First-Offense OWI Penalties in Michigan

A first-offense OWI in Michigan is a misdemeanor punishable by 1 or more of the following: up to 93 days in jail, a fine of $100 to $500, and up to 360 hours of community service.^[1] If the conviction is for high bodily alcohol content (0.17 or more), the jail maximum rises to 180 days and the fine range to $200 to $700.^[2] The criminal sentence is only part of the picture: the Secretary of State separately suspends the license and records points, and the court decides on treatment, costs and the vehicle. This page lists each sanction and says which ones the law makes mandatory and which ones a judge may choose.

"First offense" here means the statute's first tier: an OWI (or a drug offense under MCL 257.625(8)) with no prior conviction within 7 years and fewer than 2 prior convictions at any time.^[1][10][11] Which older convictions count is explained in how prior convictions are counted.

What offenses are covered by the first-offense penalties?

The same penalty subsection, MCL 257.625(9), applies to a conviction for operating while intoxicated under subsection (1) and to operating with any amount of a Schedule 1 drug or cocaine under subsection (8).^[12] "Operating while intoxicated" includes being under the influence, having 0.08 grams or more of alcohol, and having 0.17 grams or more.^[13] A conviction for the lesser offense of operating while visibly impaired (OWVI) has its own, lower first-offense penalties: up to 93 days in jail, a fine of up to $300, and up to 360 hours of community service.^[14]

First-offense criminal penalties at a glance

Sanction	OWI (under the influence, 0.08+, or Schedule 1 drug)	High BAC (0.17+)
Jail	Up to 93 days[1]	Up to 180 days[2]
Fine	$100 to $500[1]	$200 to $700[2]
Community service	Up to 360 hours[1]	Up to 360 hours[2]
Treatment or self-help program	Court decides after the required assessment[3]	Mandatory, at least 1 year[3]
License (Secretary of State)	180-day suspension, no restricted license for 30 days[4]	1-year suspension, interlock-only restricted license after 45 days[5][6]
Points	6 points[7]	6 points[7]
Vehicle immobilization	Optional, up to 180 days[8]	Optional, up to 180 days[8]

Is jail mandatory for a first OWI?

The first-offense provision sets maximums, not minimums. It lets the court impose "1 or more" of jail, a fine and community service.^[1] The statutory text does not contain a mandatory jail stay for a first offense.^[1] That is different from a second offense within 7 years, where the court must impose either jail of at least 5 days or at least 30 days of community service.^[10]

A separate sentencing rule also matters. Since 24 March 2021, Michigan law presumes that a person convicted of a misdemeanor, other than a "serious misdemeanor," will receive a fine, community service or another non-jail, non-probation sentence, and the court may depart from that only if it states reasonable grounds on the record.^[15] A misdemeanor OWI counts as a "serious misdemeanor" only if it involved an accident that damaged another person's property or injured or killed another person.^[16] The statutes set the range and the presumption; they do not predict an individual sentence.

Probation, treatment and the alcohol assessment

Before sentencing anyone for OWI, the court must order a substance-abuse screening and assessment, and the person pays for it if no other funding source is available.^[3] The pre-sentence alcohol assessment is used to decide whether the person is likely to benefit from education or treatment.^[3] For a high-BAC conviction, treatment is not optional: the court must order completion of one or more rehabilitative programs, such as alcohol treatment or a self-help program, for at least 1 year.^[3]

Probation for a misdemeanor may last no more than 2 years.^[17] As probation conditions, the court may order things such as jail time within the probation, community service, substance abuse counseling, and electronic monitoring.^[18] For any OWI conviction the court may also make it a probation condition that the person drive only a vehicle with an approved ignition interlock device.^[19] The details are on the pages on probation after an OWI and alternatives to jail.

Fines, costs and fees on top of the fine

The statutory fine is not the only money a court can order. The court may order the person to pay the costs of prosecution.^[20] Community service is unpaid, and the person must reimburse the government for the cost of supervising it.^[21] When any fine or cost is ordered, minimum state costs of at least $50 apply to a misdemeanor, and the court must order a $75 crime victim's rights assessment in a misdemeanor case.^[22][23] The court may also order reimbursement of the expenses of the incident, such as emergency response and prosecution expenses.^[24] Until 31 December 2026, the court-cost statute also allows costs reasonably related to the court's actual operating costs; as of October 2026 that authority is set to end on that date unless the Legislature extends it.^[25] If the crash caused a loss to a victim, full restitution is mandatory in a misdemeanor case.^[26] See fines, costs and fees after an OWI.

What happens to the driver's license after a first OWI?

The license consequences come from the Secretary of State, not the judge. For a first OWI (under the influence, 0.08 or more, or a Schedule 1 drug) with no prior conviction within 7 years, the suspension is 180 days.^[4] The Secretary of State may issue a restricted license for part of that period, but never during the first 30 days.^[4] The often-repeated "30 days hard, 150 days restricted" is arithmetic: the statute itself says 180 days with no restricted license for the first 30.^[4][27]

For a first high-BAC conviction, the suspension is 1 year, with no restricted license for the first 45 days.^[5] The restricted license after that is valid only in a vehicle with an approved ignition interlock, and it is not issued until proof of installation is given.^[6] Violating the conditions of that restricted license, or driving at 0.025 or more, adds another full period of suspension and restriction.^[28] More detail is in license suspension after a first OWI and high BAC license rules.

An OWI conviction carries 6 points.^[7] Before any suspended license is returned, the driver pays a $125 reinstatement fee to the Secretary of State.^[29] A refusal of the chemical test after arrest is a separate matter with its own 1-year suspension.^[30] A CDL holder faces a separate 1-year disqualification of commercial privileges, even for an OWI in a personal vehicle.^[31]

What can happen to the car?

On a first OWI with no prior convictions, the court may order the vehicle immobilized for up to 180 days.^[8] Immobilization is not required on a first offense.^[32] Forfeiture of the vehicle is available for repeat OWI and the more serious offenses, not for a first OWI or first OWVI.^[9] If a child under 16 was in the vehicle, the case falls under a different, more serious provision; see OWI with a child in the vehicle.

What people commonly get wrong about a first OWI

• "It can be kept off the record with a deferral." Youthful trainee status (HYTA) does not apply to Vehicle Code traffic offenses that are misdemeanors or felonies, which includes OWI.^[33] A court may not take a reportable driving offense under advisement or mask it.^[34]
• "It can be pleaded down to the under-21 offense." The court may not accept a plea to the zero-tolerance offense in exchange for dismissing an OWI charge, though the court may still dismiss on the prosecutor's motion.^[35]
• "Points gone means the OWI is gone." According to the Secretary of State's driver manual, points stay on the record for 2 years from conviction, while an impaired-driving conviction stays on the driving record permanently.^[36][37]
• "The super drunk law expired." The 0.17 offense in MCL 257.625(1)(c) has no sunset date in current law.^[38]

Can a first-offense OWI be set aside later?

Since 19 February 2022, Michigan has allowed one first-offense OWI per lifetime to be set aside on application.^[39][40][41] The waiting period is 5 years from the last of sentencing, completion of probation, discharge from parole, or completion of any term of imprisonment.^[42] The rules and exclusions are in setting aside an OWI conviction. For a walk through the whole first-offense case from arrest onward, see first-offense OWI: what to expect, and for the court steps see the OWI court process, step by step.