Mississippi DUI Defense & License Guide

For drivers 21 and over, the limit is 0.08%. For commercial drivers (CDL), it is 0.04%. For minors under 21 (Zero Tolerance), the limit is 0.02%.

Under Mississippi's Implied Consent law, refusing the official breath test at the station results in a 90-day administrative suspension of your driver's license if you have no prior DUI, or a one-year suspension if you do, even if you are ultimately found not guilty of the DUI. You have a short window to fight it: once the suspension is upheld, § 63-11-25 gives you only 10 days to petition the court for review.

Yes. The handheld portable breath test (PBT) is not admissible in court to prove your exact BAC. You can politely decline to blow into it without triggering the 90-day Implied Consent suspension.

A first-offense DUI under § 63-11-30(2)(a) is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of $250 to $1,000, up to 48 hours in jail, and mandatory completion of the MASEP program. Your license is suspended for 120 days unless you obtain an ignition-interlock restricted license, which lets you keep driving.

You may be eligible for an Ignition Interlock Restricted License. If you install an approved interlock device on your vehicle and pay the required fees, you can continue to drive legally during your suspension period.

Yes, through non-adjudication under § 63-11-30(14). If you have no prior DUIs and did not hold a commercial license at the time, you can petition the court to withhold a finding of guilt. Upon completing MASEP, paying all fines, and holding an interlock-restricted license for 120 days (or completing a 120-day drug-testing program in drug cases), the DUI is not entered as a conviction on your record. You only get non-adjudication once in a lifetime.

No. Mississippi Code § 63-11-39 says the court and the prosecutor "shall not reduce any charge under this chapter to a lesser charge," and the Mississippi Supreme Court reads it to bar reducing a DUI to a non-DUI charge such as reckless driving (Ostrander v. State (2002)), so Mississippi has no "wet reckless" plea. What remains open is the defense of the charge itself, from the stop to the breath or blood test, and, for a first offender, non-adjudication under § 63-11-30(14). A judge may grant it only once under any non-adjudication law, and only to a person with no prior DUI conviction, no other DUI charge pending, and no commercial driver's license or commercial learning permit at the time of the offense. See our first-offense DUI guide.

Yes, depending on the circumstances. If you have the keys in the ignition or the car is running (even just for AC or heat), the police can argue you had "actual physical control" of the vehicle and arrest you for DUI.

A DUI conviction carries severe consequences for CDL holders. A first offense results in a mandatory one-year disqualification of your CDL, even if you were driving your personal vehicle at the time of the arrest.

Yes. A DUI "Other Substance" charge can be brought if a police officer believes your prescription medication (like Xanax, Ambien, or pain killers) impaired your ability to operate a vehicle safely.

No. Field sobriety tests are completely voluntary. They are highly subjective and designed to gather evidence against you. You should politely decline to perform them.

We review the calibration logs of the Intoxilyzer 8000 machine, verify that the officer properly observed you for the mandatory 20 minutes before testing, and check if the officer's certification to use the machine was valid and current.

A DUI becomes a felony on your third offense within a 5-year period, punishable by 1 to 5 years in custody and a $2,000 to $5,000 fine. A fourth offense is a felony no matter how old the priors are, carrying 2 to 10 years. And if your DUI caused the death, mutilation, or disfigurement of another person (Aggravated DUI), the penalty is 5 to 25 years for each victim.

If you are convicted, a DUI stays on your Mississippi driving record and criminal record indefinitely. There is no automatic removal, and the only exit ramp is the narrow first-offense expungement described below. This is why avoiding conviction through non-adjudication or fighting the charge at trial is absolutely critical.

Yes, but only once and only for a first-offense misdemeanor DUI. Under § 63-11-30(13), you can petition for expungement five years after completing all sentencing requirements, if you did not refuse the breath or blood test, your BAC was below .16, you did not hold a commercial driver's license or commercial learning permit at the time, and you have no other DUI conviction or pending DUI charge and no earlier DUI nonadjudication or expunction.

MASEP stands for the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program. It is a mandatory state-run traffic safety course that all individuals convicted of a first-offense DUI (or entering non-adjudication) must complete before their license can be fully reinstated.

Call a DUI lawyer before your first court date, and before you decide whether to plead. Lowrey, Fortner, & Miri answers at (601) 582-5015; after hours, leave a voicemail and we will call you back. On the first call we check which court has your case (Hattiesburg Municipal Court at 701 James Street for city arrests, the Forrest County or Lamar County courts for arrests outside the city limits), whether you refused the test and when the 10-day window to seek judicial review of a sustained refusal suspension runs, and whether non-adjudication is available to you. Bring the citation, the bond paperwork, and any notice from the Department of Public Safety.