Michigan's Drunk-Driving Law: How MCL 257.625 Is Organized

Michigan puts its main drunk- and drugged-driving crimes into a single section of the Vehicle Code, MCL 257.625; the commercial-vehicle 0.04 offense and the boating, snowmobile, ORV and aircraft offenses are in other sections.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} Subsections (1) through (8) say what is forbidden, subsections (9) through (12) set most of the penalties, and the remaining subsections deal with costs, prior convictions, pleas, special findings and definitions. This page maps each part and points to the guide that covers it in depth.

The offenses: subsections (1) to (8)

Subsection	What it forbids	Guide
625(1)	Operating while intoxicated on a highway or other place open to the public or generally accessible to motor vehicles, including parking areas; "intoxicated" means under the influence, 0.08 or more, or 0.17 or more.[17][1]	Under the influence; High BAC
625(2)	An owner or person in control of a vehicle authorizing or knowingly permitting an intoxicated, 0.08-or-more or visibly impaired person to drive it.[18]	Letting an impaired person drive
625(3)	Operating when the person's ability to operate is visibly impaired by alcohol, a controlled substance or another intoxicating substance.[19]	OWVI
625(4)	A violation of (1), (3) or (8) that causes another person's death.[20]	OWI causing death
625(5)	A violation of (1), (3) or (8) that causes serious impairment of a body function to another person.[21]	OWI causing serious impairment
625(6)	A driver under 21 with "any bodily alcohol content": 0.02 up to under 0.08, or any alcohol from drinking outside a religious service.[22]	Under-21 zero tolerance
625(7)	Driving in violation of the OWI, OWVI, death/injury or 625(8) provisions with a passenger under 16.[23]	Child in the vehicle
625(8)	Operating with any amount of a Schedule 1 controlled substance or cocaine in the body.[5]	Drugged driving

Two features run through these offenses. Every one of them except subsection (2) applies to a person "whether licensed or not," and each turns on "operating," which the Vehicle Code defines as being in actual physical control of a vehicle.^[24][25] The place element is explained in where the law applies, and operating in what counts as operating.

The penalty subsections: (9) to (12)

Subsections (4), (5) and (7) carry their own penalties within the subsection.^[20][21][23] The rest are set in four penalty subsections:

• 625(9) covers OWI and 625(8). A first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by one or more of: up to 93 days in jail (180 days for high BAC), a fine of $100 to $500 ($200 to $700 for high BAC), and up to 360 hours of community service.^[2][26] A violation within 7 years of a prior conviction brings a mandatory $200 to $1,000 fine plus 5 days to 1 year in jail or 30 to 90 days of community service.^[27] After 2 or more priors at any time it is a felony.^[28]
• 625(10) covers letting an intoxicated person drive: a 93-day misdemeanor, or a felony if the driver then causes death or serious impairment.^[29]
• 625(11) covers OWVI: for a first offense, one or more of up to 93 days in jail, a fine of up to $300 and up to 360 hours of community service, with repeat tiers that track OWI.^[3][30]
• 625(12) covers the under-21 offense: up to 360 hours of community service, a fine of up to $250, or both for a first offense, with no jail; with a prior within 7 years, the court may impose up to 93 days in jail.^[4][31]

Subsection (9)(d) adds that a jail or prison term for a second offense within 7 years or a third offense may not be suspended unless the defendant agrees to take part in, and successfully completes, a specialty court program.^[32] That exception has applied since March 24, 2021.^[33] See the penalties chart for every tier side by side.

Costs, community service and interlock: (13), (14) and (24)

• Subsection (13) lets the court order the defendant to pay the costs of prosecution on top of the listed sanctions.^[34]
• Subsection (14) says community service is unpaid and the person reimburses the government for the cost of supervising it.^[35]
• Subsection (24) lets the court make it a probation condition that the person drive only a vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device.^[36]

Prior convictions and pleas: (15), (16), (17) and (25) to (27)

• Subsection (15) requires the prosecuting attorney who seeks an enhanced sentence, or forfeiture, based on prior convictions to list them on the complaint and information.^[6]
• Subsection (16) bars the court from accepting a plea to the under-21 offense in exchange for dismissing an OWI, OWVI, death/injury, child endangerment, 625(8) or 625m charge, though the court may still dismiss on the prosecutor's motion.^[8]
• Subsection (17) says a prior conviction is established at sentencing, by documents such as a judgment of conviction, the driving record or a presentence report, or by the defendant's admission.^[7]
• Subsection (25) defines "prior conviction," including other states' substantially corresponding laws, and defines "intoxicating substance."^[37][38]
• Subsection (26) lets only one under-21 conviction count as a prior, except when enhancing a later under-21 offense.^[39]
• Subsection (27) counts convictions from the same transaction as one prior.^[40]

The guide to how prior convictions are counted works through these rules.

Drug findings, the religious-ceremony defense and the treasurer's certification: (18) to (23) and (28)

When an OWI or OWVI charge rests on a controlled or intoxicating substance, subsections (18) to (22) require a specific finding on whether drugs were involved; the court reports a drug finding to the Secretary of State and forwards a penalty record to the State Police, which keeps it for at least 7 years.^[9] Subsection (23) puts the burden on an under-21 defendant to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the alcohol was consumed as part of a generally recognized religious service or ceremony.^[41] Subsection (28) tells the state treasurer to certify if Michigan stops receiving federal highway funding tied to a national blood alcohol limit; the 0.08 limit becomes 0.10 only five years after such a certification.^[42]

Related sections outside 625

Several neighboring sections finish the picture:

Section	Subject
MCL 257.35a	Definition of "operate": actual physical control, or causing an automated vehicle to move in automatic mode.[25]
MCL 257.625a	Roadside preliminary breath tests and chemical test evidence; a PBT refusal is a civil infraction except for commercial drivers.[43][44]
MCL 257.625b	Time guidelines for misdemeanor cases, the plea warning, and mandatory screening and assessment before sentencing.[45][46][47]
MCL 257.625c	Implied consent to chemical tests after an arrest for an OWI-family offense.[48]
MCL 257.625m	The commercial-vehicle 0.04 offense.[13]
MCL 257.625n	Vehicle forfeiture for repeat and serious offenses.[49]
MCL 257.904d	Vehicle immobilization.[50]
MCL 257.319 and 257.303	License suspension, and revocation for repeat offenses and for OWI causing death or serious impairment, imposed by the Secretary of State.[10][11][51]
MCL 257.320a	Points: 6 for OWI, OWI causing death or serious impairment, child endangerment and 625(8); 4 for OWVI and the under-21 offense.[52][53]

How the section has changed

A few amendments explain most of today's structure. The lifetime lookback that makes a third offense a felony regardless of when the priors occurred came from 2006 PA 564, effective January 3, 2007, often called Heidi's Law.^[54] The 0.17 high BAC tier appears in 2008 PA 462, which took effect October 31, 2010.^[55] The words "other intoxicating substance" were added by 2012 PA 543, effective March 31, 2013.^[56] The specialty-court exception to the no-suspension rule took effect March 24, 2021, and 2021 PA 85 replaced the fixed date for a return to 0.10 with the treasurer-certification trigger on September 24, 2021.^[33][42] The timeline of recent changes lists these and other dates.