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About DUI Cost Guide

DUI Cost Guide exists for one narrow job: telling you, state by state and layer by layer, what a DUI or DWI actually costs — the fine, the court costs, the license fees, the program, the interlock, and the insurance filing — before the bills arrive.

Editorial policy & methodology: how the figures are sourced and verified

Every state-set figure on this site comes from a named official source that we opened and read during the October 2026 research pass, in this order of preference:

Statutes and driver-licensing agencies first — the DUI statute itself for fine ranges and suspension periods, and the state DMV / licensing agency for reinstatement fees and SR-22 rules.
State court sources second — court cost schedules and judiciary pages where the state publishes them.
NHTSA for national structure — how interlock and SR-22 programs are organized nationally; never as the source for a state's dollar figure.

Four working rules follow from that method. Where a cost is set county by county or court by court, we say so rather than dress one county's figure up as statewide fact. Where a figure cannot be verified from an official source, we mark it unverified or leave it out instead of filling the gap with a plausible number. Market costs are labelled as market costs — interlock leases, towing, and insurance are charged by private companies, not the state, and are always described as typical ranges or left for you to enter from your own quote. Insurance premium increases are never given a dollar figure on this site: no official source publishes one, the increase depends on your insurer and record, and a made-up "average" would mislead exactly the readers this site is for. Figures are re-checked against the issuing source when we update a page, and every page carries its research date.

What this site is not

DUI Cost Guide is an educational publisher, not a law firm. Nothing here is legal advice, creates an attorney–client relationship, or describes how to defend, reduce, or avoid a DUI charge — we publish no defense strategies, no attorney recommendations or referrals, and no case results or testimonials. DUI law and costs change and vary by county, court, and case: confirm every figure with the court and the driver-licensing agency in your state, and consult a licensed attorney in your state for advice about your specific situation.

Scope: DUI costs only

This site covers the costs that follow a DUI/DWI specifically. General court filing fees — divorce, civil, name changes — are covered by our sister site courtcostguide.com; small claims by smallclaimscost.com. The rest of the network is a small portfolio of cost-guide sites built on the same principle — researched figures, named sources, free calculators — including business formation fees at llccostguide.com and home project costs at averagehomecost.com.

Corrections

Statutes are amended and fee schedules are revised mid-year in some states. If a figure here no longer matches your state's published law or schedule, tell us through the contact page with the official link, and we will update the page and note the change.