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DUI lookback period costs: how long a prior keeps raising the price
Every repeat-offence page on this site assumes a prior counts. This page prices the assumption itself: the lookback (or washout) window each verified state applies — seven years in Arizona, ten in California, a tiered five-and-ten in Florida, twenty in Vermont, and no time limit at all in Texas — and what falling inside or outside that window does to the fine, custody and felony exposure of the next case.
The window is where the money is
A prior DUI raises the price of a new one only while it sits inside the window the new state's statute counts. Inside the window, the new case is sentenced on the second, third or felony ladder; outside it, the same driver is sentenced on the first-offence ladder even though the old conviction still exists on the record. The window therefore has a measurable cash value: it is the difference between two published ladders. In California, whose Vehicle Code counts priors within ten years, that difference runs from a first-offence fine band of $390 to $1,000 up to the third-offence frame with its longer programme and three-year revocation. In Texas, which applies no lookback limit under Penal Code § 49.09 in the published summaries, there is no date after which the difference disappears — a decades-old prior can still lift a new DWI to the third-degree felony tier of two to ten years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Windows also differ in what they count and when the clock runs, and this page does not smooth those differences away. Arizona counts its aggravated third within 84 months — seven years — measured across the violation dates in its published summaries. Florida tiers its windows by consequence: a second conviction carries its mandatory minimums when it falls within five years of a prior, and a third becomes a felony when it falls within ten. Vermont's escalation ladder reaches back twenty years for the second-offence tier priced in its breakdown. California's ten years generally run arrest date to arrest date for priorability. A driver comparing states should compare the window that matches the consequence they face, not a single headline number.
Lookback windows in the verified states
One limit applies to every row below: a lookback window governs sentencing enhancement, not the record itself. An old conviction outside the window can still appear on a driving record, can still matter to a licensing agency, and — in the case of the commercial and administrative consequences priced elsewhere on this site — can still carry its own effects. What expires is the prior's power to move the new case up the criminal ladder. No authority publishes a dollar figure for the record or licensing effects of an out-of-window prior, and none is estimated here.
| DUI component | Published amount |
|---|---|
| Arizona — aggravated third window (§ 28-1383) | 84 months (7 years): a third DUI inside the window is an aggravated class 4 felony; the first-offence ladder is priced in the Arizona breakdown |
| California — priorability window (Vehicle Code §§ 23540 et seq.) | 10 years, generally arrest date to arrest date: second and third offences inside the window carry the enhanced custody, programme and revocation frames priced in the California breakdown |
| Florida — tiered windows (§ 316.193) | 5 years for the second-conviction mandatory minimums; 10 years for third-conviction felony grading; a fourth or subsequent conviction is a third-degree felony regardless of when the priors occurred, with a minimum fine of $2,000 in the statute text |
| Texas — no lookback limit (§ 49.09, published summaries) | No time limit: priors of any age, including qualifying out-of-state convictions, can enhance; a third or subsequent DWI is a third-degree felony, 2 to 10 years, fine up to $10,000 |
| Vermont — second-offence window (§ 1210(c)) | 20 years for the second-offence tier priced in the Vermont breakdown: fine up to $1,500, at least 200 hours of community service or 60 consecutive hours |
| Wyoming and North Dakota — felony-tier windows (verified breakdowns) | 10 years for Wyoming's felony fourth under § 31-5-233; 7 years for North Dakota's second and third tiers and 15 years for its fourth-or-subsequent tier under § 39-08-01(5) |
Sources: A.R.S. § 28-1383; California Vehicle Code §§ 23540 et seq.; Florida Statutes § 316.193; Texas Penal Code § 49.09; 23 V.S.A. § 1210(c); Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-233; N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(5) — windows as stated in the statutes and the published state summaries verified for this site's state breakdowns. 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 the window does not do
Falling outside a window does not erase a conviction, expunge a record, or restore a licence — record relief is a separate process priced in our expungement guide, and reinstatement follows the licensing agency's own schedule. Nor does any state on this page publish a fee for determining whether a prior counts: that question is answered from court records in the new case, and attorney time spent on it is a private retainer with no published schedule. There is likewise no published figure for how an old, out-of-window prior affects car insurance prices, and none is estimated here.
The practical lesson of the table is that time is a priced component of a repeat DUI, as real as the fine. The same second arrest costs the first-offence ladder in one state and the felony ladder in another purely because of where the window falls — and in Texas it costs the enhanced ladder at any distance in time. Price a repeat case from the window first and the ladder second, using our second-offence guide, our third-offence guide and the state breakdown for the state of the new charge.
Common questions
- How long does a DUI count against you?
- It depends on the state and the consequence: 7 years for Arizona's aggravated third, 10 years for California priorability, 5 and 10 years for Florida's tiered consequences, 20 years for Vermont's second-offence tier — and no time limit in Texas.
- Does an old DUI disappear from your record after the window?
- No. The window limits sentencing enhancement for a new case. The conviction itself remains a record matter unless a separate record-relief process applies.
- Can an out-of-state DUI count inside the window?
- In the states priced here, qualifying out-of-state convictions can count — Texas summaries state this expressly for § 49.09 enhancement, and Florida's statute lists out-of-state DUI convictions as previous convictions.
Related cost guides: second-offense DUI costs, third-offense and felony DUI costs, felony DUI costs, DUI expungement and record-relief costs, out-of-state DUI costs.
Sources: A.R.S. § 28-1383; California Vehicle Code §§ 23540 et seq.; Florida Statutes § 316.193; Texas Penal Code § 49.09; 23 V.S.A. § 1210(c); Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-233; N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(5). 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.