Quick answer: Maryland DUI penalties run in tiers. A first DUI under § 21-902(a) carries up to 1 year in jail, a $1,200 fine, and 12 points — enough to revoke your license on its own. A second carries up to 2 years and $2,400, and if it lands within 5 years of a prior DUI it adds a mandatory minimum of 5 days in jail a judge cannot suspend. A DWI under § 21-902(b) is lower: up to 2 months, a $500 fine, and 8 points.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic and DUI cases. Almost every penalty figure you’ll find online is out of date or flatly wrong. Here are the actual numbers, straight from Md. Code, Transp. § 21-902, with nothing rounded and nothing left out — plus the separate MVA license suspension that runs alongside the criminal case. For how a defense actually works, start with my Maryland DUI defense overview.
Maryland DUI Penalties by Offense
Maryland doesn’t have one drunk-driving offense. It has four, and they live in different subsections of the same statute. Find yours on your citation. The two that matter most are DUI under § 21-902(a) and the less serious DWI under § 21-902(b).
| Charge | First offense | Second offense | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| DUI — under the influence, or 0.08+ per se · § 21-902(a)(1) | 1 year · $1,200 | 2 years · $2,400 | 12 |
| DWI — impaired by alcohol · § 21-902(b)(1) | 2 months · $500 | 1 year · $500 | 8 |
| Drug-impaired driving · § 21-902(c)(1) | 2 months · $500 | 1 year · $500 | 8 |
| CDS-impaired driving · § 21-902(d)(1) | 1 year · $1,200 | 2 years · $2,400 | 12 |
Twelve points revokes a Maryland license outright, and eight points is the suspension threshold. That’s what a DUI or DWI conviction carries on the MVA side — which is why the fight is almost never about the fine. If points are new to you, here’s Maryland’s point system in a nutshell.
Two Things People Get Wrong About the Thresholds
- DUI does not require a BAC at all. Section 21-902(a)(1)(i) is simply “under the influence of alcohol.” The 0.08 per se route in (a)(1)(ii) is an additional way to prove it, not the only one. You can be convicted of DUI having never taken a test.
- DWI has no BAC threshold either. You’ll read everywhere that DWI is “0.07 to 0.08.” That’s not the offense — it’s an evidentiary presumption under Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-307. DWI under § 21-902(b) is “impaired by alcohol,” full stop. You can be convicted of DWI at 0.06, or lower, on the officer’s observations alone. I break the statutory definitions down further in Maryland DUI and DWI laws, explained.
The Mandatory Minimum Nobody Mentions
If this is your second DUI, this is the most important thing on the page. Under § 21-902(f), a conviction for DUI within 5 years of a prior DUI conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 5 days in jail. A third or subsequent within 5 years: 10 days minimum. The statute is blunt about it:
“The penalties provided under this subsection are mandatory and are not subject to suspension or probation.” — Md. Code, Transp. § 21-902(f)(6)
The judge cannot suspend it. A good character reference cannot reach it. Completing treatment in advance cannot reach it. The only way to avoid it is not to be convicted — which means the case has to be fought properly from day one rather than negotiated on the courthouse steps.
Repeat Offenses: The Real Ceiling
The “third offense = 3 years” figure that circulates online is wrong, and it understates the danger badly. What the statute actually provides:
| Prior convictions | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Two priors · § 21-902(h) | 5 years · $5,000 |
| Three or more priors · § 21-902(i) | 10 years · $10,000 |
Priors also cross-count. A prior DWI, drug-DUI, or CDS-DUI counts as a prior for enhancing a DUI, and vice versa. An out-of-state conviction that would be a § 21-902 offense here counts too. That is how a driver who thinks of this as a “second” ends up sentenced as a fourth.
What Gets Added On Top
- Refusing the breath test. Section 21-902(g) adds a further 2 months and $500 if you’re convicted and the trier of fact finds you knowingly refused. But the State’s Attorney must serve notice of the alleged refusal at least 5 days before a District Court trial, and I check that deadline in every refusal case.
- A minor in the car. Every one of the four offenses has an aggravated version for transporting a minor. A first DUI with a child in the car: 2 years and $2,000.
- Everything the court can attach. Probation, a comprehensive alcohol assessment and treatment, a victim impact panel, and an ignition interlock requirement — some of it mandatory on a repeat offense under § 21-902(f).
You can’t just pay a DUI. A DUI or DWI is a must-appear charge, not a payable ticket — there is no box to check and no fine to mail in. Pleading or being found guilty creates a criminal conviction and puts 12 points (DUI) or 8 points (DWI) on your record. There is no “just pay it and move on,” which is exactly why the difference between payable and must-appear tickets matters so much here.
The MVA Suspension Runs on a Separate Track
Everything above is the criminal case. There is a second case, and it runs on its own track with its own clock under Transp. § 16-205.1. The MVA moves against your license independently of the court, and it can suspend you even if the criminal charge is later dropped or you win at trial. Your paper license is good for 45 days. You have 10 days from the notice to request a hearing that keeps you driving to that hearing — miss it, and the suspension is automatic:
| Test result / refusal | First offense | Second or subsequent |
|---|---|---|
| BAC 0.08 to 0.14 | 180 days | 180 days |
| BAC 0.15 or higher | 180 days | 270 days |
| Refused the test | 270 days | 2 years |
Refusing is punished more harshly than blowing a 0.14, and there’s a second trap: for a refusal or a result of 0.15 or higher, there is no work-or-school restricted license at all — the only way to keep driving is the Ignition Interlock System Program for a year. A modified license is available only for a result of 0.08 to 0.14. People refuse believing it protects them; on the MVA side it usually does the opposite. Here’s how the MVA per se hearing works and how I fight the suspension, and the full suspension lengths in depth.
So What Actually Happens on a First DUI?
Honestly? For a genuine first offense — no accident, no injuries, a cooperative defendant — jail is not the usual outcome, whatever the statutory maximum says. The realistic fight is over whether you end up with a conviction at all. I walk through the realistic first-offense outcomes in detail on my first-offense DUI penalties page.
That’s what a probation before judgment (PBJ) does: no conviction, no 12 points, and you can truthfully say you’ve never been convicted of a crime. Under Crim. Proc. § 6-220 it is discretionary, has to be argued for, and — this is the part people miss — a court cannot grant it if you’ve been convicted of or received a PBJ for a § 21-902 offense within the preceding 10 years. It is the outcome I’m usually aiming at on a first offense, but it is never automatic.
If you were arrested recently, don’t wait for your court date. The MVA clock is 10 days, and it does not care that your trial is months away. Call me and I’ll tell you honestly where you stand — including if the answer is that you’re in better shape than you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
Up to $1,200, plus up to 1 year in jail and 12 points, under Md. Code, Transp. § 21-902(a). You will see $1,000 quoted almost everywhere, but that figure is out of date. A first DWI under § 21-902(b) is lower: up to a $500 fine, 2 months, and 8 points.
A DUI under § 21-902(a) carries 12 points, which is the revocation threshold on its own. A DWI under § 21-902(b) carries 8 points, which is the suspension threshold. That is why avoiding the conviction usually matters far more than the fine.
Up to 2 years in jail and a $2,400 fine. If the second DUI falls within 5 years of a prior DUI, it also carries a mandatory minimum of 5 days in jail that the judge cannot suspend or probate under § 21-902(f). A third or subsequent within 5 years carries a 10-day mandatory minimum.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Transp. § 21-902, § 16-205.1, § 16-402; Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-307; Crim. Proc. § 6-220. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.