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Connecticut General Statutes § 14-227a

Operation while under the influence of liquor or drug or while having an elevated blood alcohol content

Connecticut DUI statute · Checked against the official text September 10, 2026 · How we research and review these pages

What this section governs

Connecticut's DUI offense (0.08% BAC; 0.04% commercial) and the penalties for first, second and later convictions.

Plain-language summary

Subsection (a) makes it an offense to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both, or while having an “elevated blood alcohol content” — a ratio of alcohol in the blood of eight-hundredths of one per cent (0.08%) or more by weight, or four-hundredths of one per cent (0.04%) or more for the operator of a commercial motor vehicle. “Motor vehicle” includes a snowmobile and an all-terrain vehicle. Subsection (g) sets the criminal penalties, and every tier of them reaches vessels as well as motor vehicles. A first conviction carries a fine of $500 to $1,000; imprisonment of up to six months with 48 consecutive hours that may not be suspended or reduced (or a fully suspended sentence with probation requiring 100 hours of community service); a 45-day license suspension with, as a condition of restoration, an ignition interlock device on each vehicle owned or operated and interlock-only driving for one year after restoration; and suspension of any safe boating certificate or certificate of personal watercraft operation, or of the right to operate a vessel that requires one, for a period this section does not itself state but takes from § 15-133(h)(1)(C)(i). A second conviction within ten years carries a fine of $1,000 to $4,000; imprisonment of up to two years with 120 consecutive days non-suspendable; probation with 100 hours of community service, an alcohol or drug abuse assessment and treatment if ordered; a 45-day suspension; a three-year interlock period, limited during its first year to driving for work, school, treatment, interlock service, or probation appointments; and the same vessel suspension, for the period § 15-133(h)(2)(C)(i) specifies. A third or subsequent conviction within ten years carries a fine of $2,000 to $8,000; imprisonment of up to three years with one year non-suspendable; the same probation conditions; permanent revocation of the operator’s license, subject to reversal or reduction under § 14-111(i) with an interlock requirement; and permanent revocation of the vessel certificate or right in accordance with § 15-133(h)(3)(C)(i). The ten-year window is not limited to prior convictions under this section: convictions under § 14-227m, § 14-227n(a)(1) or (2), § 15-133(d)(1) or (2), § 15-140l, § 15-140n, § 53a-56b and § 53a-60d each count as a prior conviction for the same offense, as does an out-of-state offense whose essential elements a court determines are substantially the same.

Official text (excerpt)

Sec. 14-227a. Operation while under the influence of liquor or drug or while having an elevated blood alcohol content. (a) Operation while under the influence or while having an elevated blood alcohol content. Definitions. No person shall operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both. A person commits the offense of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both if such person operates a motor vehicle (1) while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both, or (2) while such person has an elevated blood alcohol content. For the purposes of this section, “elevated blood alcohol content” means a ratio of alcohol in the blood of such person that is eight-hundredths of one per cent or more of alcohol, by weight, except that if such person is operating a commercial motor vehicle, “elevated blood alcohol content” means a ratio of alcohol in the blood of such person that is four-hundredths of one per cent or more of alcohol, by weight, and “motor vehicle” includes a snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle, as those terms are defined in section 14-379.

[…] (g) Penalties for operation while under the influence. Any person who violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall: (1) For conviction of a first violation, (A) be fined not less than five hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars, (B) be (i) imprisoned not more than six months, forty-eight consecutive hours of which may not be suspended or reduced in any manner, or (ii) imprisoned not more than six months, with the execution of such sentence of imprisonment suspended entirely and a period of probation imposed requiring as a condition of such probation that such person perform one hundred hours of community service, as defined in section 14-227e, and (C) (i) have such person's motor vehicle operator's license or nonresident operating privilege suspended for forty-five days and, as a condition for the restoration of such license, be required to install an ignition interlock device on each motor vehicle owned or operated by such person and, upon such restoration, be prohibited for the one-year period following such restoration from operating a motor vehicle unless such motor vehicle is equipped with a functioning, approved ignition interlock device, as defined in section 14-227j, and (ii) have such person's safe boating certificate or certificate of personal watercraft operation, if any, or right to operate a vessel that requires a safe boating certificate for operation, suspended for the period of time specified in subparagraph (C)(i) of subdivision (1) of subsection (h) of section 15-133; (2) For conviction of a second violation within ten years after a prior conviction for the same offense, (A) be fined not less than one thousand dollars or more than four thousand dollars, (B) be imprisoned not more than two years, one hundred twenty consecutive days of which may not be suspended or reduced in any manner, and sentenced to a period of probation requiring as a condition of such probation that such person: (i) Perform one hundred hours of community service, as defined in section 14-227e, (ii) submit to an assessment through the Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Branch of the degree of such person's alcohol or drug abuse, and (iii) undergo a treatment program if so ordered, and (C) (i) have such person's motor vehicle operator's license or nonresident operating privilege suspended for forty-five days and, as a condition for the restoration of such license, be required to install an ignition interlock device on each motor vehicle owned or operated by such person and, upon such restoration, be prohibited for the three-year period following such restoration from operating a motor vehicle unless such motor vehicle is equipped with a functioning, approved ignition interlock device, as defined in section 14-227j, except that for the first year of such three-year period, such person's operation of a motor vehicle shall be limited to such person's transportation to or from work or school, an alcohol or drug abuse treatment program, an ignition interlock device service center or an appointment with a probation officer, and (ii) have such person's safe boating certificate or certificate of personal watercraft operation, if any, or right to operate a vessel that requires a safe boating certificate for operation, suspended for the period of time specified in subparagraph (C)(i) of subdivision (2) of subsection (h) of section 15-133; and (3) For conviction of a third and subsequent violation within ten years after a prior conviction for the same offense, (A) be fined not less than two thousand dollars or more than eight thousand dollars, (B) be imprisoned not more than three years, one year of which may not be suspended or reduced in any manner, and sentenced to a period of probation requiring as a condition of such probation that such person: (i) Perform one hundred hours of community service, as defined in section 14-227e, (ii) submit to an assessment through the Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Branch of the degree of such person's alcohol or drug abuse, and (iii) undergo a treatment program if so ordered, and (C) (i) have such person's motor vehicle operator's license or nonresident operating privilege permanently revoked upon such third offense, except that if such person's revocation is reversed or reduced pursuant to subsection (i) of section 14-111, such person shall be prohibited from operating a motor vehicle unless such motor vehicle is equipped with a functioning, approved ignition interlock device, as defined in section 14-227j, for the time period prescribed in subdivision (2) of subsection (i) of section 14-111, and (ii) have such person's safe boating certificate or certificate of personal watercraft operation, if any, or right to operate a vessel that requires a safe boating certificate for operation, permanently revoked in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph (C)(i) of subdivision (3) of subsection (h) of section 15-133. For purposes of the imposition of penalties for a second or third and subsequent offense pursuant to this subsection, a conviction under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section in effect on October 1, 1981, or as amended thereafter, a conviction under the provisions of subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of this section, a conviction under the provisions of section 14-227m, a conviction under the provisions of subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of section 14-227n, a conviction under the provisions of subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (d) of section 15-133, a conviction under the provisions of section 15-140l or 15-140n, a conviction under the provisions of section 53a-56b or 53a-60d or a conviction in any other state of any offense the essential elements of which are determined by the court to be substantially the same as subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of this section, section 14-227m, subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of section 14-227n, subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (d) of section 15-133, or section 15-140l or 15-140n, 53a-56b or 53a-60d, shall constitute a prior conviction for the same offense.

Source: Connecticut General Assembly, accessed September 10, 2026. The excerpt is reproduced verbatim; read the full section on the official site before relying on it.

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