Missouri DWI penalties, level by level

First, the part that surprises people

Missouri’s DWI statute does not contain a blood alcohol number. RSMo 577.010 says only that a person commits the offense “if he or she operates a vehicle while in an intoxicated condition.” There are three elements: you operated, a vehicle, while intoxicated. No BAC, and no requirement that you were on a public road.

The .08 figure comes from a different statute, RSMo 577.012, driving with excessive blood alcohol content. And because Missouri defines “intoxicated condition” to include being under the influence of a controlled substance or drug, there is no separate drugged-driving statute in Missouri — it is all charged under 577.010.

One provision that cuts the other way: under RSMo 577.037, a chemical analysis showing less than .08 means the charge “shall be dismissed with prejudice” unless one of three exceptions applies — delay between driving and testing, drugs, or substantial evidence of intoxication from witness observations or the defendant’s own admissions. That third exception is broader than it sounds and is present in a great many arrests, so a sub-.08 reading is an argument rather than an automatic dismissal.

Offender status: the definitions that decide everything

Whether your case is a misdemeanor or a felony turns almost entirely on your status. This is the single most misstated point on Missouri DWI websites, so here it is precisely: only “prior offender” has a five-year lookback. Every level above it looks back over your entire life.

The penalty ladder — offenses before August 28, 2026

The penalty ladder — offenses on or after August 28, 2026

Under HB 1740, the misdemeanor tiers are unchanged. Every injury and death tier moves up a full felony class, and the separate victim categories are folded into general provisions.

Mandatory minimums

The maximum sentence is rarely the number that matters. These are the floors — but read the first two carefully, because they are conditional.

• BAC .15 to .20: not less than 48 hours of imprisonment — but only where the person is not granted a suspended imposition of sentence. A first offender who receives SIS on two years’ probation, completing a DWI court program where required, does not serve it.
• BAC above .20: not less than five days, subject to the same condition
• Prior offender: 10 days before probation or parole, or 30 days of community service, or completion of a DWI court program plus 30 days of community service
• Persistent offender: 30 days, or 60 days of community service, or a program plus 60 days
• Aggravated offender: 60 days, with no community service alternative
• Chronic or habitual offender: two years, with no alternative

SIS and SES — and why the difference matters

A suspended imposition of sentence (SIS) means guilt is found but no sentence is ever imposed. Complete probation successfully and no sentence is entered, so there is no conviction, and the case record becomes closed under Missouri’s records statute. A suspended execution of sentence (SES) means a sentence is pronounced and then held in abeyance. An SES is a conviction, and if probation is violated the sentence already pronounced can simply be executed.

For a baseline first offense, SIS is available only if probation runs at least two years — with an additional program requirement where BAC was .15 or higher in a circuit that operates a DWI court.

Above that, the bar attaches to offender status, not to the number of DWIs you have had. Missouri law states that a prior, persistent, aggravated, chronic or habitual offender shall not be granted a suspended imposition of sentence. Note what that does and does not mean: because prior offender status requires a prior offense within five years, and persistent requires two or more priors, a second lifetime DWI committed more than five years after the first is neither — it is a baseline class B misdemeanor and SIS is not statutorily barred. Whether the court grants it is a different question, but the statute does not close the door.

And as noted above: an SIS still counts as a prior on a future DWI. Closed is not erased.

A note on child passengers

A person under 17 in the vehicle makes a DWI a class A misdemeanor, not a felony — a point many Missouri sites get wrong. Separately, the same facts may support a child endangerment charge, but the degree turns on mental state. First degree, a class D felony, requires acting knowingly to create a substantial risk to a child’s life, body or health. Criminally negligent conduct falls under second degree, a class A misdemeanor. The endangerment statute contains no DWI provision, so neither charge follows automatically from a child being in the car.

Can a Missouri DWI ever come off your record?

Once, under narrow conditions. RSMo 610.130 allows expungement of a first intoxication-related traffic offense after ten years, if it was a misdemeanor or municipal ordinance violation, you have had no subsequent intoxication-related offense and no subsequent alcohol-related enforcement contact, and nothing is pending. It is available once in a lifetime. No felony DWI is ever expungeable under this section, and it does not apply to anyone who has held or is required to hold a commercial driver’s license.

Where the conditions are met, the court “shall” grant it, and the effect is to restore you to the position you occupied before the arrest, as if the event had never taken place.

Commercial drivers

The threshold is .04, half the general limit. Any measurable alcohol concentration means an immediate 24-hour out-of-service order. A first disqualifying violation carries not less than one year, three years if hazardous materials were being transported, and a lifetime disqualification for two or more. Two points that catch people out: the triggering conduct can occur in a non-commercial vehicle, and an administrative alcohol enforcement contact alone — with no criminal conviction — is enough to disqualify. There is no limited driving privilege for a commercial vehicle under any circumstances.

Drivers under 21

Missouri’s administrative threshold for drivers under 21 is .02. Note the structure carefully: .02 triggers the license action, but it is not itself a criminal offense — a criminal excessive-BAC charge still requires .08. Separately, Missouri’s “Abuse and Lose” law suspends or revokes driving privileges for a range of alcohol and drug offenses committed under 21, including some with no vehicle involved at all. The periods differ by offense type: for alcohol-related traffic offenses and the other offenses in the first category, it is 90 days for a first and one year for a second or subsequent. For minor-in-possession violations under RSMo 311.325 — by far the most common no-vehicle offense — it is 30 days first, 90 days second, and one year for a third or subsequent.