DUI / OWI / OWVI Charges

What is the difference between DUI OWI and OVWI in Indiana?

Indiana's offense is called operating a vehicle while intoxicated. That is the title of the chapter creating it, IC 9-30-5, and the Indiana Code uses no abbreviation for it at all. Search Titles 9 and 35, the titles covering motor vehicles and criminal law, and the letters OWI, OVWI and DUI do not appear once.

• OWI, for operating while intoxicated, is the shorthand Indiana lawyers, courts and police use day to day. The Code writes that phrase out in full when it refers to a prior conviction, but never as initials.
• OVWI, for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, is shorthand for exactly the same offense, spelled to match the chapter title. It is not a separate or lesser charge, and it is not a term either title uses.
• DUI, for driving under the influence, is the common term in other states. Those letters appear in neither title, although the phrase "driving under the influence" does turn up as the heading of IC 9-30-5-8.5, the under-21 infraction.

Whichever letters were typed on your paperwork, the charge you are defending is the one in IC 9-30-5.

What does OMVWI mean, and does Indiana use it?

OMVWI stands for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Search Titles 9 and 35 of the Indiana Code and the phrase "motor vehicle while intoxicated" does not appear at all. Indiana's phrase is "operating a vehicle while intoxicated", with no "motor" in it.

That missing word is deliberate rather than sloppy. For the operating while intoxicated chapter, IC 9-13-2-196(d) defines a vehicle as a device for transportation by land or air, and the only thing it excludes is an electric personal assistive mobility device. Subsection (d) is what governs here, not the narrower general definition earlier in the same section. Leaving out "motor" is what lets the offense reach past cars and trucks. IC 9-30-5-9 points the same direction: it is no defense that you were operating somewhere other than a public highway. What a definition settles is only what counts as a vehicle, not whether a particular set of facts supports a conviction.

If you have seen OMVWI written on charging paperwork or in a report, treat it the way you would OWI or OVWI. It is shorthand, it is not the statutory name, and it does not change which statute you are charged under.

What is the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit in Indiana?

Indiana's criminal threshold is 0.08, and it applies to every driver regardless of age. The Code expresses it as grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or 210 liters of breath rather than as a percentage, but 0.08 is the number.

Two lower numbers get listed alongside it, and both are routinely misdescribed. Neither one is a crime.

• 0.04 for a commercial driver. That rule is IC 9-24-6.1-6, which sits outside the operating while intoxicated chapter entirely, and it is a Class C infraction, meaning a civil violation rather than a criminal charge.
• 0.02 for a driver under 21. That rule is IC 9-30-5-8.5, also a Class C infraction. The court may recommend a license suspension of up to one year in addition to the infraction penalty.

So the three numbers are not three tiers of one offense. A commercial driver or a driver under 21 who is at 0.08 or above is charged under IC 9-30-5-1 like anybody else. A test result is also not the only route to a charge: under IC 9-30-5-2 the state can prove intoxication with evidence of impairment and no number at all.

What are the penalties for a first-time DUI offense in Indiana?

That depends on what you are actually charged with, and the two sets of figures get mixed up constantly. A first offense with a breath or blood result of at least 0.08 but under 0.15, with nobody endangered, is a Class C misdemeanor under IC 9-30-5-1. IC 35-50-3-4 caps that at 60 days and a $500 fine. The chapter sets no mandatory minimum jail term for a first offense.

Two things lift a first offense to a Class A misdemeanor before any prior conviction enters the picture: a result of 0.15 or above, also under IC 9-30-5-1, and operating in a manner that endangers a person under IC 9-30-5-2, which requires no test result at all. IC 35-50-3-2 puts a Class A misdemeanor at up to one year and up to $5,000. Those are the numbers usually quoted as though they described an ordinary first offense, and they do not.

Your license runs on a separate track, and the first suspension is often not the court's. If you took the chemical test and failed it, IC 9-30-6-9 requires the bureau to suspend your driving privileges for 180 days, or until the charges are disposed of, whichever comes first, and that does not wait for the criminal case to finish. On conviction, IC 9-30-16-1 separately allows a court to suspend driving privileges for up to the maximum period of incarceration allowed for the offense, so that ceiling follows the class: 60 days for a Class C misdemeanor, one year for a Class A. Treatment is not automatic either. IC 9-30-5-15 makes an alcohol and drug assessment, and any treatment it points to, mandatory only for someone who already has a previous conviction of operating while intoxicated, though a court can still order treatment as a condition of probation.

Can I refuse a breathalyzer test in Indiana?

You can physically refuse, but Indiana treats operating a vehicle as consent to a chemical test. That is IC 9-30-6-1, and a refusal carries penalties of its own whether or not you are ever convicted of anything.

A first refusal suspends your driving privileges for a flat one year under IC 9-30-6-9. It is not "up to" a year. Two years applies only to someone who already has at least one previous conviction for operating while intoxicated. IC 9-30-6-2 also requires you to submit to each test offered, so taking one test and declining a second counts as a refusal.

The length is not the worst of it. Two consequences matter more.

• A refusal makes you ineligible for specialized driving privileges on that suspension under IC 9-30-16-1. Specialized driving privileges are Indiana's mechanism for limited driving during a suspension, and somebody who takes the test and fails it can petition for them.
• Refusal time does not count toward a later court suspension. Under IC 9-30-16-6 days served on a refusal suspension earn no credit, and the court's suspension runs consecutive to it. Days served on a failed-test suspension are credited.

If the charges are dismissed, you are acquitted, or a conviction is vacated or reversed on appeal, IC 9-30-16-6.5 requires the court and the bureau to terminate whatever remains of the suspension.

How long does a DUI stay on my record in Indiana?

Indiana's statutes do not set an end date, and they do not say "for life" either. What IC 9-14-12-3 requires is that the bureau of motor vehicles create and maintain a driving record listing your convictions for moving traffic violations, along with any suspensions and revocations of your privileges. It sets no expiration for those entries and provides no routine removal, so an entry stays there unless something is done about it.

Indiana does have an expungement statute, IC 35-38-9, and a petition to expunge a misdemeanor conviction expressly reaches the files of the bureau of motor vehicles so far as those records relate to that conviction. It is not automatic. There is a waiting period running from the date of conviction, and findings a court has to make before it orders anything.

Will I lose my license if I get a DUI in Indiana?

Usually, though it is not automatic in every case. IC 9-30-16-1 says a court may suspend driving privileges on conviction, for up to the maximum period of incarceration allowed for the offense. Three things move the number, and they are the ones you would expect.

• Prior offenses. IC 9-30-16-2 requires a suspension of at least one year where there is a prior conviction under the operating while intoxicated chapter, and IC 9-30-6-9 doubles a refusal suspension from one year to two for someone with a previous conviction.
• Your test result. A result of 0.15 or above makes the offense a Class A misdemeanor under IC 9-30-5-1, which raises the maximum incarceration to one year, which in turn lifts the court's suspension ceiling from 60 days to a year.
• Whether you refused. A refusal triggers its own administrative suspension under IC 9-30-6-9 before the criminal case is resolved, separate from anything a court orders later.

Can a DUI be reduced or dismissed in Indiana?

Sometimes, and reduction and dismissal are different things. A case can come apart on procedural grounds, on the strength of the evidence, or because your rights were violated, and those are the questions a defense examines first.

Reduction to reckless driving is the outcome people ask about by name, so it is worth being clear about what it is. Nothing in the Code entitles you to it; it is a product of charge negotiation. It is also not automatically the lighter result. Reckless driving under IC 9-21-8-52 is itself a Class C misdemeanor, the same class as a basic first offense at 0.08 to 0.149, so the sentencing exposure can be unchanged. Where the driving damaged another person's property it is a Class B misdemeanor, which IC 35-50-3-3 puts at up to 180 days and $1,000, more than the Class C it replaced. Where it caused bodily injury it is a Class A misdemeanor. In both of those situations the court may also recommend a license suspension of up to one year.

What a reduction reliably improves is your position later on. Reckless driving is not an offense under IC 9-30-5, so it does not count as a prior conviction of operating while intoxicated on a future charge, and that matters because IC 9-30-5-3 turns a second offense within seven years into a Level 6 felony.

There is also a reduction written into the Code that gets mentioned far less often. Under IC 35-50-2-7 a court may enter judgment of conviction as a Class A misdemeanor on a charge filed as a Level 6 felony. On a repeat operating while intoxicated charge, that is the most consequential reduction available.

How can an attorney help with my DUI case?

A DUI lawyer can challenge evidence, negotiate plea deals, argue for reduced penalties, and represent you in court to minimize the impact of a DUI charge on your life.

Do I need an attorney for a first-time DUI in Indiana?

While not required, hiring an attorney is highly recommended. Even a first-time DUI can have severe consequences, and legal representation can help protect your rights and explore possible defenses.

How much does a DUI attorney cost in Indiana?

Cost depends on the charge, the complexity of the case, and whether it goes to trial, so there is no single figure worth quoting you. The first consultation with this office is free, and that is the point at which to ask what your case is likely to involve before you commit to anything.

What should I do immediately after a DUI arrest?

Stay calm and be polite, and do not try to talk your way out of it. What you say about where you had been, what you drank and when becomes part of the report, and you are not required to help build the case against you.

The chemical test sits in a different category from questioning. Under IC 9-30-6-1 operating a vehicle in Indiana is treated as consent to that test, and refusing it carries its own license suspension whether or not you are convicted. After that, write down what you remember while it is fresh, keep every piece of paper you were handed including anything about your license, and call a lawyer. The license clock usually starts running before the criminal case is resolved.