Fourth OVI Offense in 10 yearsWhat are the Penalties for a 4th OVI in Ohio?

Penalty Charts for an Ohio OVI charge when it is your Fourth Offense in 10 years (Two prior convictions in 10 years)

Please Note – You may be charged with more than one OVI offense if:

1) you took a chemical test or,

2) refused a test and have a prior OVI conviction in the last 20 years.

Make sure you review each of the charges you are or may be facing.

Feel free to contact us if you have difficulty figuring out what charges apply to you.

A quick summary of the relevant Fourth Offense OVI (Operation Under the Influence Alcohol or Drugs) penalties and a quick summary of Administrative License Suspension (ALS) sanctions you are facing or a deep, thorough analysis of the Ohio OVI statutes, which are you looking for?

This page is designed so that you can click the first box above and get a summary of the basic, critical details about the penalties you face if you are charged with any OVI offense and do not have a prior OVI conviction with 10 years.

If you click the second box above it will take you to summaries of the Ohio Administrative License Suspension (ALS) sanctions you face.

However, if you are a lawyer, a law student or someone else who wants to know the exact wording of the statutes pertaining to the penalties for a Fourth Offense OVI in Ohio, below you will find that we have extracted the provisions of Ohio’s OVI statute (Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.19) that set forth the jail time penalties, license suspensions, vehicle sanctions and other penalties that may be applied in Ohio Fourth Offense OVIs whether the charge is the Impaired Driving, an OVI Per Se Low Tier Alcohol Test charge, an OVI Per Se High Tier Alcohol Test charge, a Criminal Refusal charge, or a driving under the influence of marijuana or other drugs.

Even though we have included below ONLY the portions of the Ohio OVI statute related to a penalties for the various Fourth Offense charges we warn you, it is still a lot to go through and the Ohio OVI statute has been roundly criticized by lawyers and judges alike for not being a model of clarity.

The Penalties for Fourth Offense are found in Ohio Revised Code Section (ORC) 4511.19(G)(1)(d), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(i), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(ii), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(iii), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(iv), 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(v), 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(vi), and 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(vii).

Below is the actual text of the statutes.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d) Fourth Offense – Penalties

(d) Except as otherwise provided in division (G)(1)(e) of this section, an offender who, within ten years of the offense, previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to three or four violations of division (A) or (B) of this section or other equivalent offenses or an offender who, within twenty years of the offense, previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to five or more violations of that nature is guilty of a felony of the fourth degree. The court shall sentence the offender to all of the following:

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(i) Fourth Offense – Low Tier or Impaired – Incarceration; With 5 in 20 Specification

(i) If the sentence is being imposed for a violation of division (A)(1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), or (j) of this section, a mandatory prison term of one, two, three, four, or five years as required by and in accordance with division (G)(2) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code if the offender also is convicted of or also pleads guilty to a specification of the type described in section 2941.1413 of the Revised Code

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(i)Fourth Offense – Low Tier or Impaired – Incarceration; Without 5 in 20 Specification

or, in the discretion of the court, either a mandatory term of local incarceration of sixty consecutive days in accordance with division (G)(1) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code or a mandatory prison term of sixty consecutive days in accordance with division (G)(2) of that section if the offender is not convicted of and does not plead guilty to a specification of that type.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(i) Fourth Offense – Low Tier or Impaired – Incarceration; Additional Jail Term Authorized

If the court imposes a mandatory term of local incarceration, it may impose a jail term in addition to the sixty-day mandatory term, the cumulative total of the mandatory term and the jail term for the offense shall not exceed one year, and, except as provided in division (A)(1) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code, no prison term is authorized for the offense.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(i) Fourth Offense – Low Tier or Impaired – Incarceration; Additional Prison Term authorized

If the court imposes a mandatory prison term, notwithstanding division (A)(4) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code, it also may sentence the offender to a definite prison term that shall be not less than six months and not more than thirty months and the prison terms shall be imposed as described in division (G)(2) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(i) Fourth Offense – Low Tier or Impaired; Post Prison Community Control

If the court imposes a mandatory prison term or mandatory prison term and additional prison term, in addition to the term or terms so imposed, the court also may sentence the offender to a community control sanction for the offense, but the offender shall serve all of the prison terms so imposed prior to serving the community control sanction.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(ii) Fourth Offense – High Tier or Crim Refusal – Incarceration; With 5 in 20 Specification

(ii) If the sentence is being imposed for a violation of division (A)(1)(f), (g), (h), or (i) or division (A)(2) of this section, a mandatory prison term of one, two, three, four, or five years as required by and in accordance with division (G)(2) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code if the offender also is convicted of or also pleads guilty to a specification of the type described in section 2941.1413 of the Revised Code

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(ii) Fourth Offense – High Tier or Crim Refusal – Incarceration; Without 5 in 20 Specification

or, in the discretion of the court, either a mandatory term of local incarceration of one hundred twenty consecutive days in accordance with division (G)(1) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code or a mandatory prison term of one hundred twenty consecutive days in accordance with division (G)(2) of that section if the offender is not convicted of and does not plead guilty to a specification of that type.

Additional Jail Term Authorized

If the court imposes a mandatory term of local incarceration, it may impose a jail term in addition to the one hundred twenty-day mandatory term, the cumulative total of the mandatory term and the jail term for the offense shall not exceed one year, and, except as provided in division (A)(1) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code, no prison term is authorized for the offense.

Additional Definite Prison Term Authorized

If the court imposes a mandatory prison term, notwithstanding division (A)(4) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code, it also may sentence the offender to a definite prison term that shall be not less than six months and not more than thirty months and the prison terms shall be imposed as described in division (G)(2) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(ii) Fourth Offense – High Tier or Crim Refusal – Incarceration; Post Prison Community Control Authorized

If the court imposes a mandatory prison term or mandatory prison term and additional prison term, in addition to the term or terms so imposed, the court also may sentence the offender to a community control sanction for the offense, but the offender shall serve all of the prison terms so imposed prior to serving the community control sanction.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(iii) Fourth Offense – Fine

(iii) In all cases, notwithstanding section 2929.18 of the Revised Code, a fine of not less than one thousand three hundred fifty nor more than ten thousand five hundred dollars;

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(iv) Fourth Offense – Driver’s License Suspension

(iv) In all cases, a class two license suspension of the offender’s driver’s license, commercial driver’s license, temporary instruction permit, probationary license, or nonresident operating privilege from the range specified in division (A)(2) of section 4510.02 of the Revised Code. The court may grant limited driving privileges relative to the suspension under sections 4510.021 and 4510.13 of the Revised Code.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(v) Fourth Offense – Vehicle Forfeiture

(v) In all cases, if the vehicle is registered in the offender’s name, criminal forfeiture of the vehicle involved in the offense in accordance with section 4503.234 of the Revised Code. Division (G)(6) of this section applies regarding any vehicle that is subject to an order of criminal forfeiture under this division.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(vi) Fourth Offense – Assessment and Follow-up Required

(vi) In all cases, the court shall order the offender to participate with a community addiction services provider authorized by section 5119.21 of the Revised Code, subject to division (I) of this section, and shall order the offender to follow the treatment recommendations of the services provider. The operator of the services provider shall determine and assess the degree of the offender’s alcohol dependency and shall make recommendations for treatment. Upon the request of the court, the services provider shall submit the results of the assessment to the court, including all treatment recommendations and clinical diagnoses related to alcohol use.

RC 4511.19(G)(1)(d)(vii) Fourth Offense – Post Jail House Arrest and EMHA authorized

(vii) In all cases, if the court sentences the offender to a mandatory term of local incarceration, in addition to the mandatory term, the court, pursuant to section 2929.17 of the Revised Code, may impose a term of house arrest with electronic monitoring. The term shall not commence until after the offender has served the mandatory term of local incarceration.