Florida DUI Charges: Penalties, Process, and What Happens After an Arrest

A first Florida DUI conviction is a misdemeanor, but it is not a small one: up to six months in jail (nine if your breath or blood alcohol level was .15 or higher, or a minor was in the car), a fine starting at $500, and a license revocation of at least 180 days, all under Section 316.193, Florida Statutes. Each prior conviction raises the stakes — a third DUI within 10 years of a prior, or any DUI causing serious injury, is a felony, and DUI manslaughter carries a mandatory minimum prison term. Separately, refusing a breath, blood, or urine test triggers its own license suspension and, since a 2025 change to Florida’s implied consent law, its own separate criminal charge on a first refusal. This article walks through the penalty structure by offense number, what implied consent actually requires, how the administrative license suspension differs from the criminal case, and what typically happens after an arrest.

• The penalty ladder for a first, second, third, and subsequent DUI, plus DUI causing injury or death
• When a DUI stops being a misdemeanor and becomes a felony
• What “implied consent” means and what happens if you refuse a breath, blood, or urine test
• How the administrative license suspension (separate from the criminal case) works
• When an ignition interlock device is required
• What a DUI defense can actually challenge — and what it can’t promise

The direct answer: penalties climb fast, and two clocks start immediately

A Florida DUI is charged under Section 316.193, Florida Statutes, which applies when a person is driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, or with a blood or breath alcohol level of .08 or higher. The penalty for a single conviction depends heavily on which offense number it is and whether specific aggravating facts apply — a high breath alcohol reading, a minor passenger, a crash, or an injury. Two separate processes start the moment of arrest: the criminal case itself, and an administrative license suspension run by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) that proceeds on its own timeline regardless of how the criminal case turns out. Missing either deadline — the 10-day window to request a formal review hearing on the administrative suspension, or a court date in the criminal case — can make an already difficult situation worse.

The DUI penalty ladder, offense by offense

Below is a general summary of the maximum and mandatory-minimum penalties as commonly reported for each offense tier. Actual sentences depend heavily on the specific facts, any plea negotiation, and the judge — this table shows the outer boundaries the statute sets, not a prediction of any particular outcome.

Offense	Classification	Jail / prison exposure	Fine	License revocation
First DUI	Misdemeanor	Up to 6 months (up to 9 months with BAC .15+ or a minor passenger)	$500–$1,000 ($1,000–$2,000 with BAC .15+ or a minor passenger)	180 days to 1 year
Second DUI (within 5 years of a prior)	Misdemeanor	Up to 9 months, with a mandatory minimum 10 days	$1,000–$2,000 (up to $4,000 with BAC .15+ or a minor passenger)	5 years
Third DUI (within 10 years of a prior)	Third-degree felony	30 days to 5 years	At least $2,000 (at least $4,000 with BAC .15+ or a minor passenger)	10 years
Fourth or subsequent DUI	Third-degree felony	Up to 5 years, with a mandatory minimum 30 days	$1,000–$5,000	Permanent
DUI causing serious bodily injury	Third-degree felony	Up to 5 years	Up to $5,000	Varies by case
DUI manslaughter	Second-degree felony	Up to 15 years, with a mandatory minimum 4 years	Up to $10,000	Varies by case
DUI manslaughter, failure to render aid/give information	First-degree felony	Up to 30 years	Up to $10,000	Varies by case

A few things this table can’t show: a “third DUI” only counts as a felony if it falls within 10 years of a prior conviction — a third DUI more than 10 years after the second is generally charged as an enhanced misdemeanor rather than a felony, which is one of several reasons the exact dates of prior convictions matter enormously in how a new charge gets filed. Every DUI conviction in Florida also requires adjudication — under Section 316.656, Florida Statutes, a withhold of adjudication is never available for a DUI conviction, unlike many other Florida offenses; see Withhold of Adjudication in Florida for how that compares to other charges. And a DUI is a qualifying offense that can independently be graded under Florida’s misdemeanor and felony framework the same way any other charge is.

Implied consent: what happens if you refuse the breath test

Florida’s implied consent law, Section 316.1932, Florida Statutes, provides that by driving on Florida roads, you have already agreed to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test if lawfully arrested for DUI. Refusing carries consequences that are separate from — and in addition to — whatever happens in the underlying DUI case:

• License suspension: a first refusal results in a one-year suspension of driving privileges; a second or subsequent refusal results in an 18-month suspension.
• A separate criminal charge: following a 2025 change to Florida law, refusing a breath or urine test is now itself a second-degree misdemeanor on a first refusal, and a first-degree misdemeanor (up to one year in jail, up to a $1,000 fine) if your license was previously suspended for an earlier refusal.
• Evidence against you: the fact of a refusal is admissible in the DUI case itself and is frequently used by the prosecution to argue consciousness of guilt.

Refusing does not make a DUI charge go away — it adds its own suspension and, now, its own criminal exposure on top of the underlying charge, while a prosecutor can still try to prove impairment through the arresting officer’s observations even without a breath or blood result.

The administrative suspension is a separate track from the criminal case

An arrest for DUI (or a refusal) triggers an automatic administrative license suspension by FLHSMV that runs independently of the criminal case — you can win the criminal case and still lose the administrative suspension, or vice versa, because they use different standards and different decision-makers. The arresting officer’s citation typically serves as a temporary license for 10 days, and requesting a formal review hearing (or enrolling in DUI school to obtain a hardship license) has to happen inside that same 10-day window. We cover that process — the hardship license application, the formal review hearing, and what “hard time” means if the hearing is lost — in How to Obtain a Hardship License After a DUI Arrest in Florida. Because that clock starts immediately and does not wait for the criminal case to be assigned a court date, it is one of the first things a DUI defense attorney should be brought in to handle.

When an ignition interlock device (IID) is required

Florida law requires an ignition interlock device — a breath-testing unit wired into the vehicle’s ignition — for certain DUI convictions, generally scaling with the offense number and the presence of aggravating facts:

• First DUI: an IID is not automatically required for a standard first conviction, but becomes mandatory for at least 6 months if the BAC was .15 or higher or a minor was in the vehicle.
• Second DUI: an IID is generally required for at least 1 year, extending to at least 2 years with a BAC of .15+ or a minor passenger.
• Third or subsequent DUI: longer mandatory IID periods apply, generally measured in years rather than months, on top of the felony-tier penalties above.

A judge retains discretion to order an IID in other circumstances as well, and installation and monitoring costs are generally the defendant’s responsibility rather than the court’s.

What a DUI defense can actually do

No attorney can promise a dismissal, an acquittal, or a specific reduced charge — Florida law and MK Law’s own standards prohibit outcome guarantees, and every case turns on its own facts. What a defense can meaningfully examine includes:

• The traffic stop itself — whether the officer had a lawful basis to stop the vehicle in the first place.
• Field sobriety exercises — how they were administered and whether the officer’s own report supports the conclusions drawn from them.
• The breath, blood, or urine test — the machine’s maintenance and calibration records, chain of custody, and whether the implied-consent warnings were properly given.
• Whether a reduced charge is realistic on these specific facts — in some cases, and entirely at the prosecutor’s discretion, a DUI is negotiated down to a lesser reckless-driving-type charge; this is never guaranteed and depends on the facts, the offense number, and the specific state attorney’s office.

Conclusion: two clocks, one case, and a narrow window to act

A DUI arrest starts a short, unforgiving administrative clock (the 10-day window on your license) at the same time it starts a criminal case that can range from a fairly contained misdemeanor to a serious felony depending on your history and the facts of the stop. Treating either track casually — missing the 10-day deadline, or assuming a first DUI is a minor inconvenience — tends to produce worse outcomes on both fronts than engaging a lawyer immediately on both fronts at once.

Frequently asked questions

Is a first DUI a felony in Florida?

No. A first (and generally a second) DUI is a misdemeanor under § 316.193, Florida Statutes. A DUI becomes a felony on a third conviction within 10 years of a prior, on a fourth or subsequent conviction regardless of timing, or when the DUI causes serious bodily injury or death.

Can I refuse the breathalyzer in Florida?

You can physically refuse, but refusal carries its own consequences under the implied consent law — a license suspension (one year for a first refusal, 18 months for a second or later refusal) and, following a 2025 change in Florida law, a separate criminal charge for a first refusal. Refusing also does not prevent the state from trying to prove impairment through other evidence.

Will my license automatically be suspended after a DUI arrest?

Generally yes, through a separate administrative process run by FLHSMV that starts immediately and proceeds independently of the criminal case. You typically have only 10 days from the arrest to request a formal review hearing or apply for a hardship license — see How to Obtain a Hardship License After a DUI Arrest in Florida for that process.

What’s the difference between DUI and DUI manslaughter?

DUI manslaughter applies when an impaired driver’s actions result in someone’s death; it is a second-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum 4-year prison term, and becomes a first-degree felony if the driver knew or should have known about the crash and failed to render aid or give information. A standard DUI, by contrast, does not require that anyone be hurt.

Can a DUI ever be reduced to a lesser charge?

Sometimes, depending entirely on the facts, the evidence, the offense number, and the specific prosecutor’s office — this is never guaranteed and isn’t available in every case. An attorney can evaluate whether the facts of a specific stop support that kind of negotiation.

Can a DUI conviction be sealed or withheld from my record later?

No. Florida law requires adjudication in every DUI conviction — a withhold of adjudication is not available for DUI the way it is for many other charges. See Withhold of Adjudication in Florida for how that compares across offense types.

Speak with a Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney

Because the administrative license clock starts before the criminal case even gets a court date, the sooner a DUI attorney is involved, the more options generally remain open on both fronts. MK Law’s DUI defense attorneys handle first offenses through felony DUI charges across Broward County and South Florida.

Call MK Law at 954.865.6032 — available 24/7 — if you or someone you know has been arrested for DUI in Florida.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Legal outcomes depend on the specific facts, applicable law, and current procedures. Reading this article or contacting MK Law does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship.