What this charge means
Connecticut calls this offense operating under the influence, or OUI. Most people say DUI, and this page uses both. You can be charged for driving with a blood alcohol level at or above the legal limit, or for being impaired by alcohol or drugs regardless of the number. The limit is lower if you are under 21 or were driving a commercial vehicle.
You do not have to have been in an accident, and you do not have to have been driving badly. Many arrests begin with a broken taillight or a checkpoint. If you refused the breath test, you can still be charged, and the refusal creates its own license consequence.
The arrest paperwork should include a court date and a notice about your license. Read both. The court date is usually two to four weeks out. The license notice has a deadline measured in days.
The statute
The main statute is Connecticut General Statutes section 14-227a. It makes it a crime to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or with an elevated blood alcohol content. The per se limit is 0.08 percent for most drivers, 0.04 percent for commercial drivers, and 0.02 percent for drivers under 21.
Section 14-227b is the implied consent law. By driving in Connecticut you have agreed to a chemical test when lawfully arrested for DUI. If you refuse, or if you take the test and fail, the DMV suspends your license on an administrative basis separate from the criminal case, and you have a short window, generally seven days from the arrest, to request a hearing to contest it.
Two related statutes raise the stakes. Section 14-227m covers driving under the influence with a child under 18 in the car, and section 14-227n covers school bus and student transportation drivers. Both carry enhanced penalties.
The penalties are set by the number of prior convictions within ten years, and the ignition interlock rules are in section 14-227a and section 14-36a. The table on this page shows the current ranges.
How penalties are set
Connecticut sentences DUI by offense number. A first offense is a misdemeanor with a short mandatory jail term that can be replaced by community service. A second offense within ten years carries mandatory jail that cannot be replaced, and a third carries a longer mandatory term and loss of the license. Every conviction also brings a fine, a period of suspension, and a period of driving only with an ignition interlock device installed at your own expense.
The criminal penalties are separate from the DMV suspension under the implied consent law, which happens on its own schedule and does not wait for the court case. Many people serve the DMV suspension before their criminal case is resolved.
Sentences also carry probation, alcohol evaluation and treatment, and for repeat offenses a requirement to drive only interlock-equipped vehicles for years. Insurance consequences follow separately.
How diversion works
Most first-time DUI defendants are eligible for the Pretrial Alcohol Education Program, under section 54-56g. You apply in court, pay a program fee, and attend a set of alcohol education classes or a treatment program chosen after an evaluation. If you complete it and stay out of trouble, the court dismisses the charge. The DMV suspension still happens; the program does not erase it.
You are generally not eligible if you have a prior DUI conviction, used the program within the last ten years, held a commercial driver's license at the time, or caused serious injury to someone. Drivers under 21 can use the program.
Accelerated Rehabilitation, the general diversion program under section 54-56e, is not the route for a DUI charge. The alcohol education program is the program written for this offense.
What happens at arraignment
Your first court date is the arraignment. For a DUI arrest you were almost certainly released from the station on a promise to appear or a bond, so you will walk in on the date printed on your paperwork. Check in with the State's Attorney's office when you arrive so the prosecutor knows you are present.
At the first date the judge confirms the charge and your release conditions and gives the case a new date. If you plan to apply for the alcohol education program, your attorney can raise it at this appearance or the next one. Bring your arrest paperwork, your license, and anything the DMV has sent you.
If you have not yet requested your DMV hearing, the court date is too late to worry about it. The DMV deadline comes first.