Ignition interlock devices in Arizona

Arizona requires a certified device with a camera and GPS that reports every test to the MVD in real time. The clock starts when your license becomes eligible for reinstatement or when the MVD receives the conviction — whichever is later — so installing early does not shorten anything. As for how long: at least 12 months on a standard first conviction; longer at higher readings — 12 months for Extreme DUI at 0.15%, 18 months for Super Extreme at 0.20% (A.R.S. 28-1382).

Arizona does not publish provider prices — they are set by the approved provider, not by the state. Nationally, nHTSA puts installation at $70 to $90 and monitoring at about $70 a month, roughly $3 to $4 a day. The state publishes only its own charges: ADOT fee per device installed (collected by your provider) $20, charged again if the device moves to another vehicle. A quote far above that is the provider's, not the state's.

A recorded event is not automatically a violation, and that distinction decides most cases. Programs differ in what they count and how they count it: some add time per event, others ignore single events and act on a pattern, and several give you a written escape where a retest within five or ten minutes comes back clean. What is uniform is that the decision is made by Arizona MVD (Department of Transportation) from the vendor's report, not at the roadside. The mechanics, state by state and with the statute on each, are on our page about violations and lockouts.

Not at the workshop, and not on the date in your paperwork. The state releases you first and the device comes out last: you finish the term including anything added to it, sit a final data download at the service center, let Arizona MVD (Department of Transportation) review the record, take what it issues to a licensing office to lift the restriction, and only then book the removal. Most programs also require a clean window before any of that starts — 180 days in Washington, the last 30 in New Jersey, three months in Maryland.

0.020% — the engine will not start at or above that reading That is far below any driving limit, and it is why one drink shortly before a test is enough to fail it: the device is testing whether you drank, not whether you are impaired.

Sometimes, and it is usually stricter rather than easier. The common substitute is continuous alcohol monitoring — a transdermal ankle bracelet that watches the person instead of the car, all day rather than at the ignition. North Carolina writes the trade directly into sentencing: 120 days of monitored abstinence can cut a 30-day minimum to ten, and 90 days can replace a seven-day term. The other alternative is not driving at all, which some states allow you to serve out instead, and which costs you the license for the whole period rather than the device.

We index 346 certified installation points across 88 Arizona cities, run by 6 approved providers, with the densest coverage in Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson. Install with a provider the state approves rather than the nearest pin on the map: time on an unapproved device does not count toward the term.