Connecticut DUI Laws

The per-se limit is 0.08% (C.G.S. § 14-227a(a)). A driver can also be convicted under the impairment prong for operating while under the influence of liquor or any drug or both, with no specific concentration. The limit is 0.04% for commercial motor vehicle operators and 0.02% for drivers under 21 (C.G.S. § 14-227g).

A first offense under C.G.S. § 14-227a(g)(1) carries a $500–$1,000 fine, up to 6 months in jail (either 48 consecutive hours non-suspendable, OR a suspended sentence with probation and 100 hours of community service), a 45-day license suspension, and a mandatory 1-year IID requirement on restoration. A separate 45-day administrative suspension under §14-227b typically runs concurrently.

A second offense within 10 years (C.G.S. § 14-227a(g)(2)) carries a $1,000–$4,000 fine, 120 consecutive days to 2 years in jail (the 120-day minimum is non-suspendable), probation with 100 hours of community service and a mandatory alcohol/drug assessment, a 45-day license suspension, and a mandatory 3-year IID on restoration — with the first year of IID use restricted to work, school, treatment, IID-service, or probation travel.

Yes — a third or subsequent offense is a felony. C.G.S. § 14-227a(g)(3) sets a $2,000–$8,000 fine and 1 to 3 years in jail (1 year non-suspendable); because that maximum exceeds one year it is a felony (§53a-25(a)), deemed a Class E felony under §53a-25(d)(1). A second offense (2-year max) is likewise a Class E felony; only a first offense (6-month max) is a misdemeanor. The Connecticut Supreme Court has confirmed a repeat OUI is a felony (300 Conn. 144). The license is PERMANENTLY REVOKED; restoration is discretionary under §14-111(i)(2): the person may petition for a hearing after 2 years and, if granted, must install IID for LIFE (removable only by a further petition after 15 years). Separate result crimes (manslaughter §53a-56b, assault §53a-60d) and the school-bus statute §14-227n carry still-higher felony exposure.

The court-ordered suspension is 45 days for both a first and a second offense (C.G.S. § 14-227a(g)(1)/(2)), with IID required on restoration — 1 year after a first offense, 3 years after a second (the first year purpose-restricted). A third offense means PERMANENT REVOCATION (§14-227a(g)(3)(C)). A separate 45-day administrative suspension under §14-227b runs alongside the court-ordered one; the two typically run concurrently with credit. The court-ordered suspension is stayed during appeal (§14-227a(h)(3)).

Yes — IID is mandatory as a condition of license restoration on every §14-227a conviction (C.G.S. § 14-227a(i)), and the court may not waive any IID fees or costs. The conviction-track IID period is 1 year for a first offense, 3 years for a second (first year purpose-restricted), and effectively lifetime on a third offense if restoration is granted after 2 years (§14-111(i)(2), removable only by petition after 15 years). The DMV administrative track imposes its own IID period under §14-227b(i)(2) (6 months / 1 year / 2 years for a 21+-year-old submitter; longer for under-21 submitters or refusers). The driver pays all IID costs.

Refusing a lawfully requested test is NOT a separate crime in Connecticut — it is an administrative matter handled by the DMV under C.G.S. § 14-227b. The refusing driver faces a 24-hour on-scene revocation, a 45-day DMV administrative suspension, and a longer IID-on-restoration period: 1 year for a first refusal, 2 years for a second, 3 years for a third or subsequent (regardless of age). The administrative track runs alongside any court-ordered suspension on a conviction. Critically, the refusal IS admissible as evidence at the criminal DUI trial under §14-227a(e)(1). A person involved in an accident causing death or serious physical injury has no right to refuse under §14-227b(j) (hospital blood/urine testing).

A driver under 21 is subject to a measured 0.02% per-se offense under C.G.S. § 14-227g (not an any-amount rule). The same 0.02 figure drives the administrative track at §14-227b(o)(3). A driver under 21 at 0.08% or above is also charged under the adult §14-227a statute on top of the under-21 offense.

A single 10-year window measured from prior conviction to current offense (C.G.S. § 14-227a(g)). The prior-conviction definition is broad: a prior includes a standard §14-227a DUI, a §14-227m child-passenger OUI, a §14-227n school-bus OUI, a §53a-56b MV-manslaughter, a §53a-60d MV-assault, or any substantially similar out-of-state conviction. A prior child-passenger or school-bus conviction therefore counts toward tier escalation on a later standard DUI.

Operating with a passenger under 18 while OUI is a SEPARATE, more serious offense under C.G.S. § 14-227m — not an enhancement to §14-227a. A first §14-227m conviction carries a $500–$2,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail (30 consecutive days non-suspendable), plus probation with 100 hours of community service, an alcohol/drug assessment, and a Department of Children and Families interview/evaluation. A second within 10 years carries up to 3 years (180 days non-suspendable); a third carries up to 5 years (2 years non-suspendable) and permanent revocation. A §14-227m conviction also counts as a prior for tier escalation on a later standard DUI.

Only in open court with the prosecutor stating reasons on the record. C.G.S. § 14-227a(f) provides that a §14-227a charge 'may not be reduced, nolled or dismissed unless the prosecuting authority states in open court such prosecutor's reasons for the reduction, nolle or dismissal.' So a DUI is not casually plea-bargained down the way some charges are — any reduction requires a documented, on-the-record justification. The court may also order participation in an alcohol education and treatment program or the pretrial impaired driving intervention program (§14-227a(j)).

Connecticut runs two parallel proceedings after a DUI arrest. The DMV administrative track under C.G.S. § 14-227b is triggered by the arrest itself — by the test result, by the officer's OUI finding, or by a refusal — and imposes a 45-day suspension plus an IID-on-restoration condition, regardless of whether the criminal case results in a conviction. The court track under §14-227a imposes its own 45-day suspension (and fines/jail/IID) only on a conviction. The two suspensions typically run concurrently and the driver receives credit; they do not merge, and winning one proceeding does not automatically win the other. The DMV hearing is limited to four issues: probable cause, arrest, refusal/elevated-BAC, and operation (§14-227b(g)).