PA DUI Tiers
The three Pennsylvania DUI tiers.
Every DUI in Pennsylvania falls into one of three BAC tiers under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802 — General Impairment, High BAC, or Highest BAC / refusal / drugs. Your tier decides the mandatory jail, fine range, license suspension, and interlock at every offense level.
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Pennsylvania DUI BAC Tiers — General Impairment, High BAC, Highest BAC Explained
Attorney Sean Quinlan explains how Pennsylvania sorts every DUI into one of three BAC tiers — General Impairment, High BAC, and Highest BAC / refusal / drugs — and how each tier changes jail, fines, license suspension, and interlock at every offense level.
How the tiers work.
Pennsylvania scales DUI penalties two ways: by BAC tier and by the number of prior offenses within a 10-year window under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3806. A chemical-test refusal or any drug DUI is sentenced at the Highest BAC tier regardless of the actual reading. Compare tiers by offense level with the first-offense and second-offense pages, or read the full PA DUI penalties overview.
General Impairment — BAC .08 to .099
The baseline tier. Applies when BAC is between .08 and .099 and there is no refusal, drug, or accident aggravator.
- 1st offense
- Ungraded misdemeanor · 6 months probation · $300 fine · no license suspension · alcohol highway safety school
- 2nd offense
- Ungraded misdemeanor · 5 days–6 months jail · $300–$2,500 · 12-month suspension · 1-year interlock
- 3rd offense
- 2nd-degree misdemeanor · 10 days–2 years · $500–$5,000 · 12-month suspension · 1-year interlock
High BAC — BAC .10 to .159
Mid-tier. Also applies to minors, commercial drivers, school-vehicle drivers, and drivers involved in an accident with injury or property damage.
- 1st offense
- Ungraded misdemeanor · 48 hours–6 months · $500–$5,000 · 12-month suspension · 1-year interlock
- 2nd offense
- 1st-degree misdemeanor · 30 days–6 months · $750–$5,000 · 12-month suspension · 1-year interlock
- 3rd offense
- 1st-degree misdemeanor · 90 days–5 years · $1,500–$10,000 · 18-month suspension · 1-year interlock
Highest BAC / Refusal / Drugs — BAC .16+
Top tier. Applies at BAC .16 or higher, on any chemical-test refusal, and on any drug or combination drug/alcohol DUI regardless of reading.
- 1st offense
- Ungraded misdemeanor · 72 hours–6 months · $1,000–$5,000 · 12-month suspension (18 months on refusal) · 1-year interlock
- 2nd offense
- 1st-degree misdemeanor · 90 days–5 years · $1,500–$10,000 · 18-month suspension · 1-year interlock
- 3rd offense
- 3rd-degree felony · 1 year–7 years · $2,500–$15,000 · 18-month suspension · 1-year interlock
Where the tier can move.
A defense attorney's first job is often to argue the tier down. Rising-BAC theories can drop a Highest BAC case into High BAC. Machine-calibration and mouth-alcohol challenges can knock a case out of a mandatory-minimum tier entirely. A defective blood-draw warrant can suppress the reading and leave only a General Impairment charge — or nothing at all.
Refusals and drug DUIs.
Both are sentenced at the Highest BAC tier under § 3802(d) and § 3802(c). Refusals also trigger a separate PennDOT civil suspension — 12 months on a first refusal — that runs even if the DUI charge is dismissed. Drug DUI cases have no legal limit for most substances, which changes the defense playbook entirely.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Common questions about how Pennsylvania's three DUI tiers work and what each one costs.
Pennsylvania has three DUI tiers under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802: General Impairment (BAC .08–.099), High BAC (.10–.159), and Highest BAC (.16 and above). Chemical-test refusals and controlled-substance DUIs are sentenced at the Highest BAC tier regardless of the actual reading.
Each tier has its own mandatory minimum jail, fine range, license suspension, and ignition-interlock requirement — and those numbers scale up sharply with each prior offense in the 10-year lookback under § 3806. A General Impairment first offense carries no jail and no suspension; a Highest BAC third offense is a felony with a 1-year mandatory minimum and an 18-month suspension.
Refusals are treated as Highest BAC for criminal sentencing, and PennDOT also imposes a separate 12-month civil license suspension (18 months for a second refusal) — even if the underlying DUI charge is dismissed.
No. Drug DUIs and combination drug/alcohol DUIs are sentenced at the Highest BAC tier under § 3802(d). There is no legal limit for most drugs in Pennsylvania — any measurable amount of a Schedule I substance or an impairing metabolite is enough.
A DUI is a felony when it is a third or subsequent offense in the Highest BAC / refusal / drug tier, a fourth or subsequent offense at any tier, or when it causes serious bodily injury or death. Felony DUI carries state-prison exposure and a permanent felony record.
Sometimes, yes. Rising-BAC arguments, mouth-alcohol challenges, machine-calibration issues, or a defective blood-draw warrant can drop a case one tier — which can be the difference between mandatory jail and probation, or between a first-degree misdemeanor and an ungraded one.
Related pages
First-offense DUI in PA
BAC tiers, ARD, and how to keep it off your record.
Second-offense DUI in PA
Mandatory jail, 12–18 month suspension, and where the defense wins.
ARD & Act 58 of 2025
How a prior ARD now counts as a prior offense.
Criminal defense
Beyond DUI — every PA misdemeanor and felony.
Areas we serve
Cumberland, Dauphin, and York County coverage.
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