Mississippi · DUI

Mississippi DUI laws and penalties

Mississippi's legal BAC limit is 0.08%. For a first offense, Mississippi's statute provides jail of up to 48 hours, a fine of $250 to $1,000, and a license suspension of 120 days. The license hearing, the ignition interlock rule and the statute behind every figure are below.

Figures read from official pages on Oct 26, 2026.

Legal BAC limit: 0.08%; Standard US limit
Enhanced penalty BAC: None; No higher tier in the law
Zero tolerance (under 21): 0.02%; Limit for drivers under 21
Lookback period: 5 years; Prior DUI offenses that count

License hearing: ask within 30 days

There is no hearing at the licensing agency. To keep driving after the 30-day permit, ask the court for a trial date within 30 days, or the license is suspended (90 days, or 1 year with a prior). Count the days with the license-hearing window calculator.

Ignition interlock at the judge's discretion

Higher BAC level. No high-BAC tier for a first offense.

Ignition interlock. The court may order one; a driver can also choose an interlock-restricted license instead of serving the 120-day suspension.

Lookback. 5 years; a fourth or later offense counts priors without regard to time.

A third offense within 5 years and any fourth offense are felonies; there is no BAC-based penalty tier. The figures come from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety's driver manual and DUI pages, which summarize enrolled HB 292 (2024).

01Penalties

Mississippi DUI penalties

Statutory ranges for standard DUI convictions (no accident, no minor in vehicle).

Mississippi statutory DUI penalties, first and second offense
Penalty	1st offense	2nd offense
Jail (minimum)	None	5 days
Jail (maximum)	48 hours	6 months
Fine (minimum)	$250	$600
Fine (maximum)	$1,000	$1,500
License suspension	120 days	1 year

Statutory ranges only. Actual outcomes vary by county, judge, and attorney. Does not include court fees, surcharges, or program costs.

02Compare

How Mississippi compares

Of the 49 states with a confirmed BAC limit, 48 (Mississippi among them) use 0.08%; Utah has 0.05%.

On this site's reading of the statutes, of the 49 states with a confirmed rule, 21 require an ignition interlock after every first conviction, 18 in some cases and 8 leave it to the judge; 2 do not require one. Mississippi leaves it to the judge.

The 40 states with a fixed deadline give from 6 to 90 days to ask for a license hearing (the middle one is 10); Mississippi gives 30.

Mississippi and the states that border it, first-offense figures side by side
State	BAC limit	Hearing request	Interlock, first offense	Jail, first offense	Fine, first offense	License, first offense
Alabama	0.08%	10 days	In some cases	Up to 1 year	$600 to $2,100	90 days
Arkansas	0.08%	7 days	Required	24 hours to 1 year	$150 to $1,000	6 months
Louisiana	0.08%	30 days	Required	10 days to 6 months	$300 to $1,000	12 months suspension
Mississippi (this page)	0.08%	30 days	At the judge's discretion	Up to 48 hours	$250 to $1,000	120 days
Tennessee	0.08%	No fixed deadline	Required	48 hours to 11 months and 29 days	$350 to $1,500	1 year

Every figure is the statute's own, read from the same kind of page. See DUI laws and penalties for all 50 states.

03The process

How a DUI case moves through the system in Mississippi

The typical sequence, in general terms. Timing and details differ by county and by case.

Arrest and booking
Police arrest a driver on suspicion of DUI and take the person to the local jail, where booking records the arrest, the charge and the times.
Release
A person is released after posting bail, on their own recognizance, or after a hold. Amounts and timing differ by county.
License action
There is no hearing at the licensing agency. To keep driving after the 30-day permit, ask the court for a trial date within 30 days, or the license is suspended (90 days, or 1 year with a prior).
Arraignment
The first court appearance, where the charge is read and a plea (guilty, not guilty or no contest) is entered.
Pretrial resolution
A case can end in a plea to a reduced charge, in a diversion or deferred program where the state has one, in a trial, or in a dismissal, depending on the state and the facts.
Sentencing or trial
For a first offense, Mississippi's statute provides jail of up to 48 hours, a fine of $250 to $1,000, and a license suspension of 120 days. See the penalties table above.

04Sources

Where Mississippi's figures come from

Each figure was read on the official page linked here on Oct 26, 2026, and the quoted words were checked against the page the day it was read. The exact words are below so you can check them. Found a mistake? Write to hello@duiarrested.com with the state and the figure.

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1) (driverservicebureau.dps.ms.gov)Main statute · Lookback period · License hearing request · Ignition interlock, first offense · First offense: license · Second offense: license
Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)(d)(i) (driverservicebureau.dps.ms.gov)BAC limit, age 21 and over · BAC limit under 21
Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30 (billstatus.ls.state.ms.us)Higher BAC level · First offense: jail, minimum · First offense: jail, maximum · First offense: fine, minimum · First offense: fine, maximum · Second offense: jail, minimum · Second offense: jail, maximum · Second offense: fine, minimum · Second offense: fine, maximum

Show the exact words behind each figure

Main statute

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)

operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or other impairing substance (DUI, §63-11-30)

BAC limit, age 21 and over

0.08%

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)(d)(i)

21 years old or older BAC registers .08% or more

Higher BAC level

None set by the law

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30

(a) First offense DUI. (i) Upon conviction of any person for the first offense of violating subsection (1) of this section where chemical tests under Section 63-11-5 were given, or where chemical test results are not available, the person shall be fined not less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or imprisoned for not more than forty-eight (48) hours in jail, or both

BAC limit under 21

0.02%

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(3)(a); § 63-11-30(1)(d)(ii)

under the age of 21 BAC registers .02% or more.

Lookback period

5 years

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(b)(i)

Upon a second conviction of a DUI, with the offenses being committed within a period of five (5) years

License hearing request

30 days

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-23(2)(a)-(c)

To stop this suspension from happening, the driver must contact the court, request a trial date, and request an extension of this driving permit. If no contact with the court is made within 30 days to obtain a court order extending the temporary permit, driving privileges will be suspended for a period of 90 days.

Ignition interlock, first offense

At the judge's discretion

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(11); § 63-11-31

Under §63-11-31, a court may order installation and use of an ignition-interlock device for every vehicle operated by a person convicted or non-adjudicated

First offense: jail, minimum

None

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(a)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

(a) First offense DUI. (i) Upon conviction of any person for the first offense of violating subsection (1) of this section where chemical tests under Section 63-11-5 were given, or where chemical test results are not available, the person shall be fined not less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or imprisoned for not more than forty-eight (48) hours in jail, or both

First offense: jail, maximum

48 hours

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(a)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

Same passage as above.

First offense: fine, minimum

$250

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(a)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

Same passage as above.

First offense: fine, maximum

$1,000

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(a)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

Same passage as above.

First offense: license

120 days

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-23(5)(a)(i)

offense, a Class R license will be suspended for 120 days

Second offense: jail, minimum

5 days

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(b)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

(b) Second offense DUI. (i) Upon any second conviction of any person violating subsection (1) of this section, the offenses being committed within a period of five (5) years, the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, fined not less than Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) nor more than One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00), shall be imprisoned not less than five (5) days nor more than six (6) months

Second offense: jail, maximum

6 months

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(b)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

Same passage as above.

Second offense: fine, minimum

$600

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(b)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

Same passage as above.

Second offense: fine, maximum

$1,500

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30(2)(b)(i) (enrolled HB 292, Laws 2024)

Same passage as above.

Second offense: license

1 year

Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-23(5)(a)(ii)

Upon a second conviction of a DUI, with the offenses being committed within a period of five (5) years, a Class R license will be suspended for 1 year

05Related

MapUS DUI Arrest Rate MapEvery state as one tile, colored by DUI arrests per 100,000 residents.
CalculatorDUI License-Hearing WindowThe hearing request window listed for each state, counted from a date you enter.

Note: This page summarizes state statutes and published figures. It is general information, not legal advice, and it may be out of date or incomplete. Penalty ranges are statutory ranges; actual outcomes depend on the case. See the Disclaimer.

Mississippi DUI laws at a glance