Is a DUI a felony in Mississippi?
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On a third inside five years — the shortest window in this set. Five years, not ten, and the statute closes the usual exits: the minimum penalties may not be suspended or reduced by the court, and no prosecutor may offer a suspension or reduction as part of a plea bargain. Where the offense caused no serious injury or death, the judge may let the term be served in county jail rather than the penitentiary. A first offense, by contrast, is $250 to $1,000 or up to 48 hours, and a victim impact panel can replace the 48 hours.
Written any number of ways — a 3rd DUI, a DUI 3rd, a felony DUI, or simply a DUI in MS — and the paperwork will use none of them. Mississippi charges it under a section number, and that is what decides the range below.
Grade. Felony
Confinement. 1 to 5 years
Fine. $2,000 to $5,000
Mississippi Code § 63-11-30 · Miss. Code § 63-11-30(2)(a), (2)(c) · checked 2026-09-04
The device is a separate track
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.
In Mississippi the interlock term runs Set by the court and is administered by Mississippi Department of Public Safety, on the court order — which is why a plea that settles the criminal case does not settle the device. What counts as a violation on it, and what an agency adds to the term, is its own arithmetic: violations and lockouts. Getting it off at the end is a procedure of its own too — removal and waivers.
Source: Mississippi Department of Public Safety, on the court order
Mississippi DUI questions
Is a DUI a felony in Mississippi?
On a third inside five years — the shortest window in this set. Five years, not ten, and the statute closes the usual exits: the minimum penalties may not be suspended or reduced by the court, and no prosecutor may offer a suspension or reduction as part of a plea bargain. Where the offense caused no serious injury or death, the judge may let the term be served in county jail rather than the penitentiary. A first offense, by contrast, is $250 to $1,000 or up to 48 hours, and a victim impact panel can replace the 48 hours.
What does a 3rd DUI in Mississippi carry?
Felony: 1 to 5 years, and a fine of $2,000 to $5,000. The range is set by Miss. Code § 63-11-30(2)(a), (2)(c), and the figures on this page come from the statute rather than from a summary of it.
Does an interlock come with it in Mississippi?
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. The device requirement and the criminal penalty are separate tracks: one is handled by the court, the other by Mississippi Department of Public Safety, on the court order.
Other steps in Mississippi: first offense penalties and second offense penalties.
All Mississippi DUI rules →Penalties across the states →Mississippi DUI lawyers →Getting the license back →
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