How We Research

Official Sources Only

Every rule, deadline, penalty and dollar amount traces to an official source:

• State statutes, read on the state legislature's own code site. The statute section is the citation you see beside the fact, such as the section that sets first-offense jail time.
• State motor vehicle and licensing agencies (the DMV, MVD, BMV or Department of Revenue, depending on the state) for license suspension, the deadline and steps to request a hearing, hardship licenses, ignition interlock programs, SR-22 or FR-44 filings and reinstatement.
• State courts and attorneys general for court process, record sealing and expungement, and checkpoint rulings.
• Federal agencies for national rules: the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and 49 CFR 383.51 for commercial driver's license disqualification, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for blood alcohol and impaired-driving context.

Other DUI websites, law-firm pages, insurance company blogs, forums and data aggregators are never used as sources, even when they cite a statute. If a fact matters, it is read in the statute or on the agency's own page.

One Record per State, With a Citation for Every Fact

Each state and DC has its own research record. For every fact, such as the hearing deadline, the jail range for a second offense or the length of an SR-22 filing, the record stores:

• the value, worded as the official source states it;
• the citation, such as the statute section or the agency page title;
• the link to the official page it came from;
• the date it was checked.

State pages, the comparison table, the guides and the tools all read from the same records, so a figure reads the same everywhere it appears. Each state page shows its citations beside the facts and lists its official sources at the bottom.

When a Source Doesn't Say

If a state's official sources don't settle a fact, that fact is left off the page rather than estimated or filled in from another state. A state page only gets a deeper page, such as ignition interlock or record sealing, when the state's official sources set those rules. You'll never see a guessed number.

How the Tools Work

The 4 tools run in your browser and read the same state records. What you enter isn't sent to the site or anyone else, and isn't stored.

• DUI License Hearing Deadline Calculator. It takes the number of days your state allows to request a license hearing and counts forward from the date you enter. It counts business days, skipping weekends, only when your state's rule says business or working days. Otherwise it counts calendar days. It doesn't account for court holidays or for how your state treats the first day, so the date it shows is a guide: request your hearing as early as you can and confirm the deadline on the official page it links to.
• DUI Penalty Estimator. It restates the jail, fine, license suspension and interlock ranges your state's statutes set for a first, second or third offense, plus the conditions that raise them. It doesn't predict your sentence. A judge decides within those ranges, and plea agreements, diversion programs and the facts of your case change the outcome.
• DUI Lookback and Felony Checker. It compares the years since your prior conviction with your state's lookback period to show whether the prior still counts toward repeat-offense penalties, and shows the state's rule for when a DUI becomes a felony. States measure the lookback from different events, such as the prior offense date or conviction date, so check the rule shown with the result.
• SR-22 and Ignition Interlock Lookup. It restates the insurance filing your state requires after a DUI (SR-22, or FR-44 in states that use it), how long the state requires it, and the state's ignition interlock rules for first and repeat offenses.

No tool result is legal advice or a decision. Only the court and your state's licensing agency decide your case.

How Pages Are Written

State pages are built from each state's record, with the answer first: the state, the offense and the number. The 17 national guides start from research notes that record every fact with its official source, and compare states using the same records. Automated checks confirm that figures match the state records, that internal links work, and that pages avoid wording the site's standards rule out. The editorial policy sets out those standards.

Pages are credited to the DUI Help Editorial Team. No page is presented as reviewed by a lawyer, because lawyers are licensed state by state and the official citation is what supports each fact.

How Often Facts Are Re-Checked

Every state record is re-checked against its official sources at least once a year, and after each state's legislative session. When a law changes, the page is updated once the change takes effect, and the checked month moves forward. The current state facts were checked in October 2026.

How Corrections Work

If a penalty, deadline or link looks wrong, use the contact form with the page address and, if you can, the statute or official page that shows the right detail. Every report is checked against the official source. When the source confirms an error, the state record and every page that reads from it are corrected, and the checked date is updated.