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Second-offense DUI costs: the fine climbs, and jail stops being optional
A second DUI conviction is where the cost structure changes character. Fines roughly double in most states, mandatory jail minimums appear that a judge cannot waive, suspensions stretch from months into years, and the ignition interlock — optional or short on a first offense — becomes a long, non-negotiable line item.
The verified second-offense fines
These are the fine ranges the statutes themselves set for a second conviction. They are the conviction fine only — court costs, program fees and the other layers sit on top, exactly as they do on a first offense.
| State | Second-offense fine (statute) | What else the statute adds |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | $1,000 – $2,000 | Up to 9 months in jail; a minimum 10 days is mandatory if the prior conviction was within 5 years; ignition interlock for at least 1 year; 30-day vehicle impoundment. Fla. Stat. § 316.193. |
| Texas | Up to $4,000 | Class A misdemeanor; 30 days to 1 year in county jail; license suspension of 180 days to 2 years. Tex. Penal Code § 49.09(a). |
| California | $390 – $1,000 | 90 days to 1 year in county jail; 2-year license suspension; an 18- or 30-month DUI program. Vehicle Code §§ 23540, 23542. Court penalty assessments are added on top of the base fine. |
| Kansas | $1,250 – $1,750 | Class A misdemeanor; 90 days to 1 year of imprisonment. K.S.A. § 8-1567. |
| Alabama | $1,100 – $5,100 | A mandatory minimum jail term the court cannot suspend; license revoked for 1 year; ignition interlock for 2 years. Ala. Code § 32-5A-191. |
| Louisiana | $750 – $1,000 | 30 days to 6 months in jail, with at least 48 hours that cannot be suspended. Louisiana has no lookback period — a prior conviction of any age counts. La. R.S. 14:98.2. |
| New York | $1,000 – $5,000 | A second DWI within 10 years is not a misdemeanor at all — it is a Class E felony, with up to 4 years in prison. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1193. See our felony DUI guide. |
Sources: Florida Statutes § 316.193; Texas Penal Code § 49.09; California Vehicle Code §§ 23540–23542; Kansas Statutes § 8-1567; Alabama Code § 32-5A-191; Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:98.2; New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1193 and NY DMV penalty tables. Figures checked October 2026.
The layers that grow with the fine
Suspension length. Second-offense suspensions run in years, not months — two years in California, one to two years in Texas, a one-year revocation in Alabama. Reinstatement at the end carries the fees in our reinstatement guide, and in SR-22 states the SR-22 filing restarts with the new conviction.
Interlock length. Florida mandates at least a year of interlock on a second conviction and Alabama two years. At the monthly lease and calibration prices in our interlock guide, the second year alone adds several hundred dollars most first offenders never pay.
Program length. Repeat offenders are routed into the long programs: California's second-offender program runs 18 or 30 months, and Texas requires a repeat-offender education program. Per-month program billing means the longer course is one of the biggest single jumps in the second-offense stack — see DUI class and program fees.
Probation. Longer supervision terms mean more months of supervision fees, which are billed monthly — see DUI probation costs.
The calculator carries the verified fine, court, license and program layers for all 50 states — pick your state and compare the first- and second-offense stacks side by side.
Open the DUI cost calculatorLookback windows: why the date of the first DUI matters
Most states only enhance a second offense if the prior conviction falls inside a lookback window — 10 years in California and New York, 84 months (7 years) in Arizona's system. Inside the window, the enhanced fine and mandatory jail apply; outside it, the new case is sentenced much like a first offense, though the old conviction usually still shows on the record. Louisiana is the outlier our research found: its second-offense statute applies regardless of when the first conviction occurred. Your state guide states the window your statute uses where we verified it.
The honest limit of this page: no state publishes a single "average cost of a second DUI," and neither do we. What the statutes do publish — the fine ranges above — is the floor the rest of the stack is built on.