Ohio does not call it DUI. It calls it OVI — operating a vehicle under the influence — and the penalties are not a single fixed sentence but a chart that moves sharply with two facts: how many prior OVI convictions you have inside the lookback period, and whether the chemical test was a “high test” or a qualifying refusal. This ohio ovi penalties chart sets out the current statutory ranges under Revised Code section 4511.19, in the version in effect since April 9, 2025: mandatory minimum jail or prison, maximum incarceration, fine ranges, and license suspension for a first, second, and third offense and for the two felony tiers. One correction belongs at the top, because it changes real budgets and real advice: the current minimum fine for a first offense is $565, not $375. The $375 figure still appears on many penalty charts, and it is outdated.
Ohio OVI Penalties Chart for 2026
Every row below comes from section 4511.19(G)(1) as summarized in the checker this article supports. “Low” means a test under 0.17, or a drug OVI or impairment charge without a high test. “High” means a test of 0.17 or more, or refusing the test after a prior OVI conviction within 20 years. Every OVI conviction also adds 6 BMV points.
| Offense | Mandatory minimum — low test | Mandatory minimum — high test | Maximum incarceration | Fine range | License suspension |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First offense (no prior in 10 years) — first-degree misdemeanor | 3 consecutive days in jail; a 3-day drivers’ intervention program may substitute | 3 days in jail plus the 3-day intervention program; 6 days in jail if the program is not available or not completed | Up to 6 months in jail | $565–$1,075 | 1 to 3 years |
| Second offense (one prior in 10 years) — first-degree misdemeanor | 10 consecutive days in jail | 20 consecutive days in jail | Up to 6 months in jail | $715–$1,625 | 1 to 7 years |
| Third offense (two priors in 10 years) — unclassified misdemeanor | 30 consecutive days in jail | 60 consecutive days in jail | Up to 1 year in jail | $1,040–$2,750 | 2 to 12 years |
| Felony OVI (three or four priors in 10 years, or five or more in 20 years) — fourth-degree felony | 60 consecutive days of mandatory local incarceration or prison | 120 consecutive days of mandatory local incarceration or prison | More prison is possible: with a prior-OVI specification, a mandatory prison term of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 years; otherwise additional prison of 6–30 months is possible on top of a prison sentence. If sentenced to local incarceration, added jail time cannot exceed 1 year in total | $1,540–$10,500 | Class two suspension: 3 years to life |
| Prior felony OVI (a prior OVI that was itself a felony, at any time) — third-degree felony | 60 consecutive days of mandatory prison | 120 consecutive days of mandatory prison | Up to 5 years in prison in total; with a prior-OVI specification, a mandatory 1–5 year prison term applies | $1,540–$10,500 | Class two suspension: 3 years to life |
Read the chart as mandatory minimums and outer limits, not predictions. Judges have discretion inside every range, and the correct row and column depend on your priors and test category, not on an average sentence.
To find your own row and column, use our free Ohio OVI penalty checker. Select the prior-conviction count inside the 10-year lookback (or a prior felony OVI) and the low-test or high-test category, and it returns the degree, mandatory minimum, maximum, fine range, suspension, and points for that combination.
The $375 Mistake: the First-Offense Minimum Fine Is $565
Penalty charts age badly because the statute changed recently. Under the version of section 4511.19 in effect since April 9, 2025, the first-offense fine range is $565 to $1,075; $565 is the current minimum in section 4511.19(G)(1)(a).
Many charts still cite a $375 minimum fine for a first OVI. That figure is outdated. The $190 difference is a large fraction of a minimum fine, and anyone budgeting around $375 is planning around a number below the floor the court can impose under the current statute. Every figure in the chart above is from the April 9, 2025 version, as verified in the checker’s source material.
Low Test, High Test, and the Two BAC Lines
Ohio OVI law turns on two different alcohol lines, and confusing them produces bad readings of the chart. The first line is 0.08, the per-se limit: at or above it, the State does not need to prove visible impairment in the same way. The second line is 0.17, Ohio’s high-test line in section 4511.19(A)(1)(f) through (i). A test result of 0.17 or more — more than double the per-se limit — puts the offense in the high-test category, which roughly doubles the mandatory minimum jail term in each misdemeanor tier: 10 days becomes 20 on a second offense, and 30 becomes 60 on a third.
Refusal can land in the same column. Under section 4511.19(A)(2), refusing a chemical test after a prior OVI conviction within the past 20 years is charged in the high-test category. Note the condition: a refusal is not automatically a high test for every driver, and its separate administrative consequences, covered below, are a different matter from the criminal chart.
The first-offense row handles “high” differently from the others, so read it on its own terms. On a low test, the mandatory 3 days in jail may be suspended if the driver completes a 3-day drivers’ intervention program under community control instead. On a high test, the minimum is at least 3 consecutive days in jail plus the 3-day intervention program — and if a program is not available or is not completed, the mandatory jail term rises to at least 6 consecutive days.
The 10-Year Lookback: Which Priors Count
Which row of the chart you are in depends on priors inside a 10-year lookback. A first offense means no OVI conviction in the previous 10 years. One prior inside 10 years makes the new case a second offense; two priors inside 10 years make it a third. The felony tier captures three or four priors within 10 years, and also five or more priors within 20 years.
There is one exception a driver with an old record must not miss. A prior OVI that was itself a felony makes any later OVI a third-degree felony, regardless of when that prior felony occurred. The 10-year window does not wash it out in the summary used here. That is why the checker asks about a prior felony OVI as its own category, separate from counting priors by date.
Worked Example: a First Offense, Low Test — Then High Test
Take the simplest case first, using the checker’s own worked example. A driver with no OVI conviction in the last 10 years is convicted on a low test — under 0.17. Selecting that combination returns the first-offense tier, section 4511.19(G)(1)(a):
- Degree: first-degree misdemeanor.
- Mandatory minimum: 3 consecutive days (72 hours) in jail — which the court may suspend if the driver completes a 3-day drivers’ intervention program instead.
- Maximum: up to 6 months in jail in total.
- Fine: $565 to $1,075. Note the floor again: not $375.
- License suspension: 1 to 3 years.
- BMV points: 6.
Now change only the test. The same first offender with a high test faces at least 3 consecutive days in jail plus the 3-day intervention program, or at least 6 consecutive days in jail if the program is not available or not completed — with the same $565 to $1,075 fine range, the same 1-to-3-year suspension, and the same 6 points. The example shows the pattern of the whole chart: the test column mainly moves the mandatory jail minimum, while priors move everything — jail, fines, and suspension — at once.
Move that driver to a second offense on a low test and the minimum jail term more than triples, from 3 days to 10; the fine floor rises from $565 to $715 and the ceiling from $1,075 to $1,625; and the suspension stretches from 1–3 years to 1–7 years. No other single fact changes the exposure that much.
Beyond the Chart: Suspensions and Consequences the Table Does Not Show
The Administrative License Suspension is separate
The suspension in the chart is the court suspension imposed at sentencing. It is not the first suspension most drivers meet. Separate from the criminal case, an Administrative License Suspension (ALS) under section 4511.191 usually begins at arrest if you fail or refuse a chemical test — 90 days for a first failed test, and longer for refusals and priors, per the checker’s summary. The BMV reinstatement fee for an ALS added on or after April 9, 2025 is $315. Deadlines, including the ALS appeal window, are short, which is one reason early advice matters in OVI cases specifically.
Vehicle consequences escalate by tier
On a second offense, a vehicle registered in your name is immobilized for 90 days and its plates are impounded for 90 days. From the third offense onward, that vehicle is criminally forfeited to the state under section 4503.234. An alcohol and drug assessment, and any follow-up treatment a court orders, is mandatory at the second and third tiers; at the second and third tiers a court may also combine a shorter jail term with house arrest with electronic and/or continuous alcohol monitoring, under section 4511.19(G)(3), instead of the full mandatory jail term stated in the chart.
Driving privileges can soften — but not erase — a suspension
Courts can grant limited driving privileges for purposes such as work, school, and medical trips, sometimes with restricted plates or an ignition interlock. A first offender who asks for unlimited driving privileges with an ignition interlock may have the suspension reduced, under section 4510.022. None of that changes the mandatory jail minimums, the fine ranges, or the 6 points in the chart — privileges address whether and how you may drive during a suspension, not whether the suspension exists.
What the chart does not cover
Municipal OVI ordinances, felony specifications beyond those described, accidents or injuries, a commercial license, and being under 21 all change the picture. The under-21 offense is separate: OVUAC, under section 4511.19(B), carries 4 points and its own penalties, and is not a row in this chart. Do not use an adult first-offense row to estimate an under-21 case.
How to Read Your Own Situation, Step by Step
- Count priors inside 10 years. No priors is a first offense; one is a second; two is a third. Three or four inside 10 years — or five or more inside 20 years — is the fourth-degree felony tier. A prior felony OVI at any time is its own third-degree felony tier.
- Fix the test category. Under 0.17 is low. At 0.17 or more is high. A refusal counts as the high category in the summary here only where there is a prior OVI conviction within 20 years.
- Read across that one row. Take the mandatory minimum, the maximum, the fine range, and the suspension together. Quoting only the minimum jail term understates a case; quoting only the maximum overstates the mandatory part.
- Add the pieces outside the row. Six BMV points, the separate ALS from the arrest, and any vehicle immobilization or forfeiture for the tier.
- Get advice before deadlines run. The chart states ranges; it does not predict a sentence, negotiate a plea, or protect an appeal window.
The controlling text for every row is Ohio Revised Code section 4511.19, and a specific case should always be checked against the current version of that section rather than against any summary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the penalties for a first-time OVI in Ohio?
A first offense is a first-degree misdemeanor: at least 3 days in jail (a 3-day drivers’ intervention program may substitute on a low test, while a high test requires both jail and the program), up to 6 months in jail, a fine of $565 to $1,075, a license suspension of 1 to 3 years, and 6 BMV points — plus the separate administrative suspension from the arrest.
What is the minimum fine for a first OVI in Ohio?
$565. Penalty charts quoting a $375 minimum are out of date; the $565 floor is in the current section 4511.19(G)(1)(a), in effect since April 9, 2025. The maximum fine on a first offense is $1,075.
What counts as a high test in Ohio?
A chemical test result of 0.17 BAC or more — more than double the 0.08 per-se limit. Refusing a test also falls in the high-test category if you have a prior OVI conviction within the past 20 years, under section 4511.19(A)(2).
How long is the license suspension for a second OVI in Ohio?
One to seven years, on top of a mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail (20 on a high test) and a fine of $715 to $1,625. A third offense carries a suspension of 2 to 12 years, and the felony tiers carry a class two suspension of 3 years to life.
How many BMV points does an OVI add?
Six points, under section 4510.036(C)(7) — half of the 12 points that trigger a six-month point suspension, which is why a second serious conviction soon after an OVI is so dangerous.
Is the ALS the same as the court suspension?
No. The Administrative License Suspension starts at arrest, before any conviction, if you fail or refuse a chemical test — 90 days for a first failed test, longer for refusals and priors. The court suspension in the chart is imposed at sentencing. The BMV reinstatement fee for an ALS record added on or after April 9, 2025 is $315.
The Bottom Line
Read Ohio OVI penalties as a chart, not a single sentence: priors pick the row, the test picks the column, and both together set a mandatory jail minimum, a fine range, and a suspension that all apply at once. For a first offense in 2026 the current figures are 3 days, $565 to $1,075, and 1 to 3 years — and any chart still showing a $375 minimum fine is working from an old version of the statute. Add 6 points and a separate administrative suspension to every tier, and get advice early, while the deadlines in a real case can still be met.
This article is general information about Ohio OVI penalties and is not legal advice, and it is not a prediction of any case. Penalties are summarized from Ohio Revised Code section 4511.19 as cited; if you are charged with OVI in Ohio, consult an Ohio OVI or criminal defense attorney promptly.
