Kansas DUI Laws

The per se limit is 0.08 for drivers 21 and older, measured in blood or breath — including a test taken within three hours of driving. Commercial drivers face a 0.04 limit, and drivers under 21 face administrative penalties starting at 0.02. Kansas can also convict a driver whose ability to drive safely is impaired by alcohol or drugs regardless of any test number.

A first DUI is a class B nonperson misdemeanor: 48 consecutive hours to six months in jail (or 100 hours of community service at the court’s discretion) and a $750–$1,000 fine. Your license is suspended for 30 days, then restricted to ignition-interlock-only driving for 180 days. A mandatory alcohol and drug evaluation precedes sentencing.

A third DUI is a severity level 6 nonperson felony if you have a prior conviction within the preceding 10 years (not counting time spent incarcerated); otherwise it is a class A misdemeanor. A fourth or subsequent DUI is always a severity level 6 nonperson felony. Felony DUI is sentenced under the Kansas sentencing guidelines grid at 17 to 46 months of imprisonment, depending on your criminal-history category.

Kansas counts every DUI conviction or diversion that occurred on or after July 1, 2001 when deciding whether a new offense is a second, third or subsequent one — there is no rolling 5- or 10-year window for the count itself. The 10-year window matters at one point only: a third offense is a felony only if a prior conviction falls within the preceding 10 years. Certain serious priors — commercial DUI, boating under the influence, DUI-related manslaughter or aggravated battery — count for your lifetime.

Refusing is no longer a crime in Kansas — the criminal-refusal statute was struck down by the Kansas Supreme Court and repealed in 2019. But refusal still costs you your license: a first refusal brings a one-year suspension followed by a two-year ignition-interlock restriction, with longer interlock periods for repeat occurrences. Prosecutors can also tell the jury you refused.

Yes. A first test failure or conviction brings a 30-day suspension followed by a 180-day ignition-interlock restriction (one year of each if your BAC was 0.15 or greater). Repeat occurrences bring a one-year suspension followed by escalating interlock restrictions — one year on a second occurrence up to 10 years on a fifth. Test refusals and test failures from the same arrest are not stacked; the longest applicable period controls — each is a single "occurrence" under the statute.

Yes — every DUI test failure, refusal or conviction ends with a mandatory ignition-interlock restriction period after the suspension, ranging from 180 days on a standard first occurrence to 10 years on a fifth or subsequent one. The device is installed at your expense, and you must complete the interlock program — with a near-violation-free final 90 days — before full reinstatement.

Kansas has no separate high-BAC crime, but a result of 0.15 or greater lengthens the administrative penalties: a first occurrence brings a one-year license suspension (instead of 30 days) followed by a one-year interlock restriction, and every repeat occurrence adds a year to the interlock period that would otherwise apply.

A driver 18 or older convicted of DUI with a child under 18 in the vehicle serves one additional month of imprisonment, consecutive to any other mandatory minimum. The court may allow the extra month on house arrest, work release or other conditional release.

Possibly — Kansas allows DUI diversion agreements, but only once in a person’s lifetime, and a completed diversion still counts as a prior conviction if you are ever charged again. Kansas law separately forbids plea bargains made to avoid the mandatory DUI penalties.

Drivers under 21 face license action starting at a 0.02 test result: 0.02 to just under 0.08 brings a 30-day suspension plus a 180-day interlock restriction on a first occurrence, and a one-year suspension on any repeat. At 0.08 or more, an under-21 driver faces the same criminal DUI charge as an adult.

Yes. Probation on a second DUI requires serving at least 120 hours of confinement first, including at least 48 hours of actual imprisonment. Probation on a third or subsequent DUI requires at least 30 days of confinement, beginning with at least 48 consecutive hours of imprisonment; the remainder can be served through work release or electronically monitored house arrest.