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Missouri DWI penalties breakdown: every component, line by line

Our Missouri DUI costs page gives the state overview. This page does the narrower job: it prices each component of § 577.010 for a first offence and for a prior offender, the Department of Revenue suspension that runs alongside the court case, the mandatory SATOP programme, the refusal revocation, and the reinstatement requirements the DOR publishes — with no added-up total.

The court sentence: Class B for a first offence, Class A for a prior offender

Driving while intoxicated under § 577.010 is a Class B misdemeanour on a first offence, carrying up to six months in jail and a fine within the Class B misdemeanour ceiling; there is no mandatory minimum jail term for a standard first offence, and first offenders are commonly placed on probation for up to two years with completion of the Substance Abuse Traffic Offender Program (SATOP) as a central condition. A separate offence, driving with excessive blood alcohol content under § 577.012, covers the per se concentration case and carries the same classification ladder. Missouri counts priors in tiers with names of their own: a driver with one prior intoxication-related offence is a prior offender, and a second offence inside five years is a Class A misdemeanour carrying up to one year in jail.

The ladder steepens quickly from there. A persistent offender — two or more priors — faces a felony classification, and aggravated and chronic offender tiers carry prison exposure and long license denials: a third offence brings a ten-year denial of driving privileges under the Department of Revenue's schedule, and a driver with two convictions inside five years faces a five-year denial before limited driving privileges can even be considered, and then only after at least two years of the denial have run. Because the fine ceiling follows the offence classification in Missouri's general fine schedule, this page states fines by classification rather than printing a single DWI-specific dollar figure the statute does not contain.

The DOR suspension, refusal revocation, SATOP and the $45 reinstatement fee

The Department of Revenue suspends on the arrest side under §§ 302.500 to 302.540: a first offence brings a ninety-day suspension structured as thirty days of full suspension followed by sixty days of restricted driving, and eight points on the driving record. Refusing a chemical test brings a one-year revocation under § 577.041 — a year with no driving at all unless a court grants limited privileges — separate from the criminal sentence. Our refusal page sets Missouri's year-long refusal revocation against other states.

The DOR publishes the reinstatement package for alcohol-related points violations as a single checklist: pay the $45 reinstatement fee (a $20 general fee plus the $25 additional statutory fee), file and maintain SR-22 proof of financial responsibility for two years from the start of the suspension or revocation, file proof of successful SATOP completion, and — where the record shows more than one alcohol-related enforcement contact, or a first conviction at 0.15 or higher or involving injury or property damage — file proof of ignition interlock installation, maintained for at least six months from reinstatement. After a revocation, the driver must also retake the complete driver examination. SATOP itself begins with a paid assessment screening that assigns the driver to a programme level; the programme charges are set by the provider at each level rather than in the statute. Our reinstatement page and classes page cover the checklist in detail.

Sources: Missouri Revised Statutes §§ 577.010, 577.012, 577.041, 302.500–302.540; Missouri Department of Revenue reinstatement requirements for alcohol-related violations. Last verified: October 2026.

What this state does not publish as a single figure

Court costs in Missouri are assessed by the convicting court and vary by county, and SATOP's assessment and programme charges are set by the Department of Mental Health's certified providers at each programme level rather than published as a single state fee — which is why this page prints the DOR's $45 reinstatement fee and its published reinstatement checklist, and describes court costs and SATOP as requirements with provider-set charges instead of pricing them as state charges.

There is no published Missouri figure for the effect of a DWI on the price of insuring a car, and none is estimated here; the state's interest in insurance is the two-year SR-22 filing in the DOR checklist. The felony tiers for persistent, aggravated and chronic offenders carry prison ranges that depend on the tier and the record, and are identified by classification rather than blended into the first-offence figures above.

Common questions

How long is a first Missouri DWI suspension, in practice?

Ninety days on the DOR side: thirty days with no driving, then sixty days of restricted driving — provided the reinstatement conditions, including SATOP, are on track.

What does refusing the test cost in Missouri?

A one-year revocation under § 577.041, imposed on the refusal itself and separate from whatever happens in the criminal case.

What exactly does the DOR charge to reinstate?

A $45 reinstatement fee — $20 general plus $25 additional — together with two years of SR-22 filings, SATOP completion proof, and interlock proof where the record requires it.

Sources: Missouri Revised Statutes §§ 577.010, 577.012, 577.041, 302.500–302.540; Missouri Department of Revenue reinstatement requirements for alcohol-related violations. 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.