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Idaho DUI penalties breakdown: every component, line by line

Our Idaho DUI costs page gives the state overview. This page does the narrower job: it prices each component of Idaho Code §§ 18-8004 and 18-8005 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

Idaho's DUI statute, § 18-8005, is written as maximums with mandatory minimums that switch on at the repeat and high-concentration tiers, so the first offence reads differently from the states around it. A first ordinary DUI is a misdemeanour punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, and the court-ordered license suspension is 90 to 180 days — structured, on the published summaries, as a first period of absolute suspension (30 days for an ordinary first offence) followed by a further period in which restricted privileges may be requested. Every convicted driver must obtain an alcohol evaluation under § 18-8005 before sentencing, and the evaluation and any treatment it recommends are at the offender's or the county's expense under the statute's allocation — a real component of an Idaho case, but one priced by the evaluating provider, not by a state schedule, so it is described here rather than tabled.

Idaho's priced escalator at the first tier is concentration, not priors: an excessive DUI at 0.20 or above is punished as though it were a second offence. On the published summaries of § 18-8005, a first excessive conviction carries a mandatory minimum of ten days in jail (the first 48 hours consecutive), up to one year, a fine of up to $2,000, and at least one year of absolute license suspension after release from confinement. That makes the test result the single most expensive fact in a first Idaho case — it doubles the fine ceiling, quadruples the jail ceiling and converts a partly-restrictable suspension into a full year with no driving at all — and it is why this page tables the excessive tier as its own row rather than as a footnote to the ordinary first offence.

Second and third offences, and what escalates

A second ordinary DUI within ten years is a misdemeanour with a mandatory minimum of ten days in jail — the first 48 hours consecutive, with at least five days served in jail — up to one year, a fine of up to $2,000, and one year of absolute suspension after release from confinement, followed by interlock-restricted driving. A third DUI within ten years is a felony under § 18-8005(6): up to ten years in state correctional custody and a fine of up to $5,000 in the published county and statutory summaries, and where the court does not impose penitentiary incarceration a minimum of thirty days in the county jail applies, with the first 48 hours consecutive and ten days served in jail. The felony license suspension is one to five years after release, the first year absolute, with interlock-restricted driving after the mandatory period. An aggravated DUI — causing great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement under § 18-8006 — is a separate felony carrying up to fifteen years and a fine of up to $5,000, identified here by its published maximums only.

Refusal, the restricted license, and reinstatement charges

Idaho's refusal and test-failure consequences run on a civil track with a seven-day fuse. A driver who fails an evidentiary test faces the administrative suspension that matches the offence level, while a first refusal brings a one-year civil suspension and a $250 civil fine in the published Transportation Department summaries, and a second refusal within ten years brings a two-year suspension and the same $250 fine. An ignition interlock is required for one year after a failure or refusal, and Idaho law now requires an interlock for drivers convicted of DUI as a reinstatement condition in the published guidance — installed and leased through an approved provider at the driver's expense. Reinstatement therefore costs the civil fine where one applies, the evaluation and any recommended treatment, and a year or more of device charges, none of which Idaho publishes as a single restoration figure; this page tables the statutory fines and suspension periods and describes those components in place of a total.

Sources: Idaho Code §§ 18-8004 and 18-8005 (offence tiers and evaluation requirement); Idaho Code § 18-8006 (aggravated DUI); Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney DUI statute summary; Idaho Transportation Department civil suspension and interlock summaries. Last verified: October 2026.

What this state does not publish as a single figure

Idaho court costs and assessments are set by the court and the county or municipality where the case is heard, not by Idaho Code §§ 18-8004 and 18-8005, and no single published DUI amount covers them. The evaluation, education or treatment components described above, any probation or programme supervision, and an interlock provider's installation, monthly lease, calibration and removal charges are all billed outside the statute's fine and revocation figures. Those components are described as requirements on this page rather than priced as state charges. There is no published Idaho figure for the effect of a DUI on car insurance prices, and none is estimated here — insurance is mentioned only where a filing requirement such as SR-22 proof of financial responsibility is itself a reinstatement component.

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 Idaho 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 does a first Idaho DUI cost in fines?

The statutory fine ceiling is $1,000 for an ordinary first offence under § 18-8005, with up to six months in jail and a 90-to-180-day suspension — but at 0.20 or above the same first case is punished as an excessive DUI, with a fine ceiling of $2,000 and a full year of absolute suspension.

When does an Idaho DUI become a felony?

At the third conviction within ten years, under § 18-8005(6): up to ten years in state custody, a fine of up to $5,000 and a one-to-five-year suspension after release — and sooner where an aggravated DUI under § 18-8006 causes serious injury.

What happens if you refuse a test in Idaho?

A civil, not criminal, consequence: a one-year suspension and a $250 civil fine for a first refusal in the published Transportation Department summaries, two years for a second refusal within ten years, plus a year of interlock — and only seven days to start contesting it.

Sources: Idaho Code §§ 18-8004 and 18-8005 (ordinary, excessive, second and felony-third tiers and the pre-sentencing evaluation); Idaho Code § 18-8006 (aggravated DUI); Canyon County (Idaho) Prosecuting Attorney, Driving Under the Influence statute summary (felony maximums and excessive-DUI treatment); Idaho Transportation Department civil test-failure/refusal suspension and interlock summaries as reproduced in state DUI references. 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.