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Connecticut DUI penalties breakdown: every component, line by line
Our Connecticut DUI costs page gives the state overview. This page does the narrower job: it prices each component of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227a for a first, second and third conviction, the mandatory minimums, the restricted-license and interlock route, and the reinstatement charges the state actually publishes — with no added-up total.
The first offence, component by component
Connecticut's § 14-227a gives a first offender one of two sentencing tracks, and the choice between them is the most important cost decision in the case. The fine is $500 to $1,000 and the jail exposure is up to six months. On the first track, 48 consecutive hours of that sentence cannot be suspended or reduced for any reason. On the second, the court suspends the jail sentence entirely and imposes probation whose condition is 100 hours of community service. Either way the license is suspended for 45 days, and restoration is conditional: the driver must install an ignition interlock on each vehicle owned or operated and may then drive only an interlock-equipped vehicle for a full year after restoration. Connecticut therefore prices a first DUI less through its fine than through a year of interlock-only driving.
The DMV side is priced with unusual precision, which is why this page can table it. The Connecticut DMV's own interlock programme page states the two state fees exactly: a $175 license reinstatement, or restoration, fee and a $100 ignition-interlock administration fee, both payable to DMV, with installation to be arranged with an approved vendor at least ten days before the eligibility date where possible. What DMV does not set is the vendor's own pricing — installation, the monthly lease and monitoring, calibration visits and removal are the chosen vendor's charges, and Connecticut drivers can shop among approved vendors. Treating the $175 and $100 as the state component and the vendor bill as a separate market component is the correct way to read a Connecticut reinstatement quote.
Second and third offences, and what escalates
A second conviction within ten years raises the fine to $1,000 to $4,000 and the jail exposure to two years, of which 120 consecutive days are mandatory, followed by probation requiring 100 hours of community service, an assessment through the Court Support Services Division and any treatment programme the court orders on that assessment. The license pattern repeats at a higher level: 45 days of suspension, then three years of interlock-only driving, with the first of those three years limited to travel to or from work or school, a treatment programme, an interlock service centre or a probation appointment. A third conviction within ten years carries $2,000 to $8,000, up to three years with one year mandatory, and permanent revocation of the license, subject only to the later restoration process the law allows.
Refusal, the restricted license, and reinstatement charges
Connecticut also runs an administrative per se track through DMV on a failed or refused chemical test, separate from the criminal tiers above, and a refusal carries its own suspension and interlock consequences even while the court case is pending. That separation is why a Connecticut driver can be paying DMV restoration and interlock administration fees on the administrative track before the § 14-227a sentence is ever imposed. Our refusal, interlock and reinstatement pages work through those parallel tracks. Note what Connecticut does not have: it is not an SR-22 state in the way most states use that filing, so no SR-22 filing fee is tabled here — the state's restoration charges are the $175 and $100 DMV fees stated above.
| DUI component | Published amount |
|---|---|
| First offence (§ 14-227a(g)(1)) | Fine $500–$1,000; up to 6 months, with either 48 consecutive mandatory hours or a fully suspended sentence plus probation with 100 hours of community service; 45-day suspension, then 1 year driving only a vehicle with an ignition interlock |
| Second offence in 10 years (§ 14-227a(g)(2)) | Fine $1,000–$4,000; up to 2 years, 120 consecutive days mandatory; probation with 100 hours of community service, Court Support Services assessment and any treatment ordered; 45-day suspension, then 3 years of interlock-only driving (first year limited to work, school, treatment, interlock service or probation trips) |
| Third offence in 10 years (§ 14-227a(g)(3)) | Fine $2,000–$8,000; up to 3 years, 1 year mandatory; probation conditions as for a second offence; license permanently revoked, subject to the restoration hearing route the statute provides |
| DMV restoration (CT DMV IID programme) | $175 license reinstatement (restoration) fee plus a $100 ignition-interlock administration fee, both payable to DMV |
| Interlock vendor charges | Installation, monthly lease, calibration and removal are charged by the CT-approved vendor the driver chooses — not a DMV tariff |
Sources: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227a(g) (penalty tiers verbatim); Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, Ignition Interlock Device Program page (restoration fee $175, IID administration fee $100, restoration steps); Connecticut General Assembly Office of Legislative Research DUI summary table. Last verified: October 2026.
The fine is one line in a longer stack — court costs, program fees, interlock, supervision and reinstatement all bill separately. Price the layers that apply to your case in the calculator.
Open the DUI cost calculatorWhat this state does not publish as a single figure
Connecticut does not publish a statewide price for the alcohol or drug treatment a Court Support Services assessment may order, for probation supervision, or for an approved interlock vendor's installation, lease and calibration charges, and court costs in the criminal case are assessed by the court. Those components are described as requirements on this page rather than priced as state charges. There is also no published Connecticut figure for what a DUI does to the price of insuring a car, and none is estimated here; the state's priced interest in restoration is the DMV fee pair — $175 restoration and $100 interlock administration — not an insurance premium.
There is no added-up statewide total on this page for the same reason: the published components above are the figures the statute, the licensing agency or the court schedule actually sets, and the remaining components are billed case by case. Adding them together would produce a number no Connecticut authority has published. Use the table to price the components that apply to a specific case, and use our first-offense cost guide, second-offense guide and third-offense guide for the national pattern each component follows.
Common questions
- What are the DMV fees to get a Connecticut license back after a DUI?
- $175 for license restoration plus $100 for ignition-interlock administration, both payable to DMV according to its interlock programme page, on top of the approved vendor's own installation and lease charges.
- Does a first Connecticut DUI always mean jail?
- No — § 14-227a allows either 48 consecutive mandatory hours within a sentence of up to six months, or a fully suspended sentence with probation requiring 100 hours of community service.
- How long must interlock be used after a first Connecticut DUI?
- The license is suspended for 45 days, and for one year after restoration the driver may operate only a vehicle equipped with a functioning approved ignition interlock.
Related cost guides: Connecticut DUI costs overview, second-offense DUI costs, DUI refusal costs, ignition interlock costs, license reinstatement fees.
Sources: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227a(g) (penalty tiers verbatim); Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, Ignition Interlock Device Program page (restoration fee $175, IID administration fee $100, restoration steps); Connecticut General Assembly Office of Legislative Research DUI summary table. 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.