DUI in Mississippi: the law, the limits and the device
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Mississippi 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 Mississippi law actually requires
Mississippi treats the interlock as the way to keep driving at all. The license is seized at the stop and the paper receipt works as a permit for 30 days; after that an administrative suspension runs unless the court has ordered an interlock-restricted license instead. Refusing the chemical test suspends a Class R license for 90 days on its own, and a year if you have a prior.
- First offense: Set by the court order for an interlock-restricted license, which is what avoids the administrative suspension in the first place
- Lockout threshold: Set by the approved device; the interlock-restricted license is issued on a court order
- Program run by: Mississippi Department of Public Safety, on the court order
Source: www.driverservicebureau.dps.ms.gov, checked 2026-08-23
DUI vs DUI in Mississippi
In Mississippi 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 Mississippi?
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 Mississippi does something of its own.
Proof of insurance — no SR-22 certificate for 3 years
On a first DUI conviction Mississippi suspends a regular licence for 120 days unless the court orders an interlock-restricted licence, and it requires completion of the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program plus proof of insurance for three years. The Driver Service Bureau states the insurance requirement in exactly those words rather than as a filing, and takes the proof in person at a local office along with the $175 reinstatement fee.
How often this happens in Mississippi
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 MS 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. Mississippi runs at or below the national share.
What it costs to get driving again in Mississippi
Mississippi 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.
Mississippi costs, providers and all 48 cities with centers →
The two clocks in Mississippi
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.
Mississippi cities
The county that hears your case is set by where the stop happened, and local practice differs across the state.
DUI questions in Mississippi
Is it called DUI or DUI in Mississippi?
Mississippi 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 Mississippi?
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; the interlock-restricted license is issued on a court order
How long does the interlock stay on after a first offense in Mississippi?
Set by the court order for an interlock-restricted license, which is what avoids the administrative suspension in the first place The program is run by Mississippi Department of Public Safety, on the court order.
Can you get a DUI on a horse or a bicycle in Mississippi?
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 Mississippi →
When a charge becomes a felony → The test and the refusal → Mississippi class requirements →Mississippi 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.