Quick answer: A Maryland DUI license suspension runs 180 days for a test failure at 0.08 or higher and 270 days for a first refusal (two years for a second). At 0.15 or more the suspension is 180 days on a first offense and 270 days on a second. These are administrative MVA penalties under Transp. § 16-205.1, entirely separate from anything the criminal court does. You get a 45-day temporary license at the stop, and you generally have 10 days to request the hearing that can change any of it.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic and impaired-driving cases. The suspension side of a DUI moves faster than the criminal side, so the exact number of days you face, and the deadline to fight them, matters from day one.
How Long Is a Maryland DUI License Suspension?
The length depends on two things: your breath or blood result, and whether you took the test at all. Under Maryland’s implied-consent law, a first-offense test failure at 0.08 to 0.14 costs you 180 days. A result of 0.15 or higher is also 180 days on a first offense but rises to 270 days on a second. A refusal is the longest penalty on the schedule: 270 days the first time, two years the second. Here is the full administrative schedule, with the ignition interlock term you can elect instead of serving the suspension.
| Test result | First offense | Second or subsequent | Interlock election instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAC 0.08 – 0.14 | 180 days | 180 days | 180 days |
| BAC 0.15 or more | 180 days | 270 days | 1 year |
| Test refusal | 270 days | 2 years | 1 year |
If the stop involved a fatal crash, the ceiling climbs: a 0.08-or-higher result becomes six months (first) or a year (second), and a 0.15-or-higher result becomes a year (first) or full revocation (second). The suspension itself takes effect when your 45-day temporary license expires, not on the day of the arrest, unless a timely hearing request carries you past that date.
Why Refusing the Breath Test Suspends You Longest
The roadside instinct is usually wrong. Many drivers assume refusing the test is the cautious move: no number, no evidence, less trouble. On the license side, the opposite is true. A refusal costs you 270 days. Blowing a 0.09 costs you 180. Refusal is the single longest administrative suspension on the schedule.
That does not automatically make blowing the right call. A reading creates evidence in the criminal case that a refusal does not, and the trade-off varies from case to case. But anyone who thinks refusal is the low-risk choice for their license has it backwards. I walk through both sides on can you refuse a breathalyzer in Maryland.
The 45-Day Temporary License and the 10-Day Deadline
Here is the sequence after a DUI stop where you fail or refuse the test. The officer confiscates your Maryland license, serves an Order of Suspension, and hands you a paper temporary license that lets you keep driving for 45 days. Inside that window sits the deadline that decides everything.
To preserve your ability to drive past day 45, request an MVA hearing within 10 days of the arrest. Request it that fast and the Motor Vehicle Administration schedules your hearing within 30 days of receiving it, before your temporary license runs out. You can still ask up to 30 days out, but a late request does not extend the temporary license, so you will already be suspended by the time the hearing happens. Everything you might argue at that hearing — the validity of the stop, the advice-of-rights form (the DR-15), the test procedure, an interlock alternative — depends on getting the request in on time.
The 45-day license is time to drive, not time to decide. The most costly mistake I see is treating the paper license as a grace period and waiting to call. The real deadline is 10 days. Miss it and the suspension takes effect automatically when the temporary license expires, whether or not you later get a hearing — and the chance to challenge the stop or elect an alternative is gone.
Can I Keep Driving During the Suspension?
Often, yes. For many drivers the real question isn’t how long the suspension is, but how to keep getting to work. Maryland gives you two routes, and which one applies depends on your result.
Ignition Interlock Program. Instead of serving the suspension, an eligible driver can elect the Ignition Interlock System Program: you install a device, blow into it to start the car, and keep driving. The term is 180 days for a 0.08-to-0.14 result and one year for a 0.15-or-higher result or a refusal. Against a 270-day refusal suspension, trading nine months of no driving for twelve months with a device on the dash is often worth it. And for a refusal or a 0.15-plus result, interlock is the only way to keep any driving privilege while the suspension runs. Details are on the Maryland ignition interlock program page.
Restricted (work) license. If your result was 0.08 to under 0.15 and you did not elect interlock, the MVA can instead issue a restricted license for limited purposes: commuting, an alcohol treatment program, medical care, or school. That option is not available for a refusal or a 0.15-or-higher result. See DUI license restrictions for how these work.
Administrative Suspension vs. the Criminal Case
Everything above is the administrative track — the MVA acting on your test result under § 16-205.1. Your criminal case in District Court is a completely separate proceeding, and a conviction there carries its own consequences under Md. Code, Transp. § 21-902:
| Criminal charge | Max jail | Max fine | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| DUI, 1st (§ 21-902(a)) | 1 year | $1,200 | 12 |
| DUI, 2nd | 2 years (5-day minimum) | $2,400 | 12 |
| DWI, 1st (§ 21-902(b)) | 2 months | $500 | 8 |
| DWI, 2nd | 1 year | $500 | 8 |
The second-offense penalties apply when the prior conviction falls within five years. Those points matter for your license too: 8 points lets the MVA suspend a license and 12 points lets it revoke one, so a conviction can trigger a second license action on top of the per se suspension you are already fighting (see Maryland’s point system). DUI and DWI are must-appear charges, not payable citations, so there is no ticket to prepay and every case carries a mandatory court date.
The two tracks run independently, and that is what blindsides people: you can beat the criminal case and still lose your license administratively, because the MVA’s suspension rests on the test result or the refusal, not on a conviction. A dismissal in District Court does not undo the MVA action. That is exactly why the Maryland DUI MVA per se hearing is its own fight; I’ve laid out what that hearing looks like in what to expect at a Maryland MVA hearing.
Related Reading
- How I defend Maryland DUI charges
- First-offense DUI penalties in Maryland
- DUI vs. DWI in Maryland
- How to restore a Maryland driver’s license
- The complete Maryland DUI & DWI guide
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the test result. A test failure is a 180-day suspension for a first offense, and a 0.15-or-higher result rises to 270 days on a second offense. A test refusal is longer: 270 days for a first refusal and 2 years for a second. These are administrative MVA periods under Transp. 16-205.1, separate from the criminal case.
For your license, yes. A first refusal is a 270-day suspension, while a test failure is 180 days. Refusal carries the longest administrative suspension on the schedule. It can still be the right call for reasons in the criminal case, but it does not protect your license.
Request the MVA hearing within 10 days of the arrest so your hearing is held before the 45-day temporary license expires. You can still request up to 30 days out, but a late request does not extend the temporary license, so you will be suspended in the meantime.
The Clock Started at the Arrest
The strongest moves in a Maryland DUI case are the early ones, and the license side moves fastest of all. The drivers who come out best are almost always the ones who called before the 10-day window closed, not after the paper license ran out. If you are still inside that window, call me and we will map out both the MVA hearing and the criminal case together.
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. § 16-205.1 (administrative suspension and interlock election), Transp. § 21-902 (criminal DUI/DWI penalties), and Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-307 (BAC thresholds). This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.