A first DWI in New Hampshire: what it can result in

New Hampshire is unusual twice over on a first DWI. There is no jail in the ordinary case at all: the offence is a class B misdemeanor, which in New Hampshire carries no incarceration, and the sentence is a fine of at least $500 plus a mandatory route through the Impaired Driver Care Management Program. The bite is the licence — revocation for not less than nine months, extendable by the court to two years. Up to six months of that can be suspended if the driver is screened within fourteen days, completes the substance use disorder evaluation within thirty days where the screening indicates one, stays in compliance with the service plan, and finishes an approved impaired driver education programme; the court may require an interlock during the shortened period and may reimpose the longer revocation if compliance lapses. Since 1 January 2026 the statute has also required a qualified online victim impact panel programme unless the court finds exceptional circumstances. The second unusual part comes later: on a motion filed at least one year after conviction, the court that convicted the person may reduce the conviction to a violation, weighing the subsequent driving record, the programme’s recommendation and the hardship of carrying a criminal record. An aggravated DWI is a different animal — a class A misdemeanor with a mandatory seventeen consecutive days, twelve of them suspended.

Start from what the statute forces and what it leaves to the judge. The floor here is none on an ordinary first offence. Everything above that floor is argued, and the same conviction can end up served in custody, on work release or as a condition of probation depending on the county and the judge. What no one can promise you is a sentence below the statutory minimum — that is not a question of persuasion.

Class B misdemeanor: none on an ordinary first offence, and a fine of not less than $500. The range is set by N.H. Rev. Stat. § 265-A:18(I)(a), (I)(b); § 265-A:36, and the figures on this page come from the statute rather than from a summary of it.

New Hampshire runs the program through the DMV and the courts together: a court or the Commissioner of Safety orders the device, and you may drive only vehicles fitted with a New Hampshire-approved one. The certificate of installation goes to the DMV yourself, not through the vendor. If you cannot afford it, RSA 265-A:36 allows a hearing for a credit of up to 75% of installation and service costs. The device requirement and the criminal penalty are separate tracks: one is handled by the court, the other by NH Division of Motor Vehicles, or the court.