3rd Offense Drunk Driving Penalties in Wisconsin

Penalties for Your 3rd OWI in Wisconsin

If you are charged with a 3rd DUI in Wisconsin you face the following penalties: 

• $600-$2000 in fines
• $435 ‘driver improvement’ surcharge
• 2-3 years driver’s license revocation 
• 1-3 years required ignition interlock device in vehicle
• 45 days to 1 year in jail
• Absolute sobriety required for occupational license
• Legal BAC limit set at .02 for the rest of your life 
• Travel ban to Canada and problems traveling abroad in European Union

If your BAC is over .17 at the time of your 3rd DUI arrest in Wisconsin, you face increasingly harsher penalties outlined by the Excessive BAC Escalator:

• BAC .17 to .199 - Penalties Double
• BAC .20 to .2499 - Penalties Triple
• BAC .25 or higher - Penalties Quadruple

If you had a minor under the age of 16 in your vehicle at the time of your 3rd Wisconsin DUI arrest, you are now facing a felony charge with much more severe penalties:

• $1200-$4000 in fines
• 90 days to 2 years in jail
• 4-6 years license revocation
• 4-6 years with a required ignition interlock device in your vehicle
• Absolute sobriety required for occupational license

 You Are Only Guilty If You Are Convicted®

A Fee-to-Plea™ Lawyer Will Say, “There’s Not Much You Can Do.” Be Wary!

Tactics an experienced DUI lawyer can use to get your charges reduced or dropped:

Your traffic stop was illegal – If you were stopped without due cause, you have grounds to fight your OWI charge. A good lawyer can call into question the arresting officer’s motivations. If there was no legitimate reason for pulling you over in the first place, the officer made an illegal stop.

Time of Test for BAC – Your BAC actually goes up after you stop drinking as the alcohol makes its way into your bloodstream. Grieve Law has successfully leveraged this fact to calculate that our client was not in fact over a threshold while driving. The client would’ve been home in time if not for being pulled over!

Improper Field Sobriety Test – The state of Wisconsin has strict standards for field sobriety tests. If the equipment wasn’t properly calibrated or the procedures were not completely followed and accurately evaluated, you have a case for fighting your DUI charges.

Your case is unique, but a Fee-to-Plea™ lawyer won’t tell you that. An experienced OWI lawyer will examine your 3rd DUI charges and determine the best defense for your case.

3rd Offense OWI: 4 Scary Facts & 4 Ways to Fight

Your 3rd Wisconsin OWI is a Serious Charge with Serious Penalties

When you’re facing a 3rd DUI conviction you need an experienced drunk driving lawyer defending your case. The award-winning legal team at Grieve Law is dedicated to helping their Wisconsin clients get their DUI charges reduced or eliminated.

Know your rights and prepare to fight. Get an insider’s understanding with a FREE initial OWI consultation.

By: Attorney Tom Grieve on 03/06/2020

Tom Grieve is a former prosecutor who now runs a successful Wisconsin criminal defense law firm with offices in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Madison. If are facing new charges initial phone consultations are free: contact online or call 262-786-7100.