DWI
DWI defense in Springfield, MO
Two clocks start at a DWI arrest: the criminal case and a 15-day license deadline. Ted works both.
15 days to request your license hearing
After a DWI arrest at .08 or more, the Department of Revenue starts a license suspension on its own. You have 15 days from the date on the notice (Form 2385) to request a hearing. Miss it and the suspension stands. § 302.530
The answer
Which DWI is this?
Two taps and the page shows how Missouri charges it, with the statute behind every number.
How Missouri charges it
First offense
- Class
- Class B misdemeanor
- Range
- Up to 6 months in jail
- Fine
- Up to $1,000
Before probation or parole: No minimum jail for a first offense. At .15 or more, a suspended sentence has conditions, and when no suspended sentence is granted the court imposes at least 48 hours at .15 to .20 and at least five days above .20.
- On a first alcohol contact the Department of Revenue suspends the license: 30 days with no driving, then 60 days restricted, or a 90-day interlock privilege instead. You have 15 days to request a hearing.
- Priors can come from any state, a municipal court or a federal or military case. The record of each one has to be proven, and that is the first question in the case.
General information about Missouri law. It is no substitute for advice about your own case. Sources: § 577.010, § 577.001, § 558.011, § 558.002, § 302.525, § 302.530, § 302.060.
What Ted handles
DWI cases Ted handles
- First offense
- Second offense within five years
- Felony DWI: third and later
- Breath test refusal
- The 15-day license hearing
- DWI with injury or death
- Drug DWI
How it moves
Two clocks, side by side
What the case is doing and what you or your license are doing at the same moment. Tap a step.
- 1
Day 0
The arrest
The criminal case: Booking at the jail, then bond or a summons. Say nothing about the case to anyone but your lawyer.
Your license: At .08 or more the officer takes your license and hands you Form 2385. It is also a 15-day driving permit.
- 2
Days 1 to 15
The 15-day window
The criminal case: Bond conditions apply. Ted gets the report and the video and reads the charging papers against the definitions.
Your license: Request the Department of Revenue hearing before day 15, or the suspension starts on its own.
- 3
Day 15, if no request
The suspension starts
The criminal case: Nothing changes in the criminal case.
Your license: 30 days with no driving, then 60 days restricted; or a 90-day interlock privilege instead. A prior alcohol contact within five years means a one-year revocation.
- 4
Weeks later
The first court date
The criminal case: Arraignment or a first appearance. Nothing is decided that day.
Your license: With a hearing requested, you keep driving on temporary permits until the final order.
- 5
Months 1 to 6
Discovery, motions, the hearing
The criminal case: Reports, instrument records, video. Problems become motions to suppress.
Your license: The DOR hearing decides one thing: whether you were driving at .08 or more. It is not the criminal case.
- 6
The end of the case
Resolution
The criminal case: A dismissal, a plea to something smaller, or trial. You make the final call.
Your license: A conviction carries its own license consequences; two or more add the five- and ten-year denials.
By charge
Pick the page that matches your situation
Each one carries the penalty range, the license consequence and the deadline, with the statute it comes from.
Felony DWI
A third DWI in Missouri is a felony. Each one after that is a worse felony. The priors are where these cases are decided.
Penalties, defenses and what happens nextPersistent offender DWI
Two prior intoxication-related findings make the next one a class E felony. Proving those priors is the state's first job.
Penalties, defenses and what happens next
DWI: common questions
Do I lose my license automatically after a DWI arrest?
At .08 or more the Department of Revenue starts a suspension on its own, fifteen days after the notice. Requesting the hearing in time keeps you driving on temporary permits until the decision.
Source: RSMo 302.525 and 302.530
What is a prior offender?
Someone found guilty of one intoxication-related traffic offense within the five years before the new one. The next DWI is then a class A misdemeanor with at least ten days in jail before probation unless community service replaces it.
Source: RSMo 577.001 and 577.010
Do I need a lawyer for a first DWI?
A first DWI is a class B misdemeanor with a license suspension attached and two separate deadlines. What happens in the first fifteen days decides whether you keep driving, and the stop, the roadside tests and the breath test each get examined.
Source: RSMo 577.010 and 302.530
Is a municipal DWI different from a state DWI?
An ordinance DWI still counts as an intoxication-related traffic offense for the next one, and the Department of Revenue acts the same way on the arrest.
Source: RSMo 577.001
The law this page cites
Read at its source on 2026-10-29.
Charged with DWI? Talk to Ted.
What happens next
Ted calls you back
Ted or his paralegal will call you back at the number you give. Have your paperwork near the phone if you can.
You talk through what happened
What you were charged with, where, and what the paperwork says. Ted tells you what the charge means and what comes first.
You decide
If it makes sense to work together, Ted explains the fee and what he does next. If not, you still leave knowing where you stand.
Rather talk than type? Call, and the office sets a time.