Is DUI A Felony Is DUI a felony? For a first time DUI offender they are most often charged with a misdemeanor rather than a felony. However, if someone is injured as a result of the person’s drunk driving the state will often raise the charge to a felony. If a person dies as a result of the person’s drunk driving the driver will be charged with reckless homicide. When a person has been arrested with what is a second, third, or even fourth DUI offense in a number of states the charge will automatically be raised to a felony.

Thirty-seven of the fifty states in the United States have driving under the influence statues in place where you can be charged with a felony if the driver has prior DUI convictions. While the statutes differ somewhat among the states, they do have some similarities.

The first factor that determines whether or not a DIU is a felony is how many prior convictions the person has at the time the new offense occurs. In most states the number of prior convictions required in order to raise a DUI to a felony ranges from the 2nd to the 5th. The majority of the states have set the limit at the 3rd or 4th DUI conviction.

The second factor that determines whether or not a DUI is a felony is a requirement by thirty states which is that the person who has been charged with a DUI must have a certain number of previous convictions that occurred within a specific time frame before the current DUI charged will be raised to a felony charge. The time periods range from three to twelve years with the majority settling for a five or ten year limit.

Idaho and Kentucky are two stated that have implemented a third factor in whether or not a DUI is a felony. Both of these states use the blood alcohol content level of the driver at the time the offense occurred to define the felony threshold.

The punishment for a DUI felony conviction is greatly varied throughout the states. Twenty-seven of the fifty states have a mandatory minimum term of incarceration of forty-eight hours to three years. In addition to the prison term, the fines for a felony DUI conviction can range from $390.00 to $150 thousand or more.

So to answer the question of is DUI a felony, the answer is yes, it can be.