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DUI open-container costs: the extra citation that rides along with the arrest
An open container found during a DUI stop is rarely the main charge — but it is almost never free. Depending on the state it is a separate fine-only citation, a sentencing enhancement that raises the minimum jail term on the DUI itself, or both. This page prices only the open-container layer, from the statutes that create it, and keeps it separate from the DUI fines covered elsewhere on this site.
What counts as an open container
State definitions are close cousins. Texas Penal Code § 49.031 defines an open container as a bottle, can or other receptacle that contains any amount of alcoholic beverage and is open, has been opened, has a broken seal, or has had part of its contents removed. A recorked wine bottle qualifies. The Texas offense is knowingly possessing that container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle on a public highway — the area designed for the driver and passengers, excluding a locked glove compartment, the trunk, or the area behind the last upright seat in a vehicle without a trunk. The vehicle does not have to be moving; a car parked on a public road is enough.
California draws the same lines in a cluster of Vehicle Code sections: § 23222 covers possessing an open container while driving, § 23223 covers a driver or passenger having one in the passenger compartment, and §§ 23225–23226 cover storing one there. Trunk storage and the living quarters of a housecar or camper sit outside those sections, and § 23229 exempts passengers in a bus, taxicab or licensed limousine. In both states the container, not drinking itself, is the violation — nobody has to take a sip in front of the officer.
Texas: a $500 citation on its own, six days on a DWI
Standing alone, possession of an open container in Texas is a Class C misdemeanor under § 49.031 — a fine-only offense punishable by a fine of not more than $500, with no jail time. An officer who charges only that offense must issue a citation rather than make an arrest once the person signs a promise to appear. That is the cheapest version of this charge anywhere in this page, and it is the version that applies to a sober driver or a passenger.
The same container becomes much more expensive when the driver is charged with DWI. Texas Penal Code § 49.04 sets the ordinary first-offense DWI minimum confinement at 72 hours, but § 49.04(c) raises the minimum to six days when it is shown on the trial of the offense that an open container was in the defendant's possession in the vehicle. The court fine ceiling does not change — a first DWI remains a Class B misdemeanor with a fine of up to $2,000 — but the mandatory floor of time in custody doubles, and time in custody is itself a cost in lost work even though no agency publishes a dollar figure for it. On this site we price the citation and state the custody change; we do not convert jail days into invented dollars.
| Open-container rule | Published consequence |
|---|---|
| Texas — open container alone (Penal Code § 49.031) | Class C misdemeanor: fine up to $500, no jail |
| Texas — open container shown at DWI trial (§ 49.04(c)) | First-DWI minimum confinement rises from 72 hours to 6 days |
| California — open container, driver or passenger (Veh. Code §§ 23222, 23223) | Infraction: base fine up to $100 (1st), $200 (2nd within a year), $250 (3rd+ within a year) under § 42001, plus penalty assessments |
| California — under-21 possession in a vehicle (Veh. Code § 23224) | Misdemeanor: fine up to $1,000, up to 6 months county jail, 1-year license suspension; vehicle may be impounded up to 30 days |
Sources: Texas Penal Code §§ 49.031, 49.04 (Texas Legislature, statutes.capitol.texas.gov); California Vehicle Code §§ 23222–23226, 23224, 42001 (California Legislative Information). 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 calculatorCalifornia: a small base fine, and a very different rule under 21
For a driver or passenger aged 21 or older, a California open-container violation is an infraction, not a misdemeanor. Vehicle Code § 42001 sets the base fine for an infraction at not more than $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second within a year, and $250 for a third or subsequent offense within a year of two priors. As with every California fine on this site, the base fine is not the amount that clears the court — statutory penalty assessments are added on top, and the total depends on the county, so this page quotes the base fine the statute actually sets rather than a dressed-up total.
Section 23224 is the sharp edge. A person under 21 who knowingly drives a motor vehicle carrying any alcoholic beverage — open or sealed — commits a misdemeanor, outside narrow exceptions for employment or acting at a parent's direction. The published consequences are a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in county jail or both, a one-year license suspension (or a one-year delay in eligibility if the person has no license yet), and impoundment of a vehicle registered to the under-21 driver for up to 30 days. Storage during an impound is billed by the lot at rates no state schedule sets, so we state the impound period and do not price the storage.
How the container changes the DUI case itself
Even where the open-container citation is cheap, it is evidence. A container in the passenger area supports the officer's account of drinking connected to driving, and prosecutors in both example states can use it at the DUI trial — in Texas with the concrete six-day consequence above. Passengers can also be cited in their own right: the Texas offense is possession by any occupant who knowingly possesses the container in the passenger area, and California § 23223 reaches passengers directly. A passenger citation is a separate case with its own fine, independent of what happens to the driver.
What this page deliberately does not do is add the open-container fine to a DUI fine and call the sum a total. Court costs, the Texas state fine on a DWI conviction, program fees and reinstatement fees each have their own pages here — start with Texas DUI costs, California DUI costs and the full first-offense cost stack.
Common questions
- Can a passenger be charged, or only the driver?
- Both. Texas § 49.031 is a possession offense that applies to any occupant, and California § 23223 expressly covers passengers. The driver does not have to own the container.
- Is a recorked bottle from a restaurant an open container?
- Yes, under both definitions above — the seal has been broken and contents removed. In California and Texas alike, the lawful place for it is the trunk or, in a vehicle without one, behind the last upright seat.
- Does an open container add points or a suspension by itself?
- Neither example statute attaches a suspension to the adult open-container offense itself. The under-21 California offense is the exception: § 23224 carries a one-year suspension. A suspension in an adult case comes from the DUI, not the container.
Related cost guides: Texas DUI costs, California DUI costs, underage DUI costs, and towing and impound costs.
Sources: Texas Penal Code §§ 49.031, 49.04; California Vehicle Code §§ 23222–23226, 23224, 42001. 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.