Home › North Dakota DUI penalties breakdown

North Dakota DUI penalties breakdown: every component, line by line

Our North Dakota DUI costs page gives the state overview. This page does the narrower job: it prices each mandatory component of North Dakota Century Code § 39-08-01(5), the 0.16 aggravated first tier, and the 24/7 Sobriety Program condition — with no added-up total.

The first offence, component by component

North Dakota sentences a DUI from mandatory inclusions, not from a fine range alone. Under § 39-08-01(5)(a)(1), a first offence sentence must include both a fine of at least five hundred dollars and an order for addiction evaluation by an appropriate licensed addiction treatment programme. The evaluation is therefore a priced-in-time-and-fees component of every first case: the statute orders it, while the programme that performs it bills the driver, so this page tables the obligation and the $500 floor and describes the evaluation charge as provider-billed rather than inventing a state fee for it. The ordinary first-offence classification and outer custody limits sit in the wider Century Code framework, and published state summaries put a first licence suspension at ninety-one days — that summary figure is attributed as such in the table, not presented as a line quoted from subsection (5).

The aggravated first tier is triggered by concentration, not by a crash. Under § 39-08-01(5)(a)(2), where the convicted person has an alcohol concentration of at least sixteen one-hundredths of one percent by weight — 0.16 — the offence is an aggravated first offence and the sentence must include a fine of at least seven hundred fifty dollars and at least two days' imprisonment, in addition to the evaluation order. That $250 step in the fine floor and the first mandatory custody in a North Dakota case both turn on the test result, which is why the high-concentration component is tabled separately from the ordinary first tier and cross-linked to our high-BAC guide.

Second, third and fourth offences, and what escalates

A second offence within seven years under § 39-08-01(5)(b) must include at least ten days' imprisonment, of which forty-eight hours must be served consecutively, a fine of one thousand five hundred dollars, an addiction evaluation order, and at least three hundred sixty days' participation in the twenty-four seven sobriety programme under chapter 54-12 as a mandatory condition of probation. The 24/7 component is a real cost layer even though its testing fees are programme charges rather than a Century Code tariff: a year of scheduled sobriety testing is ordered by the statute, and this page describes it as such instead of pricing a per-test figure North Dakota does not publish in § 39-08-01. A third offence within seven years under subsection (5)(c) must include at least one hundred twenty days' imprisonment, a fine of at least two thousand dollars, an evaluation order, at least three hundred sixty days' supervised probation and at least three hundred sixty days in the 24/7 programme.

A fourth or subsequent offence within fifteen years under subsection (5)(d) must include at least one year and one day's imprisonment, a fine of at least two thousand dollars, an evaluation order, at least two years' supervised probation and participation in the 24/7 programme as a mandatory probation condition. The lookback windows themselves are cost components: seven years governs the second and third tiers, while fifteen years governs the fourth, so an older prior that would be invisible in many states still prices a North Dakota case into the felony-era custody floor. On a second or subsequent conviction within seven years the court may also order the number plates of vehicles owned and operated by the offender to be destroyed, with an exception available to avoid undue hardship to a person completely dependent on the vehicle or where the offender participates in the 24/7 programme — a vehicle component described here because the statute orders surrender, not a dollar amount.

Evaluation, 24/7 Sobriety, and reinstatement

Three North Dakota components recur at every tier and should be budgeted as obligations even though only the fines are tabled in dollars. The addiction evaluation is ordered at the first, second, third and fourth tiers alike, and any treatment the evaluation recommends follows at the driver's expense through a licensed programme. Supervised probation is mandatory in defined lengths at the third and fourth tiers and carries the 24/7 condition with it. The 24/7 Sobriety Program itself — scheduled breath testing and monitoring under chapter 54-12 — is a condition of probation, not an optional class, and non-compliance risks the probation consequences described in our probation-violation guide. Reinstatement after a suspension or revocation requires the period to be served and the evaluation, probation and programme conditions to be satisfied; North Dakota does not publish a single DUI-specific reinstatement total in § 39-08-01, so no such figure is tabled here.

Sources: North Dakota Century Code § 39-08-01(5) (mandatory sentence components quoted from the statute text); N.D.C.C. chapter 54-12 (24/7 Sobriety Program); published North Dakota licence-suspension summaries for the 91-day first-offence figure. Last verified: October 2026.

What this state does not publish as a single figure

North Dakota court costs are set by the court where the case is heard, not by § 39-08-01(5), and no single published DUI amount covers them. The addiction evaluation and any recommended treatment, probation supervision, 24/7 programme testing charges, and any interlock provider's installation, lease and calibration charges are billed outside the statute's fine figures. Those components are described as requirements on this page rather than priced as state charges. There is no published North Dakota figure for the effect of a DUI on car insurance prices, and none is estimated here.

Note the drafting pattern before relying on any single number: North Dakota's subsection (5) states floors — at least $500, at least $750, $1,500, at least $2,000 — not ceilings for most tiers, so a court's actual fine can sit above the tabled mandatory amount without contradicting this page.

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 authority in this state has published. Use the table to price the components that apply to a specific case, and compare the national pattern in our first-offense cost guide, second-offense guide and third-offense guide.

Common questions

What is the minimum fine for a first North Dakota DUI?

At least $500 under § 39-08-01(5)(a)(1), plus a mandatory addiction evaluation order. At 0.16 or above the first offence is aggravated: at least $750 and at least two days' imprisonment.

What is the 24/7 Sobriety Program component?

At least 360 days' participation under chapter 54-12 as a mandatory condition of probation at the second, third and fourth tiers. Its testing charges are programme charges, not a tariff set in § 39-08-01.

How far back do North Dakota priors count?

Seven years for the second and third tiers and fifteen years for the fourth-or-subsequent tier, under § 39-08-01(5).

Sources: North Dakota Century Code § 39-08-01(5) (mandatory sentence components quoted from the statute text); N.D.C.C. chapter 54-12 (24/7 Sobriety Program); published North Dakota licence-suspension summaries for the 91-day first-offence figure. 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.