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West Virginia DUI penalties breakdown: every component, line by line
Our West Virginia DUI costs page gives the state overview. This page does the narrower job: it prices each component of W. Va. Code § 17C-5-2 by tier, the under-21 subsection, and the Motor Vehicle Alcohol Test and Lock Program route — with no added-up total.
The first offence, component by component
A first DUI in West Virginia is a misdemeanour under § 17C-5-2 carrying confinement in jail for not more than six months and a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 in the published summaries of the current code, with court costs in addition to the fine. Published practitioner summaries of the first tier record a minimum twenty-four hours of jail within that frame — that minimum is attributed to those summaries in the table rather than quoted as a subsection line, because the code excerpts consulted at build time state the outer frame most clearly. The licence component is administered by the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles separately from the criminal fine: older published DMV summaries describe a first revocation of six months, or a shorter hard period followed by participation in the test-and-lock programme under § 17C-5A-3a — the programme route that West Virginia uses instead of a simple interlock licence, combining testing conditions with an interlock-equipped vehicle.
The test-and-lock structure changes how the non-fine components should be budgeted. Programme participation carries its own enrolment, testing and device charges, set by the programme and its providers rather than by § 17C-5-2, and successful completion is a condition in several of the code's routes — including the under-21 continuance route below, where completion leads to dismissal and expungement of the charge. A driver pricing a West Virginia case therefore faces the $100–$500 fine, court costs on top of it, a DMV revocation track, and a programme track whose charges are real but provider-set; this page tables the first two categories where the code states them and describes the programme track rather than inventing its price.
Second and third offences, and what escalates
A second conviction within ten years is a misdemeanour carrying confinement of six to twelve months and a fine of $1,000 to $3,000 in the published summaries of § 17C-5-2, and the DMV revocation at this tier is measured in years — ten years in the older published § 17C-5A-2 summaries, a figure flagged here as coming from those summaries because revocation administration has been restructured since they were published and the current DMV schedule should be confirmed for a specific case. A third or subsequent conviction within ten years is a felony: the published summaries put the frame at a fine of $3,000 to $5,000 with imprisonment measured in years, and a lifetime revocation in the same DMV summaries. Where summaries differ on the felony custody frame, this page tables the fine band and classification the summaries agree on and describes custody as a multi-year felony term rather than selecting one contested range.
Two further § 17C-5-2 components price cases that never reach the repeat ladder. Causing death or serious bodily injury raises the offence into enhanced tiers the code states separately in subsections (a)–(c), with mandatory custody and fine floors well above the ordinary first tier — those tiers are identified here by classification, because their exact application turns on the injury and culpability findings in the individual case. And knowingly permitting an impaired or habitual-user driver to drive one's vehicle is its own misdemeanour under subsections (g)–(i): confinement of not more than six months, a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500, and — for the habitual-user offence in the code text — a six-month revocation for the vehicle owner, a component vehicle owners rarely expect to find in a DUI price list.
The under-21 tier and the test-and-lock route
West Virginia prices drivers under twenty-one in a separate subsection, (j) in the current code text. A first under-21 offence — an alcohol concentration of 0.02 or more but less than 0.08 — is a misdemeanour with a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100 and a licence suspension of sixty days, or a period conditioned on participation in the test-and-lock programme under § 17C-5A-3a. A second or subsequent under-21 offence carries twenty-four hours in jail, a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500, and revocation for one year or until the driver's twenty-first birthday, whichever is longer, again with a test-and-lock alternative. A first-offence under-21 driver may move for continuances to participate in the programme, and on successful completion the court shall dismiss the charge and expunge the record of the alleged offence — the only route on this page where completing a priced programme removes the conviction component itself rather than merely satisfying it.
| DUI component | Published amount |
|---|---|
| First offence (§ 17C-5-2, published summaries) | Misdemeanour; confinement not more than 6 months; fine not less than $100 nor more than $500; court costs in addition; DMV revocation track with a test-and-lock route under § 17C-5A-3a |
| Second offence within 10 years (published summaries) | Misdemeanour; 6–12 months; fine $1,000–$3,000; multi-year DMV revocation (10 years in older § 17C-5A-2 summaries — confirm the current DMV schedule) |
| Third or subsequent within 10 years (published summaries) | Felony; fine $3,000–$5,000; multi-year imprisonment; lifetime revocation in the older DMV summaries |
| Permitting an impaired driver (§ 17C-5-2(g)–(i), code text) | Misdemeanour; confinement not more than 6 months and fine not less than $100 nor more than $500; habitual-user permitting adds a 6-month revocation for the owner |
| Under-21 first offence, 0.02 to under 0.08 (§ 17C-5-2(j), code text) | Fine not less than $25 nor more than $100; suspension 60 days or a period conditioned on test-and-lock participation; successful programme completion on a continuance leads to dismissal and expungement |
| Under-21 second or subsequent (§ 17C-5-2(j), code text) | 24 hours in jail; fine not less than $100 nor more than $500; revocation 1 year or until age 21, whichever is longer, or a test-and-lock-conditioned period |
Sources: W. Va. Code § 17C-5-2 (offence tiers, permitting offences in subsections (g)–(i) and the under-21 tier in subsection (j), West Virginia Legislature code text); § 17C-5A-3a (Motor Vehicle Alcohol Test and Lock Program); published West Virginia penalty and DMV revocation summaries, attributed as such and flagged where older. 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
West Virginia court costs are expressly in addition to the § 17C-5-2 fine and are set by the court where the case is heard; no single published DUI amount covers them. Test-and-lock programme enrolment, testing and device charges, any evaluation or treatment, and probation supervision 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 West Virginia figure for the effect of a DUI on car insurance prices, and none is estimated here.
Two figures on this page carry explicit age warnings and should be read with them: the ten-year second-offence revocation and the lifetime third-offence revocation come from older published DMV summaries of § 17C-5A-2, and West Virginia has restructured its revocation administration since — confirm the current Division of Motor Vehicles schedule for any specific case before relying on either period.
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 fine for a first West Virginia DUI?
- Not less than $100 nor more than $500, with up to six months' confinement and court costs in addition to the fine, in the published summaries of § 17C-5-2.
- What is the test-and-lock programme?
- The Motor Vehicle Alcohol Test and Lock Program under § 17C-5A-3a: a testing-plus-interlock participation route that can condition the licence period, and whose successful completion dismisses and expunges a first under-21 charge taken on a continuance.
- When does a West Virginia DUI become a felony?
- At the third conviction within ten years, with a fine of $3,000–$5,000 in the published summaries.
Related cost guides: West Virginia DUI costs overview, underage DUI costs, second-offense DUI costs, third-offense DUI costs, license reinstatement fees.
Sources: W. Va. Code § 17C-5-2 (offence tiers, permitting offences in subsections (g)–(i) and the under-21 tier in subsection (j), West Virginia Legislature code text); § 17C-5A-3a (Motor Vehicle Alcohol Test and Lock Program); published West Virginia penalty and DMV revocation summaries, attributed as such and flagged where older. 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.