Minnesota DWI laws, explained in plain terms
If you have been arrested for a DWI in Minnesota, or you are trying to make sense of the Minnesota DWI laws before your first court date, here is the part that matters most: not every DWI is the same charge. Minnesota sorts driving-while-impaired offenses into four degrees, and which one you face depends less on how you were driving and more on a short list of specific factors. We wrote this to explain that structure the way we would in a first meeting, so you can see where a case like yours actually falls.
The short version: a first DWI with no aggravating factors is a misdemeanor. Add a prior within ten years, a 0.16 or higher result, or a child in the car, and the same driving becomes a gross misdemeanor. Three qualifying priors in ten years, or a prior felony DWI, makes it a felony punishable by up to seven years. The facts around the stop, not just the stop itself, decide the degree.
Below is how each piece fits together, straight from chapter 169A.
What counts as a DWI in Minnesota
Under Minnesota Statute 169A.20, it is a crime to drive, operate, or be in physical control of a motor vehicle while any of the following is true:
- You are under the influence of alcohol.
- You are under the influence of a controlled substance, or of an intoxicating substance you know or have reason to know can impair you.
- You are under the combined influence of any two or more of those.
- Your alcohol concentration is 0.08 or more, measured at the time of driving or within two hours of it. For a commercial vehicle, the line is 0.04.
- Your body contains any amount of a Schedule I or II controlled substance, or its metabolite (cannabis is treated separately).
- You are under the influence of cannabis or THC products.
Two things in that list surprise people. First, “physical control” is broader than driving; you do not have to be moving to be charged. Second, the 0.08 test can be met by a reading taken within two hours of driving, not only at the wheel. Both points come up constantly, and both are places where the details of a stop matter.
The four degrees of Minnesota DWI
This is the heart of the Minnesota DWI laws, and it is where the real consequences are decided. The same act of impaired driving can be any of four degrees. What moves it up the scale is a set of “aggravating factors,” which we cover in the next section. Here is how we break down the four degrees.
Fourth-degree DWI (a misdemeanor)
A fourth-degree DWI is a violation of 169A.20 with no aggravating factors present. This is the typical first-time DWI with a result under 0.16 and no child in the car. It is a misdemeanor, which under Minnesota’s general rules carries up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 as the statutory maximum. For most first offenders the license revocation, the insurance impact, and the criminal record are the parts that actually reach into daily life, and a conviction stays on your record.
Third-degree DWI (a gross misdemeanor)
A DWI becomes third-degree when one aggravating factor is present, or when the charge is for refusing the chemical test (more on refusal below). It is a gross misdemeanor, which carries up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $3,000, plus mandatory minimum penalties under section 169A.275. A single prior within ten years, or a first-time reading of 0.16 or higher, is enough to land here.
Second-degree DWI (a gross misdemeanor)
A second-degree DWI requires two or more aggravating factors, or a test refusal with one aggravating factor present. It is a gross misdemeanor, the same classification as third-degree, but it sits at the top of the gross-misdemeanor tier because it takes two aggravating factors to reach it.
First-degree DWI (a felony)
First-degree DWI is the only felony DWI in Minnesota. It applies when the offense happens within ten years of the first of three or more qualified prior impaired-driving incidents, when the person already has a prior felony DWI conviction, or when they have a prior felony conviction for criminal vehicular homicide or injury involving substance use. It is punishable by up to seven years in prison, a fine of up to $14,000, or both, plus the mandatory penalties in section 169A.276. A felony conviction reaches well beyond the case itself, into firearm rights, employment, and housing.
The aggravating factors that raise a charge
Everything above turns on a single defined term. Under Minnesota Statute 169A.03, an “aggravating factor” is one of exactly three things:
- A qualified prior impaired-driving incident within the ten years immediately before the current offense. That includes both prior convictions and prior license losses tied to impaired driving.
- An alcohol concentration of 0.16 or more, measured at the time of driving or within two hours of it. That is twice the legal limit.
- A child under age 16 in the vehicle at the time, if the child is more than 36 months younger than the driver.
Count the factors, and you have the degree. Zero factors is fourth-degree. One is third. Two or more is second. This is why two people arrested the same night for the same conduct can face very different charges, and it is the first thing we look at when we read a complaint.
Test refusal is its own crime
People are often told that refusing the test is the safe move. In Minnesota it is not. Under 169A.20, subdivision 2, refusing a required chemical test is a separate crime, and on its own it is charged as third-degree DWI, a gross misdemeanor. That means a refusal can put you at a higher degree than a low-level test result would have. Refusal cases turn on whether the test was lawfully required and whether the refusal was what the law says it was, which is its own area of defense; we go deeper into it on our Minnesota DWI test refusal page.
What are the penalties for a first-time DWI in Minnesota?
A first DWI with no aggravating factors is a fourth-degree misdemeanor: up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine as the statutory maximum. The consequences most people actually deal with on a first offense are the license revocation, the ignition-interlock requirements that typically go with driving during that period, higher insurance, and a criminal record. If that same first offense involved a 0.16 or higher reading, or a child in the car, it is no longer fourth-degree; it moves to third-degree as a gross misdemeanor. The single most important thing to understand about a first DWI is that the number on the test and the circumstances of the stop, not the label “first offense,” decide how serious it is.
What is the new DWI law in Minnesota?
This is the question people are searching most, and the honest answer is that the biggest recent change is to the ignition-interlock program rather than to the four degrees above. In 2025 Minnesota amended its interlock rules, with changes taking effect July 1, 2025: the program expanded which drivers must enroll and lengthened how long the device is required. The degree structure, the aggravating factors, and the penalty maximums in this article are the durable law and did not change with it.
Interlock and license-reinstatement rules are exactly the kind of detail that shifts from year to year, and they depend on your reading and your history, so we are careful not to state a fixed number of months here that may already be stale. When we take a case, confirming the current reinstatement path is one of the first things we do, because it is what determines whether you can keep driving while the case is open.
What happens with two DWIs, or four?
A second or subsequent Minnesota DWI within ten years brings a prior into the picture, so it carries at least one aggravating factor and is charged as a gross misdemeanor rather than a misdemeanor, with mandatory minimum penalties and a longer license loss. By the time a person reaches a fourth impaired-driving incident inside ten years, they have crossed the line into first-degree felony DWI, because that requires three or more qualified priors in the ten-year window. That is the mechanism behind the common questions about two and four DWIs: it is the ten-year count of qualified priors, not the raw number of arrests over a lifetime, that drives the degree.
How these cases are actually worked
Every DWI is different, and we will never promise you an outcome. What we can say is where these cases are usually won or lost. The stop itself has to be lawful, the testing has to follow the rules the statute sets, and the aggravating factors the state is counting have to actually hold up, because each one that falls away can drop the charge a full degree. We would rather tell you honestly where your case is exposed than sell you a promise we cannot keep, and the first step for us is always a careful read of the stop, the test, and the priors the state is relying on.
Frequently asked questions
Is DWI a felony in Minnesota?
Usually not. Most DWIs are a misdemeanor or a gross misdemeanor. A DWI is only a felony when it is first-degree, which requires three or more qualified prior impaired-driving incidents within ten years, a prior felony DWI, or a prior felony criminal-vehicular conviction involving substance use. First-degree DWI carries up to seven years in prison.
What is the alcohol limit for a DWI in Minnesota?
0.08 for a standard vehicle, measured at the time of driving or within two hours of it, and 0.04 for a commercial vehicle. A reading of 0.16 or more is an aggravating factor that raises the degree of the charge. You can also be charged below 0.08 if you are under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination.
Can you refuse a breath test in Minnesota?
You can decline, but refusing a lawfully required chemical test is itself a crime under 169A.20, and it is charged as third-degree DWI, a gross misdemeanor. Refusing is not a way to avoid a DWI; it can raise the degree. Whether a refusal charge holds up depends on whether the test was properly required.
Will I lose my license for a first DWI?
A first DWI brings an administrative license revocation, and ignition interlock is typically how a person keeps driving during that period. The exact length and reinstatement path depend on your reading and history and on the 2025 interlock changes, which is why we confirm the current rules for your specific situation rather than quoting a fixed number.
Charged with a Minnesota DWI?
When we take a DWI case, we start with the two things that decide the degree: whether the stop and the testing followed the law, and whether the aggravating factors the state is counting actually hold up. Getting that right early is often what keeps a charge from being worse than it should be. You can read more about how we defend these cases on our Minnesota DWI defense page, or see the full range of charges we handle in our criminal defense practice. If you have been arrested, reach out and we will walk you through where you stand.