What a DWI actually costs in Missouri

Below is every category of cost a Missouri DWI produces. Where Missouri fixes an amount by statute, this page states it exactly. Where the cost is set by a provider, a county or an insurer, it says so instead of quoting a range — those numbers move constantly, and a figure that looks precise but is not does more harm than an honest “it depends.”

1. The court

• Fine. Set by the court within the statutory maximum for your offense level: up to $1,000 for a class B misdemeanor first offense, up to $2,000 for a class A misdemeanor, up to $10,000 for class C, D and E felonies. Missouri authorizes no fine for class A or B felonies.
• Court costs and filing fees. Set by the court, not by your attorney.
• Bond. Refundable in principle, but it is money you do not have access to in the meantime.

Note that a fine is not available as a standalone outcome for repeat offenders — Missouri law bars sentencing a prior, persistent, aggravated, chronic or habitual offender to pay a fine in lieu of imprisonment.

2. Getting your license back

• Reinstatement fee: $45 — a $20 general reinstatement fee plus a $25 additional fee, both fixed by statute.
• SR-22 proof of financial responsibility, maintained for two years from the start of your suspension or revocation. This is a filing your insurer makes, and the real cost is not the filing — it is what it does to your premium.
• SATOP. The Substance Awareness Traffic Offender Program is required before reinstatement. Cost depends on which level of program you are assessed into, and the assessment itself is a separate charge.
• Full driver examination retake after a revocation, as opposed to a suspension.

3. Ignition interlock

Three separate costs: installation, monthly monitoring, and removal. Whether you need one at all depends on your record. A clean first-offense administrative suspension does not by itself carry a post-reinstatement interlock requirement, and on a first offense a court may require one rather than must. The six-month requirement bites where your record shows a prior alcohol-related enforcement contact — and, from August 28, 2026, where a conviction involved a BAC of .15 or above or any property damage or personal injury.

Where it does apply, the minimum is six months from the date of reinstatement, and the last three months are a monitoring window — a confirmed failed test or evidence of tampering during that window extends the period until you complete three consecutive clean months. Separately, an interlock is what buys you the immediate 90-day restricted driving privilege instead of a 30-day hard suspension, and from August 28, 2026 it is required on first-offense restricted privileges.

Since August 28, 2026, an interlock is mandatory on first-offense restricted driving privileges, and is required for any intoxication-related offense with a BAC of .15 or above or involving property damage or personal injury. There is a low-income provision: interlock providers must offer a discounted schedule for people at or below 150% of the federal poverty level, who pay 10% of the device cost.

4. Insurance — usually the biggest number

This is the line item that dwarfs the others and the one nobody quotes you at the beginning. A DWI conviction sits on your Missouri driving record and drives premium increases that persist for years. The SR-22 requirement runs two years, but the rating consequences typically outlast it. We are not going to publish a percentage — it depends entirely on your carrier, your record and your history — but if you want a real number, call your agent and ask them directly what a DWI conviction would do to your policy. It is usually the number that changes how people think about the case.

5. The costs nobody puts in a table

• Time off work for court dates, SATOP sessions and interlock service appointments
• Getting around during a hard suspension, if you do not qualify for or do not pursue a restricted privilege
• Employment. Background checks, professional licensing boards, and anything involving a company vehicle
• Commercial drivers. A first disqualification is not less than one year, and there is no limited driving privilege for a commercial vehicle under any circumstances. For a career driver this is the whole case.
• Immigration consequences, which are outside our practice but which anyone who is not a citizen should ask a qualified immigration attorney about before resolving a case

6. Where the lawyer fits

Against that list, the legal fee is one item among several, and it is the only one that affects all the others. Whether you end up with a conviction or a suspended imposition of sentence, whether the license action is contested inside 15 days, whether an elevated BAC finding triggers a mandatory minimum — those determine most of the numbers above.

Which is the argument for knowing the fee up front rather than discovering it. We quote it at the end of a free consultation, in writing, with the scope attached. Here is what it covers →