminal record it generally stays indefinitely unless it is expunged, where that is available at all.
Which answer actually matters?
The sentencing lookback, in almost every practical case. That is the one that decides whether a new charge carries the penalties of a first offence or those of a repeat — the difference between a fine and a mandatory jail term in many states.
Are there states with no lookback at all?
Yes, and they are the harshest rule in the dataset: KS and NM count a prior conviction with no time limit. A conviction from decades ago still elevates a new charge there.
When does the clock start?
This detail moves the answer by years and is worth checking in your own state's provision. Some states measure from offence date to offence date, others from the date of the earlier conviction, and a few from the completion of a sentence. Two people with identical histories can fall on opposite sides of the line depending on which anchor applies.
Does a DUI from another state count?
Usually yes. Most statutes count qualifying convictions from other states, territories or municipalities, provided the out-of-state offence is comparable. Moving does not reset the count.
Can it be expunged or sealed?
It depends entirely on the state, and several exclude DUI from expungement altogether. Even where a record is sealed, many statutes still allow the conviction to be counted for sentencing purposes in a later case — sealing the record does not always erase the prior.
Why are some states missing from the table?
Their entry has not cleared our source check yet — the official site was unreachable, or the quoted text could not be found in the archived source. A blank means unverified, not unregulated.
Sources: the criminal or vehicle code of each state, cited row by row. General information, not legal advice. Settlement Insight is not a law firm and does not represent any party.