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DUI with a child passenger: when a misdemeanor becomes a felony
A child in the vehicle is the single fact most likely to transform a first DUI. Texas makes it a felony on a first offense; Florida doubles the fine range; Arizona folds it into aggravated — felony — DUI. The age cutoff, the fine and the charge level are all set by statute, and they differ enough by state that this page treats each state separately and never blends them into a national figure.
Texas: a state jail felony from the first offense
Under Texas Penal Code § 49.045, a person commits a separate offense by driving while intoxicated with a passenger younger than 15 in the vehicle. It does not matter whether the driver has any prior record, and no minimum alcohol level beyond intoxication itself is required. The offense is a state jail felony, which under § 12.35 carries 180 days to two years in a state jail facility and a fine of up to $10,000 — compared with a maximum $2,000 fine for a standard first-offense Class B DWI.
The felony label is itself a cost layer that never appears on a court-cost bill. A felony conviction affects employment, professional licensing and, for parents, can trigger a child-protective-services investigation and family-court proceedings that run independently of the criminal case. Texas also runs a separate Administrative License Revocation case on the license, and an interlock is commonly required as a bond and supervision condition — priced at market rates on our interlock costs page, not by the § 49.045 statute.
Florida: an enhancement inside the DUI statute
Florida keeps the case a DUI but enhances the punishment. Under Florida Statutes § 316.193(4), a driver convicted of DUI who was accompanied by a person under 18 is punished, on a first conviction, by a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 — double the standard first-offense range — and imprisonment of up to 9 months instead of 6. A second conviction fines $2,000 to $4,000 with up to 12 months, and a third or subsequent conviction carries a fine of not less than $4,000. The same subsection triggers a mandatory ignition interlock of at least six months on a first conviction.
Note the different age line: Florida's enhancement applies to any passenger under 18, while Texas's felony applies under 15. A driver carrying a 16-year-old therefore faces the enhancement in Florida and no child-passenger offense in Texas. Florida can also bring a separate child-endangerment theory in serious cases, but that charge and its penalties are fact-specific and are not priced here, because no published schedule fixes them in advance.
| State rule | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Texas — DWI with passenger under 15 (§§ 49.045, 12.35) | State jail felony: 180 days–2 years state jail; fine up to $10,000 |
| Florida — DUI with passenger under 18, first (§ 316.193(4)) | Fine $1,000–$2,000; up to 9 months jail; interlock at least 6 months |
| Florida — same, second conviction (§ 316.193(4)) | Fine $2,000–$4,000; up to 12 months jail |
| Florida — same, third or subsequent (§ 316.193(4)) | Fine not less than $4,000 |
| Arizona — DUI with passenger under 15 (§ 28-1383) | Aggravated DUI (felony); fines/assessments $4,000+ in published summaries |
Sources: Texas Penal Code §§ 49.045, 12.35 (Texas Legislature); Florida Statutes § 316.193(4) (Online Sunshine); A.R.S. § 28-1383. 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 calculatorArizona: child passenger as aggravated DUI
Arizona takes the third route: under A.R.S. § 28-1383, committing a DUI with a passenger under 15 in the vehicle is one of the defined forms of aggravated DUI — a felony — alongside driving on a suspended license and committing a third DUI within 84 months. Published summaries of § 28-1383 put aggravated DUI financial obligations at $4,000 or more in fines and assessments, a prison minimum measured in months for a first aggravated offense, a multi-year license revocation, and an interlock term of at least two years after reinstatement.
Across all three states the pattern is the same even though the mechanics differ: the child-passenger fact moves the case out of the standard first-offense price range entirely. Readers comparing states should compare charge levels, not just fines — a $10,000-maximum felony in Texas and a $2,000-maximum enhanced misdemeanor in Florida are different kinds of exposure, and the felony's collateral costs (record, licensing, custody proceedings) have no published price at all.
Common questions
- Does the child have to be injured for the enhancement to apply?
- No. In Texas, Florida and Arizona the enhancement or felony turns on the child's presence and age, not on injury. Injury changes the case again — see DUI causing injury costs.
- What age counts as a child passenger?
- It depends on the state: under 15 in Texas (§ 49.045) and Arizona (§ 28-1383), under 18 in Florida (§ 316.193(4)). There is no single national age cutoff.
- Can a child-passenger DUI be expunged like a regular DUI?
- A Texas § 49.045 conviction is a felony conviction and is not eligible for expunction; record relief rules differ by state and outcome — see DUI expungement costs.
Related cost guides: DUI causing injury costs, high-BAC DUI costs, underage DUI costs, and third-offense & felony DUI costs.
Sources: Texas Penal Code §§ 49.045, 12.35; Florida Statutes § 316.193(4); A.R.S. § 28-1383. 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.