DUI in Kansas: the law, the limits and the device
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Kansas calls it DUI — driving under the influence, and you will see drunk driving used for the same offense. What follows is what this state sets, taken from its own published rules rather than from a national summary.
What Kansas law actually requires
Kansas runs the interlock after the suspension, not instead of it: below 0.15% a first occurrence means 30 days of suspension and then six months or a year restricted to an interlock-equipped vehicle; at 0.15% or above it is a full year of suspension first, then a year on the device. Driving a car without the device restarts the whole restriction.
- First offense: Below 0.15% BAC a first occurrence is a 30-day suspension followed by six months or a year restricted to the device; at 0.15% or above it is a year of suspension followed by a year on the device
- Lockout threshold: Set by the approved device; tampering, circumventing it or asking someone else to blow adds 90 days on a first occurrence and restarts the whole restriction on a second (K.S.A. 8-1017)
- Program run by: Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles
Source: www.ksrevenue.gov, checked 2026-08-23
DUI vs DUI in Kansas
In Kansas there is one offense and one label. If you have seen DWI, OWI or OVI used elsewhere, that is another state’s vocabulary for the same conduct — nothing about the seriousness changes when you cross a state line, only the letters on the paperwork.
Whatever it is called, the licensing consequence is the same shape: a suspension, then the device as the condition of driving again. All six abbreviations, side by side →
Can you get a DUI on a bike or a horse in Kansas?
It turns on one word in the statute. Where the law says “vehicle”, no engine is required and the charge can reach a bicycle, a horse or a mobility scooter. Where it says “motor vehicle”, the analysis is different. This is decided by your state’s own wording, not by national custom, and it is the first thing to check before assuming a bike ride home is safe.
Where this state departs from the national picture
Most of what people read about drunk driving is written for the country as a whole. These are the points where Kansas does something of its own.
SR-22 for 1 year
Kansas has the shortest filing period of any state that uses the form. The statute requires the insurer to keep evidence of insurance on file with the Division for one year following a conviction for any of the violations listed in K.S.A. 8-285, which includes driving under the influence. A DUI conviction also carries an interlock restriction that outlasts the filing: six months or a year after a first, and longer on each subsequent occurrence.
Kansas Department of Revenue, Imposed Actions on Major Violations
How often this happens in Kansas
Federal crash records show the scale the state is legislating against, and how it compares with the country.
Cases are heard where the stop happened, and volume shapes local practice. These KS counties record the most:
Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2020–2022. Counts crashes where police recorded that a driver had been drinking, which is narrower than the federal 0.08 measure and therefore understates the real figure. Kansas runs at or below the national share.
What it costs to get driving again in Kansas
Kansas is one of the few states that publishes what a provider may charge, so a quote here is checkable against the regulation rather than against another quote.
The two clocks in Kansas
The court case and the licensing case run separately. The licensing side moves first, and in the strictest states the window to request a hearing is measured in days — it runs whether or not you have hired anyone.
Kansas cities
The county that hears your case is set by where the stop happened, and local practice differs across the state.
DUI questions in Kansas
Is it called DUI or DUI in Kansas?
Kansas uses DUI — driving under the influence. You will also see drunk driving used for the same thing. The label follows the state, not the seriousness of what happened, so paperwork from elsewhere may say something different about identical conduct.
What is the legal limit in Kansas?
0.08% for drivers 21 and over, as in every state except Utah, which sits at 0.05%. Below the limit you can still be charged if an officer documents impairment. The reading that triggers the interlock here is a separate number: Set by the approved device; tampering, circumventing it or asking someone else to blow adds 90 days on a first occurrence and restarts the whole restriction on a second (K.S.A. 8-1017)
How long does the interlock stay on after a first offense in Kansas?
Below 0.15% BAC a first occurrence is a 30-day suspension followed by six months or a year restricted to the device; at 0.15% or above it is a year of suspension followed by a year on the device The program is run by Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles.
Can you get a DUI on a horse or a bicycle in Kansas?
The answer is in whether the statute says “vehicle” or “motor vehicle”. Where it says vehicle, no engine is needed and the charge can reach a bike or a horse; where it says motor vehicle, it cannot. This is one of the most searched questions in the whole subject and one of the most confidently answered wrongly — the wording of your own state decides it.
A first DUI here →A second DUI here →When a DUI is a felony in Kansas →
When a charge becomes a felony → The test and the refusal → How long it stays on your record →Kansas SR-22 rules →
Attorney advertising. InterlockDeviceNearMe is not a law firm, does not practice law, and does not give legal advice. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Requesting a consultation connects you with an independent attorney or a legal referral service, who decide separately whether to take your case. Case outcomes depend on facts we do not know, and no result is ever promised. Deadlines in DUI cases are short and vary by state — speak to a licensed attorney in your state before relying on anything you read here.