How Much Does a DUI Cost in Arizona?

A first-offense DUI in Arizona typically costs $8,000 to $20,000 or more by the time every expense is counted. The court fine is the part most people expect. It is also the smallest part. Defense representation, higher insurance premiums, the ignition interlock device, screening and classes, jail costs, MVD fees and lost work time together account for far more than the fine ever does.

This page breaks down every one of those costs, shows how they change as your blood alcohol concentration rises, and explains what a felony charge does to the total.

One thing worth knowing before you read further: you have 30 days from the date of your arrest to request a hearing with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division. That deadline runs separately from your criminal case, and missing it means your license suspension takes effect automatically. If your arrest was recent, that clock matters more right now than anything else on this page.

The 2026 Arizona DUI cost breakdown

The figures below are for a first-offense Standard DUI, meaning a blood alcohol concentration of .08 to .149 with no prior convictions. This is the least severe DUI Arizona charges. Everything gets more expensive from here.

Estimated total for a typical first-offense case: $8,000–$20,000+

There is no single average cost of a DUI, and any site quoting one clean number is glossing over how much the range actually moves. Someone who is never jailed, never ordered to Traffic Survival School and never has their car towed lands nearer the bottom. Someone who takes a contested case to trial, carries a high-risk insurance profile for three years and later pays for a set-aside can exceed the top of it. If your vehicle was impounded at the scene, see our guide to Arizona’s 30-day vehicle impound law for what that adds.

Where the money actually goes

Fines and mandatory assessments — $1,250 and up. Arizona sets a minimum fine of $250 for a standard first DUI, then adds $500 to the prison construction and operations fund and $500 to the public safety equipment fund (A.R.S. § 28-1381). State surcharges and court fees are applied on top of those amounts, which is why the practical figure is higher than the statutory one.

Jail costs — $500 to $2,500 or more. Arizona jails bill defendants for their own incarceration. Daily rates vary significantly from court to court, and home detention or electronic monitoring, where it is available, carries its own per-day charge of roughly $10 to $30.

Screening, education and treatment — $300 to $1,000 or more. Alcohol screening is required, and the results determine how many hours of education or treatment are ordered. This is also the requirement that governs whether most of your jail sentence can be suspended, which makes it one of the few costs that can pay for itself.

The ignition interlock device — $600 to $1,600 or more. The device itself is only part of it. Installation, monthly monitoring, calibration visits and removal all carry separate charges, and they continue for as long as the device is required.

Bail. If you were booked rather than cited and released, bail or a bond premium is an immediate out-of-pocket cost that most cost breakdowns leave out. A bail bond premium is typically a non-refundable percentage of the bond amount.

Insurance — $2,000 to $6,000 or more. Covered in detail below. It is usually the second-largest number on the whole list.

How much does a DUI lawyer cost in Arizona?

Most Arizona DUI defense attorneys charge a flat fee for a misdemeanor DUI rather than an hourly rate, so you generally know the number before you hire anyone. Fees commonly run $2,500 to $10,000 or more, and where a case falls in that range depends on four things:

• The charge. A standard first DUI sits at the low end. Extreme and Super Extreme DUI carry higher mandatory penalties and more work. A felony aggravated DUI is a different case entirely.
• Prior convictions. A second or third DUI within 84 months raises both the exposure and the fee.
• Whether the case is contested. A resolution reached at a pretrial conference costs less than a case litigated through motions.
• Whether it goes to trial. Trial is typically quoted separately or as an additional stage.

A note on how criminal defense fees work. Personal injury cases are handled on contingency — the lawyer is paid from the recovery. Criminal defense is not, and cannot be. There is no recovery to be paid from, so DUI representation is paid up front, generally as a flat fee for a defined stage of the case. Be direct with any firm you call about what the fee covers, what it does not, and whether trial is included.

Is a DUI lawyer worth the cost? That depends on facts nobody can assess from a webpage. What is worth understanding is that several of the largest costs on this page are not fixed. Jail days, interlock duration, and whether a charge stays at its original level are all affected by how the case is handled — and the difference between outcomes is often larger than the fee itself. A first consultation is free, and it is the cheapest way to find out where your case actually sits.

Higher BAC means higher penalties

Arizona sorts DUI charges by blood alcohol concentration, and the penalties escalate sharply. The threshold for a standard DUI is a BAC of 0.08. The figures below are statutory minimums for a first offense with no priors.

Two things in that table are widely misunderstood.

A first standard DUI does carry jail. A.R.S. § 28-1381 requires a minimum of 10 consecutive days. The court may suspend all but one of those days if you complete court-ordered screening, education or treatment — so the practical minimum is one day, not zero. Nobody charged with a first DUI in Arizona is looking at no jail at all.

The suspension is conditional, not automatic. For Extreme DUI (30 days) and Super Extreme DUI (45 days), the reduction to 9 and 14 days respectively requires installing a certified ignition interlock device and completing screening. Miss the conditions and the full sentence stands.

Learn more about the higher tiers on our extreme DUI page.

What about a felony (aggravated) DUI?

Most first-offense DUIs in Arizona are misdemeanors handled in city or justice court. A DUI is charged as aggravated DUI — a felony under A.R.S. § 28-1383 — in specific circumstances, including driving on a suspended or revoked license, a third DUI within 84 months, or a DUI with a passenger under 15 years old.

Many of the collateral costs are the same. The financial difference comes from how the case is handled.

Felony cases are prosecuted in Superior Court, where home detention and work release are not available. That means longer uninterrupted custody, which means more time away from work, which for many people is the single largest financial consequence of the entire case — larger than the fine, the interlock and the attorney fee combined. A felony conviction can also affect professional licenses, security clearances and future employment in ways a misdemeanor does not.

More detail: what is an aggravated DUI?

What a DUI costs over ten years

The costs above are the ones that arrive within the first year or two. Several others keep running long after the case closes.

DUI insurance cost — the long tail

A DUI conviction typically moves you into a high-risk tier, and Arizona requires an SR-22 filing to certify coverage. Premium increases of $2,000 to $6,000 or more over roughly three years are common, and the size of the increase depends heavily on your carrier — some non-standard insurers price a DUI far more aggressively than others. Shopping carriers after a conviction is one of the few genuinely effective ways to reduce a DUI cost.

Employment

A conviction shows up on background checks. For most people the effect is inconvenience; for commercial drivers, healthcare workers, licensed professionals and anyone whose job requires driving, it can be considerably more than that.

Record relief costs money too

Arizona does not offer traditional expungement for DUI. It offers a set-aside, which changes the disposition on the record without erasing it, and, in some circumstances, sealing. Either route generally means hiring counsel again — typically $500 to $1,500 — years after you thought the case was finished.

Add those together and the ten-year cost of a first DUI is meaningfully higher than the number at the top of this page.

Which of these costs can change?

Some of these numbers are fixed. The statutory fines and assessments are set by law, and no attorney changes them. Others are not fixed at all, and they depend on decisions made early:

• The MVD hearing. You have 30 days from arrest to request one. This is a separate proceeding from the criminal case, and letting the deadline pass forfeits it.
• Screening and treatment. Completing what the court orders is the condition for suspending most of a jail sentence, which affects both jail costs and lost wages.
• The charge level itself. The gap between a Standard, Extreme and Super Extreme DUI is thousands of dollars in fines and weeks of jail. What the charge ultimately is depends on the evidence — the legality of the stop, how the field sobriety tests were administered, and whether the breath or blood testing was properly calibrated and documented.
• Your insurance carrier. Entirely within your control, and worth real money.

Nothing here is a prediction about your case. It is a description of which numbers are settled and which are still open.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a DUI cost in Arizona?

A first-offense standard DUI typically costs $8,000 to $20,000 or more in total. Court fines and mandatory assessments start at $1,250, but the larger expenses are usually defense attorney fees ($2,500–$10,000+), increased auto insurance ($2,000–$6,000+), the ignition interlock device ($600–$1,600+), jail costs, alcohol screening and classes, MVD fees and lost wages.

What is the minimum jail time for a first DUI in Arizona?

A.R.S. § 28-1381 sets a minimum of 10 consecutive days in jail. The court may suspend all but one day if you complete a court-ordered screening, education or treatment program, so the minimum actually served is typically one day. A first Extreme DUI carries 30 days, of which all but 9 may be suspended; a first Super Extreme DUI carries 45 days, of which all but 14 may be suspended — in both cases with a certified ignition interlock device installed.

How much is the fine for a first-offense DUI in Arizona?

Minimum fines and assessments are $1,250 for a standard first DUI ($250 minimum fine, plus $500 to the prison construction and operations fund and $500 to the public safety equipment fund), $2,500 for a first Extreme DUI, and $2,750 for a first Super Extreme DUI. State surcharges and court fees are added on top.

What is the average cost of a DUI?

There is no reliable single average, because the range is too wide for one number to be useful. In Arizona, a first-offense standard DUI with no jail beyond the mandatory minimum, an uncontested resolution and a forgiving insurance carrier can land near $8,000. The same charge contested through trial, with a high-risk carrier and a later set-aside, can exceed $25,000. If you need a working figure, budget toward the middle of that range and treat the attorney fee and the insurance increase as the two variables that move it most.

How much does a DUI lawyer cost?

Most Arizona DUI defense attorneys charge a flat fee rather than an hourly rate. The average cost of a DUI lawyer commonly runs $2,500 to $10,000 or more, depending on the charge level, prior convictions, whether the case is contested, and whether it proceeds to trial. Unlike personal injury work, criminal defense cannot be handled on contingency.

Is a first DUI a felony in Arizona?

Usually not. Most first-offense DUIs are misdemeanors handled in city or justice court. A DUI is charged as an aggravated DUI — a felony under A.R.S. § 28-1383 — in circumstances such as driving on a suspended license, a third DUI within 84 months, or a DUI with a passenger under 15.

How long is the ignition interlock requirement?

A certified ignition interlock device is generally required for 12 months after an alcohol-related DUI conviction. Eligible first-time standard offenders may qualify for a reduced period of about 6 months, and Super Extreme DUI convictions can carry longer requirements. Costs typically run $600 to $1,600 or more across installation, monthly monitoring and removal.

Can a DUI be removed from my record in Arizona?

Arizona does not offer traditional expungement for DUI. It offers a set-aside, which changes how the disposition appears without erasing the record, and sealing in some circumstances. Both generally require hiring counsel again, typically $500 to $1,500.

How long do I have to request an MVD hearing?

30 days from the date of arrest. The MVD case is separate from the criminal case, and missing the deadline means the suspension takes effect automatically.

Charged with a DUI in Glendale or the West Valley?

Understanding what a DUI actually costs is the first step. Understanding what your specific case looks like is the next one, and that conversation is free.

The Law Offices of John Phebus have defended DUI and criminal cases in Glendale and across the West Valley for years, including cases in Glendale City Court, Peoria, Surprise and Maricopa County Superior Court. Attorney John Phebus is a former prosecutor.

Call (623) 847-7117 for a free consultation · 17505 N. 79th Ave #314, Glendale, AZ 85308

John Allen Phebus 

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John Phebus is a seasoned attorney specializing in car accidents, winning complex motor vehicle accident cases throughout Arizona. John has been fiercely advocating for his clients, ensuring they receive the representation and compensation they deserve. His expertise and dedication have led to numerous successful outcomes. If you’re seeking a knowledgeable and passionate attorney who will fight for your rights, John Phebus is here to help.

Years of experience: +30 years

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Disclaimer

Costs are estimates and actual expenses vary based on the court, the circumstances of the case, the insurance carrier, service providers, legal representation and other factors. Home detention, work release and sentence reductions depend on eligibility and on court and case circumstances. This information is provided for general informational purposes and is not legal advice.

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