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Pennsylvania DUI penalties breakdown: every component, line by line
Our Pennsylvania DUI costs page gives the state overview. This page does the narrower job: Pennsylvania sentences DUI by blood-alcohol tier under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3804, so this page prices each tier for a first and second offence, the separate civil suspension for refusing a test, and the ARD programme whose costs are set by county — with no added-up total.
The three tiers: § 3804 prices the first offence by concentration
General impairment — a concentration of 0.08 to under 0.10, or driving incapable of safe operation — is the only Pennsylvania tier with no mandatory jail and no license suspension on a first offence: § 3804(a)(1) sets a fine of $300 and six months of probation, with alcohol highway safety school and a drug and alcohol evaluation, and treatment where ordered. The high rate of alcohol — 0.10 to under 0.16, and also the tier applied to commercial and under-21 drivers and to crashes involving injury or property damage — carries a first-offence fine of $500 to $5,000, imprisonment of 48 hours to six months, and a twelve-month license suspension under § 3804(a)(2). The highest rate — 0.16 or above, a controlled-substance DUI, or a DUI after refusing a breath test or a warranted blood test — carries a first-offence fine of $1,000 to $5,000, imprisonment of 72 hours to six months, and a twelve-month suspension under § 3804(a)(3).
A second offence stays in the same tier structure and rises steeply: general impairment brings a fine of $300 to $2,500, five days to six months, and a twelve-month suspension; the high rate brings $750 to $5,000 and thirty days to six months; the highest rate brings $1,500 to $10,000, ninety days to five years, and an eighteen-month suspension. Pennsylvania counts prior offences over a ten-year lookback under § 3806, including substantially similar out-of-state convictions. Every offender is subject to evaluation, and alcohol highway safety school is required across the tiers — the school is a 12.5-hour programme delivered locally, and its fee is set locally rather than in § 3804, so no school fee is quoted in the table.
Refusal, interlock and ARD: the three components outside the fine
Refusal is priced civilly, not in the criminal sentence. Under § 1547(b), PennDOT suspends the license for twelve months for a first refusal of a breath test, or of blood testing under a valid warrant — in addition to any suspension imposed for the DUI itself, which is also sentenced at the highest tier where the refusal follows an arrest under § 3802(a)(1). A refusal suspension therefore stacks: a first offender at the highest tier who also refused can face the criminal twelve months and the civil twelve months. Our refusal page sets out how Pennsylvania compares with other states on this point.
Ignition interlock runs through PennDOT rather than the court. Second and subsequent offenders must drive with an interlock for one year after restoration, and under the Ignition Interlock Limited License provisions of § 1556 a first offender may apply to drive on an interlock license without first serving the suspension — the device itself is leased from a PennDOT-approved vendor at the vendor's price. Finally, ARD — Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition — is the diversion route many first offenders take: it is administered by each county's district attorney, and its court costs, supervision charges and programme fees are set by the county, so Pennsylvania publishes no statewide ARD price and this page does not invent one; our diversion page explains the model. Restoration after a suspension requires satisfying PennDOT's restoration requirements, including its published restoration fee, before the license is returned.
| DUI component | Published amount |
|---|---|
| First offence — general impairment, 0.08 to under 0.10 (§ 3804(a)(1)) | Fine $300; 6 months probation; no license suspension; alcohol highway safety school |
| First offence — high rate, 0.10 to under 0.16 (§ 3804(a)(2)) | Fine $500–$5,000; 48 hours–6 months; 12-month suspension |
| First offence — highest rate, 0.16+, drugs or refusal (§ 3804(a)(3)) | Fine $1,000–$5,000; 72 hours–6 months; 12-month suspension |
| Second offence — general / high / highest (§ 3804) | Fines $300–$2,500 / $750–$5,000 / $1,500–$10,000; jail 5 days / 30 days / 90 days minimums; suspensions 12 / 12 / 18 months |
| Test refusal (§ 1547(b)) | Additional 12-month civil suspension for a first refusal, on top of the DUI suspension |
| Ignition interlock (§§ 3805, 1556) | 1 year after restoration for second and subsequent offenders; first offenders may apply for an Ignition Interlock Limited License — device leased from an approved vendor |
| Alcohol highway safety school (§ 3804) | Required across tiers; 12.5-hour programme delivered locally, fee set locally |
| ARD diversion (county programmes) | Available to eligible first offenders; costs and fees set by the county — no statewide schedule published |
Sources: 75 Pa.C.S. §§ 3802, 3804, 3806, 1547, 1556; PennDOT DUI and restoration guidance. 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 this state does not publish as a single figure
Pennsylvania is deliberately not totalled here: county court costs differ across the Commonwealth's 67 counties, ARD charges are set by the county running the programme, the highway safety school fee is set by the local provider, and interlock lease charges are vendor prices. A page that prints one Pennsylvania 'average total' is blending four different local schedules into a number none of them publishes.
There is also no published Pennsylvania figure for the effect of a DUI on the price of insuring a car. PennDOT regulates the license and the interlock; insurers price the risk. The components in the table are the ones §§ 3804, 1547 and 1556 publish uniform figures or ranges for, which is the standard this page prices to.
Common questions
- How can a first Pennsylvania DUI carry no license suspension?
- Only at the general impairment tier: § 3804(a)(1) sets a $300 fine and six months of probation with no suspension for a first offence at 0.08 to under 0.10. At 0.10 and above, the suspension is twelve months.
- Does refusing the test add a separate suspension?
- Yes — § 1547(b) imposes a twelve-month civil suspension for a first refusal, in addition to the DUI suspension, and the DUI itself is sentenced at the highest tier.
- What does ARD cost?
- There is no statewide ARD price: each county's programme sets its own costs, supervision charges and fees, so the figure in a given case comes from the county, not from § 3804.
Related cost guides: Pennsylvania DUI costs overview, diversion programme costs, test refusal costs, high-BAC DUI costs.
Sources: 75 Pa.C.S. §§ 3802, 3804, 3806, 1547, 1556; PennDOT DUI and restoration guidance. 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.