Oregon DUI Laws

The per se limit is 0.08 percent (ORS 813.010(1)(a)) — and Oregon also convicts a driver whose BAC reaches 0.08 within two hours AFTER driving, if the driver did not drink in between (813.010(1)(c)). Commercial drivers fail the implied-consent test at 0.04 percent in a commercial vehicle (ORS 813.130(2)(b)(B)), and for drivers under 21 any amount of alcohol fails the test — though that under-21 rule affects only the license, not the criminal charge (ORS 813.300(3)). A driver can also be convicted on impairment alone, with no number at all.

Yes. Driving under the influence of any intoxicant — or any combination — is the same offense (ORS 813.010(1)(b)), and Oregon has no minimum drug concentration: impairment is the test. A drug or inhalant basis must be specifically pleaded and proved or admitted (813.010(2)), and after a drug-recognition evaluation an officer may request a urine test, whose refusal is treated like a breath-test refusal (ORS 813.131, 813.132). Oregon's statutes provide no prescription-drug defense to impaired driving.

Most eligible first offenders enter the one-year diversion program instead of being sentenced: about $640 in program fees plus treatment costs, an ignition interlock while driving, and dismissal of the charge on completion (ORS 813.200 to 813.250). A first CONVICTION is a Class A misdemeanor: a fine of at least $1,000 ($2,000 at 0.15 percent BAC) up to $6,250, at least 48 hours of jail or community service up to 364 days, a $255 fee (waivable for indigence), a one-year license suspension, and an ignition interlock for one year after the suspension ends (ORS 813.010, 813.020, 813.030, 809.428, 813.602).

A second conviction is still a Class A misdemeanor, but the mandatory minimum fine rises to $1,500 — with no time limit on when the first conviction happened (ORS 813.010(6)(c)) — plus at least 48 hours of jail or community service, up to 364 days. If the second offense comes within five years of the first conviction, the license is suspended for three years, and NO hardship permit is available for that entire suspension (ORS 809.428(2)(b); 807.240(8)(d)). An ignition interlock is required for two years after the suspension ends (ORS 813.602(1)(c)).

A third offense is a Class C felony if the driver has at least two prior convictions — Oregon or out-of-state, in any combination — within the 10 years before the current offense (ORS 813.011(1)). The felony carries a 90-day mandatory minimum that cannot be reduced for any reason, up to five years in prison and a $125,000 fine (813.011(3); ORS 161.605(3), 161.625(1)(d)). Once a driver has been sentenced for felony DUI, every later offense is a felony for life (813.011(2)). A third conviction whose priors are older than 10 years stays a misdemeanor — but the license is still permanently revoked (ORS 809.235(1)(b)).

One year for a first conviction; three years for a second conviction committed within five years of the first (ORS 809.428(2)). A THIRD conviction — no matter how old the priors — brings permanent revocation, as does any felony DUI conviction (ORS 809.235(1)(b)). The revocation is lifetime: after 10 years the driver may petition the circuit court for restoration, but the court grants it only on clear and convincing evidence of rehabilitation (809.235(2), (4)). Failing or refusing the breath test adds a separate administrative suspension of 90 days to three years (ORS 813.420).

Yes — for every conviction. The DMV must require an interlock in any vehicle the person drives for one year after a first-conviction suspension ends, and two years after a second or subsequent (ORS 813.602(1)). It is also a condition of any hardship permit, and courts must order it during diversion when the driver blew 0.08 or more, refused the test, or tested above 0.00 but below 0.08 with another intoxicant present — and may order it in other diversions (813.602(1)(a), (3)). The requirement does not end until the device goes 90 consecutive days without a negative report (ORS 813.635). Medical exemptions are available by rule (813.602(4)).

Sometimes — the waits vary sharply. After failing the breath test, a hardship permit is possible 30 days into the suspension; after a REFUSAL the wait is 90 days; and either wait stretches to one or three years if the driver had a suspension, conviction, or diversion in the previous five years (ORS 813.520(1) to (4)). The permit requires proof of an installed ignition interlock first (ORS 813.604(2)) and is denied entirely to drivers with adequate other transportation (813.520(6)). No hardship permit at all is available during a second-or-subsequent-conviction three-year suspension (ORS 807.240(8)(d)), and none can authorize commercial driving (807.240(8)(c)).

Refusal is not a crime in Oregon — it is a traffic violation with a presumptive $650 fine (ORS 813.095(2)) — but the license consequences are steep: a one-year administrative suspension instead of 90 days for failing, or three years if the driver had a suspension, conviction, or diversion within the past five years (ORS 813.420; 813.430), with a 90-day to three-year wait before any hardship permit (ORS 813.520). The suspension stands even if the criminal charge is later dismissed or acquitted (ORS 813.130(3)(b)). Refusing a urine test adds a consecutive suspension and doubles the hardship wait (ORS 813.132), and a commercial driver who refuses in any vehicle is disqualified for three years — five if driving a commercial vehicle carrying hazardous materials (ORS 809.510(5)).

Diversion lets a first offender avoid conviction: the driver pleads guilty or no contest, the court withholds judgment for one year while the driver completes screening, treatment, a victim impact session, and stays intoxicant-free with an interlock when driving — then the charge is dismissed with prejudice (ORS 813.200, 813.230, 813.250). Fees are $490 to file plus $150 for screening, with treatment at the driver's own expense (ORS 813.240). Eligibility requires no impaired-driving conviction or diversion in the prior 15 years, no commercial license, no commercial vehicle, no prior felony DUI, and no accident that killed or injured someone else (ORS 813.215). Diversion is not consequence-free: it blocks another diversion for 15 years, lengthens implied-consent suspensions for five years, and suspends commercial privileges for one year by itself.

It depends on the counter. The felony window is 10 years: two priors in the 10 years before the current offense make it a Class C felony (ORS 813.011(1)) — and after any felony DUI sentence, every later offense is a felony forever (813.011(2)). The mandatory fine ladder has NO window: a second conviction 20 years later still carries the $1,500 minimum (ORS 813.010(6)). License suspensions escalate only within a five-year window (ORS 809.428(2)), but the third-conviction permanent revocation counts priors from any era (ORS 809.235(1)(b)). Implied-consent enhancements look back five years (ORS 813.430); diversion eligibility looks back 15 (ORS 813.215). Out-of-state convictions count throughout.

A BAC of 0.15 percent or more — at driving or within two hours after — raises the mandatory minimum fine to $2,000; it is a fine increase only, not a separate charge (ORS 813.010(6)(e)). A passenger under 18 and at least three years younger than the driver lifts the maximum fine to $10,000 (813.010(7)). A crash that kills or injures someone else disqualifies the driver from diversion (ORS 813.215(1)(j)), and a death is a felony matter even for a driver with no priors: manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide are Class B felonies that require no prior conviction and each brings permanent license revocation (ORS 163.125(1)(a), 163.145; 809.235(1)(a)). With priors the charges escalate: first-degree manslaughter — a Class A felony — for a driver with three impaired-driving priors in 10 years or a prior driving-related assault (ORS 163.118(1)(d)), or aggravated vehicular homicide after a prior vehicular-death conviction (ORS 163.149). These homicide and assault convictions carry permanent license revocation and a five-year interlock term (ORS 809.235(1)(a); 813.602(2)).