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Colorado DUI penalties breakdown: every component, line by line

Our Colorado DUI costs page gives the state overview. This page does the narrower job: Colorado runs two offences side by side — DUI and the lesser DWAI — so this page prices each component of § 42-4-1307 for both, the revocation periods in § 42-2-125, the interlock-restricted route back to driving, and the DMV reinstatement fee — with no added-up total.

DUI versus DWAI: § 42-4-1307 prices the two offences differently

A first DUI or DUI per se conviction under § 42-4-1307 carries imprisonment in the county jail of five days to one year, a fine of $600 to $1,000, and 48 to 96 hours of useful public service. The five-day minimum is mandatory in form but the court may suspend it where the offender completes an alcohol and drug evaluation and any recommended education or treatment; where the concentration was 0.20 or higher, a ten-day minimum applies and may not be suspended in the same way. A first DWAI — driving while ability impaired, the lesser offence — carries two to 180 days, a fine of $200 to $500, and 24 to 48 hours of public service, and, critically for the license side, no revocation at all on a first conviction.

From the second conviction the two offences converge. A second DUI or DWAI carries ten days to one year, a fine of $600 to $1,500, and 48 to 120 hours of public service. A third carries 60 days to one year, the same $600 to $1,500 fine range, and the same service range. Colorado counts prior convictions without a washout period — priors from any point in the driving history, including out-of-state equivalents, count toward the offence number — and a fourth or subsequent offence is a felony, outside the misdemeanour ranges priced here. Every sentence also turns on the evaluation: the court sentences on the basis of an alcohol and drug evaluation, and Level I or Level II education and treatment are ordered from it, at programme prices set by the licensed provider rather than in the statute.

Revocation, interlock and reinstatement: §§ 42-2-125 and 42-2-132.5

A first DUI conviction revokes the license for nine months under § 42-2-125 and assesses twelve points; a first DWAI assesses eight points and no revocation. A second conviction revokes for one year where it falls within five years of the first, and a third brings an indefinite revocation with eligibility to apply for reinstatement after two years. The route back during a revocation is the interlock-restricted license under § 42-2-132.5: a first offender may apply for early reinstatement on an interlock-restricted license after one month of the revocation has run, while a driver whose concentration was 0.15 or higher is designated a persistent drunk driver and must hold the interlock for at least one year. For second and subsequent convictions, the interlock-restricted license must be held for at least two years — and not more than five — before an unrestricted license is available. A first refusal of testing under the express consent law brings a one-year administrative revocation of its own.

Reinstatement at the end of a revocation is a DMV transaction: the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles charges a $95 reinstatement fee under its published fee schedule, together with proof of financial responsibility where required and completion of the interlock and programme conditions. The interlock itself is installed and leased by DMV-approved vendors at their own rates, and education and treatment are billed by the provider — both identified here as requirements, not state fees. Our reinstatement page, interlock page and classes page cover those components in detail.

Sources: Colorado Revised Statutes §§ 42-4-1307, 42-2-125, 42-2-132.5, 42-4-1301.1; Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles fee schedule. Last verified: October 2026.

What this state does not publish as a single figure

Colorado court costs and the statutory surcharges that attach to a DUI sentence are assessed in the case and differ by court, and the evaluation, education and treatment that drive the sentence are billed by licensed providers — which is why this page prints the § 42-4-1307 fine ranges and the DMV's $95 reinstatement fee, and describes the rest as requirements instead of pricing them as state charges. Probation supervision, where imposed, is charged under the supervising authority's own schedule.

There is no published Colorado figure for the effect of a DUI on the price of insuring a car, and none is estimated here; the state's interest in insurance is the financial-responsibility filing discussed on our SR-22 page. A fourth Colorado DUI is a felony with prison exposure, and is deliberately not blended into the misdemeanour table above.

Common questions

What is the real difference between DUI and DWAI on price?

On a first offence: a $600–$1,000 fine and a nine-month revocation for DUI, against $200–$500 and no revocation for DWAI. From the second conviction, § 42-4-1307 sentences them identically.

How soon can a first offender drive again?

On an interlock-restricted license after one month of the nine-month revocation, under § 42-2-132.5 — longer on the interlock where the 0.15 persistent-drunk-driver designation applies.

Do old priors still count in Colorado?

Yes. Colorado has no washout period for DUI and DWAI priors, so a conviction from many years earlier still raises the offence number and the ranges in the table.

Sources: Colorado Revised Statutes §§ 42-4-1307, 42-2-125, 42-2-132.5, 42-4-1301.1; Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles fee schedule. Last verified: October 2026. This page is educational information about costs only — not legal advice. Laws and fees change; confirm current figures with your court and your state's driver-licensing agency.