What are the penalties for a first DUI in Florida?

Under Fla. Stat. § 316.193, a first Florida DUI conviction carries a fine of $500 to $1,000 and imprisonment of 6 months at the outside, along with probation, a substance-abuse education course and evaluation, community service, license revocation, and vehicle impoundment. The fine and jail figures are the statutory range and ceiling; the sentence in a specific case turns on the facts, any prior record, the alcohol level, and any aggravating circumstances.

How much higher are the penalties for a high-BAC DUI or with a minor in the car?

Fla. Stat. § 316.193 enhances the penalty when the driver's blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level was 0.15 or higher, or a minor was in the vehicle. For a first conviction, the enhanced fine is $1,000 to $2,000, compared with $500 to $1,000 for a standard first DUI. The enhancement raises the fine and the maximum term across conviction levels; the controlling statute governs the exact figures for each level.

When does a Florida DUI become a felony?

A third DUI conviction within 10 years of a prior conviction, and any fourth or subsequent conviction, is a felony of the third degree under Fla. Stat. § 316.193. A second conviction within 5 years carries a mandatory minimum of 10 days of imprisonment, and a third conviction within 10 years carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days. Whether a given case reaches the felony threshold depends on the timing and count of the priors, so the record has to be confirmed against the statute.

Does a second Florida DUI carry mandatory jail time?

Yes. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.193, a second DUI conviction carries a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 and, where the second conviction occurs within 5 years of a prior, a mandatory minimum of 10 days of imprisonment, at least 48 hours of which must be served consecutively, plus a 30-day vehicle impoundment. These are statutory minimums; a court can impose more within the statutory range.

What does the aggregate Florida sentencing data show about custody?

Statewide, across 3,937,598 analyzed charge dispositions in the public FDLE Clerk-of-Court data, 44% drew a recorded jail or prison sentence. That figure spans every charge type, not DUI alone, and is a floor over recorded sentences because the confinement field is blank on many charges. It is a descriptive aggregate over past records, not a prediction of what any DUI case will draw; the companion data study breaks recorded outcomes down by charge category and county.

Is this a prediction of the sentence a specific DUI will get?

No. The fine and imprisonment figures are the statutory ranges and mandatory minimums set by Fla. Stat. § 316.193, and the aggregate incarceration figure is a descriptive statewide rate across all charges. Neither predicts the outcome of a specific case, which depends on the alcohol level, any prior record, whether a minor was present or a crash or injury occurred, the plea posture, and the facts. This is general legal information for practitioners, not legal advice, and the controlling statute governs.

Guide · Florida DUI

Florida DUI penalties, straight from the statute.

“How bad is this?” is the first question on a DUI, and the honest answer is a structure, not a single number. Fla. Stat. § 316.193 sets a fine range and a jail ceiling that step up with each conviction, a set of higher penalties when the alcohol level is 0.15 or above or a minor was in the car, mandatory minimums on repeat convictions, and a felony threshold. This is a working reference to each of those, with every figure quoted from the controlling statute, so the exposure conversation starts from the law rather than a guess.

Free · source-linked statute reference

Read the DUI statute alongside the rest of Florida's criminal-traffic offenses, each linked to the official Florida Legislature text, on the criminal-traffic reference.

Open the Florida DUI & criminal-traffic statute reference →

The base penalties, by conviction

Fla. Stat. § 316.193 sets the fine as a range and the jail term as a ceiling, both rising with each conviction, and adds mandatory-minimum imprisonment on repeat convictions. The figures below are the statutory amounts; the sentence in a given case sits within them and turns on the facts, the prior record, and any aggravators.

Standard DUI penalties under Fla. Stat. § 316.193
Conviction	Fine	Imprisonment	Also applies
First conviction	$500 to $1,000	up to 6 months	Statutory range and ceiling; probation, a substance-abuse course and evaluation, community service, license revocation, and a 10-day vehicle impoundment also apply.
Second conviction	$1,000 to $2,000	at least 10 days where within 5 years of a prior (>= 48 hours consecutive)	Mandatory minimum applies on a second conviction within 5 years; 30-day vehicle impoundment.
Third conviction (within 10 years)	set by statute	at least 30 days	Felony of the third degree under (2)(b)1; 90-day vehicle impoundment. Any fourth or subsequent conviction is also a third-degree felony.

Penalty figures quoted from Fla. Stat. § 316.193 (Florida Legislature, Online Sunshine). The statute controls; confirm the current text and the specific record before relying on any figure.

Higher penalties: alcohol level 0.15 or above, or a minor in the car

Under Fla. Stat. § 316.193, the penalty is enhanced when the driver's blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level was 0.15 or higher, or a person under 18 was in the vehicle. The enhancement raises the fine and the maximum term at each conviction level.

Enhanced DUI penalties (BAC 0.15+ or minor present)
Conviction	Enhanced fine	Enhanced imprisonment
First conviction	$1,000 to $2,000	up to 9 months
Second conviction	$2,000 to $4,000	up to 12 months
Third or subsequent	at least $4,000	set by statute

Enhanced figures quoted from Fla. Stat. § 316.193. The statute controls each level.

When a Florida DUI becomes a felony

Most DUIs are misdemeanors, but the count and timing of the priors change that. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.193, a third conviction within 10 years of a prior, and any fourth or subsequent conviction, is a felony of the third degree. A second conviction within 5 years carries a mandatory minimum of at least 10 days of imprisonment, and a third conviction within 10 years carries a mandatory minimum of at least 30 days. Because the felony line turns on the dates and number of the priors, the exact record has to be confirmed against the statute rather than assumed from the charge alone. A DUI that causes serious bodily injury or death is charged separately and carries its own, higher penalties.

What the aggregate sentencing data shows

Read the figure below as descriptive, not predictive. It is a statewide rate across all charge types, not DUI alone, and is a floor over recorded sentences. These figures are not adjusted for offense severity, criminal history, plea posture, or case facts, they do not measure any prosecutor, court, or judge, and they are not a prediction of what any DUI case will draw. Counties differ in case mix, so the figure reflects what and who is in the data.

The statute sets the exposure; the public records show how sentences actually landed. In the FDLE Criminal Justice Data Transparency Clerk-of-Court data, across 3,937,598 analyzed charge dispositions, 44% drew a recorded jail or prison sentence. That is a floor, not a true rate, because the confinement field is blank on many charges and is treated as non-incarceration. It spans every charge type, so it orients rather than predicts; the companion data study breaks the recorded incarceration rate and confinement length down by charge category and county.

Free · search by charge and county

See the recorded incarceration rate and median confinement length for a specific charge category in a specific Florida county, drawn from the public FDLE data, with a downloadable CSV. No account, no upload.

Open the Florida sentencing-outcomes data study →

The stop and the testing start with the officer

Whatever the statutory exposure, a DUI case usually turns on how the stop was made and how the breath or blood testing was run. Before the penalty conversation, the leverage is in the stop, the observation period, the instrument, and the officer. BenchRecon's Officer Lookup searches the arresting officer's Florida FDLE/CJSTC certification-discipline and incident-ledger record, every row cited to the underlying public record, so the impeachment and suppression angles surface before you draft the motion.

Reference

For the DUI statute alongside the rest of Florida's criminal-traffic offenses, source-linked to the official text, see the Florida DUI & criminal-traffic statute reference. For how sentences actually landed across the state, see the Florida sentencing-outcomes data study. For the full set of Florida charge references, start at the Florida criminal-defense references hub.

Common questions

What are the penalties for a first DUI in Florida?: Under Fla. Stat. § 316.193, a first Florida DUI conviction carries a fine of $500 to $1,000 and imprisonment of 6 months at the outside, along with probation, a substance-abuse education course and evaluation, community service, license revocation, and vehicle impoundment. The fine and jail figures are the statutory range and ceiling; the sentence in a specific case turns on the facts, any prior record, the alcohol level, and any aggravating circumstances.
How much higher are the penalties for a high-BAC DUI or with a minor in the car?: Fla. Stat. § 316.193 enhances the penalty when the driver's blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level was 0.15 or higher, or a minor was in the vehicle. For a first conviction, the enhanced fine is $1,000 to $2,000, compared with $500 to $1,000 for a standard first DUI. The enhancement raises the fine and the maximum term across conviction levels; the controlling statute governs the exact figures for each level.
When does a Florida DUI become a felony?: A third DUI conviction within 10 years of a prior conviction, and any fourth or subsequent conviction, is a felony of the third degree under Fla. Stat. § 316.193. A second conviction within 5 years carries a mandatory minimum of 10 days of imprisonment, and a third conviction within 10 years carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days. Whether a given case reaches the felony threshold depends on the timing and count of the priors, so the record has to be confirmed against the statute.
Does a second Florida DUI carry mandatory jail time?: Yes. Under Fla. Stat. § 316.193, a second DUI conviction carries a fine of $1,000 to $2,000 and, where the second conviction occurs within 5 years of a prior, a mandatory minimum of 10 days of imprisonment, at least 48 hours of which must be served consecutively, plus a 30-day vehicle impoundment. These are statutory minimums; a court can impose more within the statutory range.
What does the aggregate Florida sentencing data show about custody?: Statewide, across 3,937,598 analyzed charge dispositions in the public FDLE Clerk-of-Court data, 44% drew a recorded jail or prison sentence. That figure spans every charge type, not DUI alone, and is a floor over recorded sentences because the confinement field is blank on many charges. It is a descriptive aggregate over past records, not a prediction of what any DUI case will draw; the companion data study breaks recorded outcomes down by charge category and county.
Is this a prediction of the sentence a specific DUI will get?: No. The fine and imprisonment figures are the statutory ranges and mandatory minimums set by Fla. Stat. § 316.193, and the aggregate incarceration figure is a descriptive statewide rate across all charges. Neither predicts the outcome of a specific case, which depends on the alcohol level, any prior record, whether a minor was present or a crash or injury occurred, the plea posture, and the facts. This is general legal information for practitioners, not legal advice, and the controlling statute governs.

This guide is general legal information for practitioners, not legal advice. The penalty figures are the statutory ranges and mandatory minimums of Fla. Stat. § 316.193; an actual sentence varies with the prior record, the alcohol level, and aggravators such as a minor in the vehicle, a crash, or an injury. Confirm every figure against the current statute and the record in front of you before relying on it.