Fines, Costs and Fees After an OWI in Michigan

An OWI conviction in Michigan brings a statutory fine (from $100 to $500 for a first offense up to $500 to $5,000 for a felony third offense) plus costs and assessments that the court adds.^[1][4] Whenever a court orders any fine, cost or assessment, it must also order minimum state costs and a crime victim's rights assessment.^[5][6]

The total is therefore the fine plus several separate items, some mandatory and some up to the judge, and then license and vehicle costs that are paid outside the courtroom. This page lists each one with its legal source. It does not estimate a total for any court, because the discretionary items vary.

The fine for each offense

Offense	Statutory fine
OWI 1st, or 625(8) Schedule 1 drug or cocaine, 1st	$100 to $500[1]
High BAC 1st (0.17 or more)	$200 to $700[2]
OWVI 1st	Up to $300[12]
OWI or OWVI, 2nd within 7 years	$200 to $1,000, mandatory[3][13]
OWI or OWVI, 3rd (felony)	$500 to $5,000, mandatory[4][13]
Zero tolerance (under 21), 1st	Up to $250[14]
Zero tolerance within 7 years of a prior	Up to $500[15]
Child endangerment, 1st	$200 to $1,000, mandatory[16]
Child endangerment, felony	$500 to $5,000, mandatory[17]
OWI causing serious impairment	$1,000 to $5,000 (with or instead of prison)[18]
OWI causing death	$2,500 to $10,000 (with or instead of prison)[19]
Commercial vehicle 0.04, 1st	Up to $300, together with costs of prosecution[20]
Allowing an intoxicated person to drive	$100 to $500[21]

A full list of jail and license sanctions is in the penalties chart.

Costs and assessments the court must add

• Minimum state costs: at least $50 for a misdemeanor and $68 for a felony, whenever the court orders any fine, cost or assessment. Payment is a probation condition and may be taken from a cash bond.^[5]
• Crime victim's rights assessment: $75 for a misdemeanor or $130 for a felony, one per case, in any case resolved other than by acquittal or unconditional dismissal.^[6]
• Restitution: full restitution to any victim of the conduct, in both misdemeanor and felony cases.^[22][23] In a misdemeanor case, the prosecutor bears the burden of proving the amount of the loss by a preponderance of the evidence.^[24]

Costs the court may add

• Costs of prosecution, under MCL 257.625(13).^[7]
• General court costs under MCL 769.1k: any cost authorized by the offense statute, the cost of an appointed lawyer, assessments, and, "Until December 31, 2026," costs reasonably related to the court's actual operating costs (such as staff salaries and buildings) without calculating them for the particular case.^[8]
• Reimbursement of the government's expenses for the incident, including officers' time for the arrest, processing and blood or breath testing, fire and EMS response, and prosecution staff time.^[9]
• A contribution toward the cost of a court-appointed lawyer if the defendant can pay part of it.^[25]

As of October 2026, the general court-cost authority in MCL 769.1k(1)(b)(iii) is written to run "Until December 31, 2026."^[8] Whether the Legislature extends it is not known as this page is written; check the statute for sentences imposed after that date.

Costs tied to the sentence

• Screening, assessment and treatment: the defendant pays for the pre-sentence screening and assessment and for ordered rehabilitative services if no other funding source is available.^[26]
• Community service supervision: community service is unpaid, and the defendant must reimburse the government's cost of supervising it.^[27]
• Felony probation supervision: a circuit court probation order must include a supervision fee of $30 per month, up to 60 months, or $60 per month with an electronic monitoring device (which includes alcohol-detecting devices); the court may waive it for indigency.^[28] That statute applies to circuit court; district court probation fees are not addressed in it.^[28]
• Vehicle immobilization: the court may order the convicted person to pay the cost of immobilizing and storing the vehicle.^[29]
• Specialty court: participants must pay court-ordered fines, costs, the program fee, restitution and the crime victim assessment, and pay or substantially contribute to treatment and testing costs; the court may waive some of these for substantial hardship.^[30]

License and interlock costs

Item	Amount and source
License reinstatement fee	$125, paid to the Secretary of State before a license suspended, revoked or restricted under the OWI-related sections is issued or returned; waived for a suspension or restriction based on a mental or physical infirmity or disability, and for a sanction imposed for reasons no longer eligible under the Vehicle Code.[31]
Driver license clearance fee	$45 for each failure to answer a citation or pay a fine or cost, before a failure-to-appear or failure-to-pay suspension ends.[32]
Ignition interlock	Paid by the driver; no-cost device for incomes below 150% of the poverty line, with a maintenance fee of up to $2.00 per day.[33]

Official sources used for this guide do not publish typical interlock installation or monthly charges. See ignition interlock devices.

The driver responsibility fee is gone

Michigan once charged a driver responsibility fee on top of court penalties. For OWI it was $1,000 assessed in each of two consecutive years.^[11] A 2018 package of public acts, identified by the Senate Fiscal Agency as PAs 43 through 50 of 2018, ended the program: no new assessments were issued beginning October 1, 2018, Treasury could not collect outstanding fees after September 30, 2018, and drivers are no longer liable for them.^[10] The section that once held the fee, MCL 257.732a, now creates the fire protection fund.^[34]

Some state web pages still describe the old fee, so older information found online may be out of date. See driver responsibility fees: repealed.

If you cannot pay

• No jail for unpaid MCL 769.1k costs unless the court finds the defendant has the resources to pay and has not made a good-faith effort.^[35]
• No jail for an unpaid reimbursement order on the same condition, though the order is a probation condition and can be enforced like a civil judgment.^[36]
• For nonpayment of a non-jail sentence, contempt requires a finding of ability to pay without manifest hardship and a lack of good-faith effort.^[37]
• Bond money the defendant posted is applied first to fines, costs and assessments, with any balance returned.^[38]

Unpaid fines can also lead to a license suspension. In an OWI-type case, the court must mail notice, and if the person does not comply with the judgment within 14 days, the Secretary of State suspends the license.^[32] Since October 1, 2021, failure-to-pay suspensions apply only to violations for which suspension is allowed under the Vehicle Code.^[39] See driving while license suspended and probation after an OWI.

Keep every receipt from the court, the probation office, the treatment provider and the Secretary of State. Ask the court clerk for a written balance before each payment deadline.