What are the DUI laws and penalties in Illinois?
What happens after a DUI arrest in IllinoisAs of October 20, 2026
- Arrest and chargeChemical test, notice of license action, first court date set.
- Day 46 suspensionFile your petition to rescind early; the suspension starts automatically on day 46.
- Court casePlea or trial, then sentencing: fine, program, probation or jail.
- License backSuspension served, interlock if ordered, reinstatement fee paid.
A first DUI in Illinois is a Class A misdemeanor, the most serious misdemeanor class, not a traffic infraction. It becomes a felony, called aggravated DUI, on a third or subsequent offense, or on a first offense that caused great bodily harm or death or was committed without a valid license or liability insurance.
What are the penalties for a first-offense DUI in Illinois?
A first DUI in Illinois is a Class A misdemeanor: up to 364 days in jail, a fine up to $2,500 plus court costs, and a mandatory license revocation. BAC 0.16 or more adds a $500 minimum fine and 100 hours of community service.
| Penalty | First offense | Second offense (at any time, no lookback) |
|---|---|---|
| Offense level | Class A misdemeanor | Class A misdemeanor (felony with a child passenger) |
| Jail | Up to 364 days, no mandatory minimum | 5 days or 240 hours service minimum; up to 364 days |
| Fine | Up to $2,500; $500 minimum at BAC 0.16+ | Up to $2,500; $1,250 minimum at BAC 0.16+ |
| License | 6-month summary suspension; revoked at least 1 year on conviction | 1-year summary suspension; no new license for 5 years |
| Ignition interlock | None on conviction; BAIID under MDDP during summary suspension | No MDDP; BAIID may be condition of restricted permit |
| Also | Alcohol evaluation, 3 years high-risk insurance; 100 hours service at 0.16+ | No court supervision; 2 days jail minimum at BAC 0.16+ |
Illinois sentences a first DUI as a Class A misdemeanor under 625 ILCS 5/11-501 and 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55: a jail term of less than one year and a fine not exceeding $2,500. There is no mandatory minimum fine or jail for a plain first offense, but the court may not suspend or reduce the minimums that apply at 0.16.
A first conviction also brings a suspension of your vehicle registration. Illinois runs a zero-tolerance rule for drivers under 21, where any alcohol at all triggers a suspension, and holds commercial drivers to a 0.04 limit.
Source: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(c)(1), (c)(3), (c)(4); 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55(a), (e); 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)2; 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)1(A) — shall be subject, in addition to any other penalty that may be imposed, to a mandatory minimum of 100 hours of community service and a mandatory minimum fine of $500.
Do you go to jail for a first DUI in Illinois?
Not automatically. A plain first DUI carries no mandatory minimum jail time in Illinois, so a judge may sentence you without any jail; the ceiling is the Class A misdemeanor maximum of 364 days in county jail.
The exception is a child passenger: a first DUI while transporting a person under 16 adds up to 6 months of imprisonment, a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000 and 25 days of community service in a program benefiting children. Mandatory minimum terms otherwise begin with a second offense.
How long is your license suspended for a DUI in Illinois?
Two actions. A failed test brings a 6-month statutory summary suspension for a first offender (longer for a refusal). A conviction then brings a revocation by the Secretary of State, and you can apply for reinstatement only after 1 year.
The summary suspension is triggered by a BAC of 0.08 or more, a THC level at or above the legal limit, or any amount of an illegal drug. During it, a first offender automatically receives a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) under 625 ILCS 5/6-206.1, which allows unlimited driving in a vehicle fitted with a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID). The device must be installed within 14 days, the permit carries an administration fee of up to $30 a month plus vendor fees, and you may decline it. No MDDP is issued if your license is otherwise invalid, the arrest involved death or great bodily harm, you have a prior conviction for reckless homicide or aggravated DUI causing death, or you are under 18.
The revocation on conviction (625 ILCS 5/6-205) has no fixed end date: 1 year is the minimum before you may apply, 2 years if you are under 21, and time already served on the summary suspension is credited. Getting the license back takes a Secretary of State hearing, an alcohol and drug evaluation with remedial education or treatment, and reinstatement fees. The Secretary of State may also make a BAIID a condition of a Restricted Driving Permit during the revocation.
How many days do you have to challenge a statutory summary suspension in Illinois?
90 days after the notice to file a written petition to rescind with the circuit court. Filing does not pause anything: the suspension still takes effect automatically on day 46, whether or not you request a hearing.
The statutory summary suspension is an automatic administrative action, separate from the criminal DUI case: the officer confiscates your license, serves the notice and files a sworn report, and the Secretary of State enters the suspension effective on the 46th day after the notice. Your remedy is the petition to rescind under 625 ILCS 5/2-118.1. The court must hold the hearing within 30 days of your request or on the first court date of the DUI ticket, so filing early can put you before a judge before the suspension begins.
Only four issues can be raised at that hearing: whether you were actually arrested for DUI, whether the officer had reasonable grounds, whether you refused testing after being warned, and whether a warned test showed 0.08 or more.
What happens if you refuse a breathalyzer in Illinois?
Refusing a breath, blood or urine test triggers a 12-month statutory summary suspension for a first offender, double the suspension for a failed test. There is no separate crime or fine for refusing, but the DUI charge still proceeds on the officer's observations.
Under Illinois implied consent (625 ILCS 5/11-501.1), anyone driving on a public highway has agreed to chemical testing of blood, breath, other bodily substance or urine once arrested for DUI, and the officer must warn you that refusing results in a statutory summary suspension. The suspension for a refusal takes effect on the same 46th day. A first-time refuser remains eligible for the Monitoring Device Driving Permit with an interlock, unless the case involved a crash with injury or death.
Two situations are harsher. If you refuse after a crash that caused personal injury or death, the result is a statutory summary revocation of at least one year, with no MDDP, and reinstatement or a restricted permit only after that year. Commercial license holders are also disqualified from commercial driving for one year on a first refusal.
Source: 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1(a), (c), (g); 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1(a), (e); 625 ILCS 5/2-118.1(b) — twelve months from the effective date of the statutory summary suspension for a refusal or failure to complete a test or tests
What is the penalty for a second DUI in Illinois?
A second DUI is still a Class A misdemeanor but carries a mandatory minimum of 5 days in jail or 240 hours of community service and no new license for 5 years if the convictions are within 20 years.
Illinois has no lookback period. Any prior DUI conviction or court supervision counts, including out-of-state, local-ordinance and military-installation cases, no matter how long ago, and a third DUI is a felony. The court may not suspend or reduce the 5-day or 240-hour minimum. With a BAC of 0.16 or more, a second offense adds a mandatory minimum of 2 days in jail and a $1,250 fine; a second DUI while transporting a person under 16 is aggravated DUI, a Class 2 felony with a mandatory $2,500 fine and 25 days of community service in a children's program.
On the license side, a repeat offender is not a first offender for the statutory summary suspension (anyone with a prior DUI conviction or supervision, or a summary suspension within the past 5 years): it runs 1 year for a failed test and 3 years for a refusal, and no Monitoring Device Driving Permit is available. The only driving relief during the revocation is a Restricted Driving Permit after a Secretary of State hearing, which may require a BAIID; drivers with four or more DUI convictions must use a BAIID for life.
Source: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(c)(2), (c)(5); 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)2; 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1(d) — shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of either 5 days of imprisonment or 240 hours of community service in addition to any other criminal or administrative sanction.
Source: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(1)(A), (e); 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1(d); 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)2; 625 ILCS 5/11-500
Is a DUI a felony in Illinois?
Yes, as aggravated DUI: a third or subsequent DUI (Class 2 felony), a crash causing great bodily harm (Class 4) or death (Class 2, 3 to 14 years), and even a first DUI without a valid license or insurance or while revoked for DUI.
Aggravated DUI under 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d) also covers driving a school bus or a vehicle for hire with passengers, a school-zone crash causing bodily harm, a crash injuring a child under 16 being transported, driving while revoked or suspended for DUI, leaving the scene or reckless homicide, and a DUI after a prior conviction for reckless homicide while under the influence (Class 3). The default class is a Class 4 felony. The grade rises with repetition: a fourth DUI is a Class 2 felony with no probation, a fifth is Class 1, and a sixth or later is Class X. A third offense with a BAC of 0.16 or more adds a mandatory minimum of 90 days in jail and a $2,500 fine.
For a crash causing great bodily harm, permanent disability or disfigurement, a prison sentence runs 1 to 12 years; when two or more people die, 6 to 28 years, unless extraordinary circumstances justify probation. Anyone who does receive probation or conditional discharge for aggravated DUI must still serve at least 480 hours of community service or 10 days in jail.
Source: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(1)(A)-(L), (d)(2)(A)-(J), (d)(3)
How long does a DUI stay on your record in Illinois?
Forever. A DUI conviction is a permanent part of your Illinois driving record and is never purged, and Illinois bars both expungement and sealing of DUI arrests, charges and convictions, even after a completed court supervision.
Court supervision is the one way to avoid a conviction, and Illinois allows it only once in a lifetime for a first DUI (730 ILCS 5/5-6-1). If you complete it, no conviction is entered, but the arrest and the supervision stay on file, the Secretary of State records every DUI supervision, it counts as a prior for any later DUI, and anyone previously convicted of or given supervision for DUI cannot get supervision again.
On the criminal side, a DUI conviction is a Class A misdemeanor conviction (aggravated DUI is a felony) that shows up on background checks, and the bar in 20 ILCS 2630/5.2 applies even though a completed supervision never produced a conviction. The only entry that drops out of public view is the statutory summary suspension of a first offender who is never convicted; it becomes privileged once the suspension ends.
Source: 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(a)(3)(A)(ii); 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1(e); Illinois SOS 2025 DUI Fact Book p. 17
How much does a DUI lawyer cost in Illinois?
Reported fees for a first-offense Illinois DUI lawyer run about $1,500 to $6,000, with an uncontested plea at the low end; these are reported ranges, not a quote. A contested case with a hearing and trial can exceed $12,000, and Chicago lawyers charge more.
The Illinois Secretary of State's 2025 DUI Fact Book puts the average total cost of a first conviction at $18,130, noting that fees vary by location: a fine of up to $2,500 plus $750 in court costs, $250 in law-enforcement reimbursement, towing and storage and a $100 Trauma Center Fund fee ($3,600 on the court-costs line); high-risk insurance at about $2,000 extra per year for three years ($6,000); license reinstatement at $500 plus $30 for the new license and a $50 formal-hearing fee ($580); a BAIID at $100 to install, $80 a month to rent and $30 a month for monitoring ($1,420 a year) plus the MDDP administration fee of up to $30 a month; about $300 for the evaluation, remedial classes and counseling; and about $4,230 in lost income.
What moves the lawyer's fee: a plea versus a contested case with a petition-to-rescind hearing and trial, a prior record, a BAC of 0.16 or more or a child passenger, and the county, with Cook and the collar counties costing more. The Illinois State Bar Association's Illinois Lawyer Now blog reports $1,500 to $3,000 for a first-time DUI and around $1,500 to $4,000 in Illinois, the Secretary of State budgets $2,000 in legal fees for an uncontested plea with a hardship permit, and attorneys quoted by Shaw Local News put the low end at about $6,000 in La Salle and DeKalb counties.
Fee range: Illinois Lawyer Now, Shaw Local, SOS Fact Book — reported figures, not a quote.
Illinois statutes and official sources
- Offense: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)
- Penalties: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(c)-(d); 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55 (Class A misdemeanor sentence)
- Implied consent / refusal: 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1
- Administrative suspension: 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1 (lengths); 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1(g) (46th day); 625 ILCS 5/2-118.1 (hearing)
- Prior offenses / lookback: 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(1)(A), (e); 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b); 625 ILCS 5/11-500
- Revocation on conviction: 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)2
- Monitoring Device Driving Permit (BAIID): 625 ILCS 5/6-206.1
- Court supervision: 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1(c), (d)
- Expungement / sealing bar: 20 ILCS 2630/5.2(a)(3)(A)(ii)
- Under-21 zero tolerance: 625 ILCS 5/11-501.8; 625 ILCS 5/6-208.2
- Commercial drivers (0.04): 625 ILCS 5/6-514(a)(2)
- Illinois Secretary of State — 2025 Illinois DUI Fact Book (PDF, DSD A 118.30)
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