Penalty Charts for an Ohio OVI charge when it is your Second Offense in 10 years (One prior conviction 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.
OVI Second Offense Individual Penalty Charts
Click on the applicable offense below to access the correct chart
2nd Offense – Impaired Offense
2nd Offense – Low Tier Test
2nd Offense – High Tier Test
2nd Offense – Criminal Refusal
Administrative License Suspension (ALS) Charts & Information.
Administrative License Suspension (ALS). In most cases the officer already took your driver’s license and placed you under an ALS Suspension or, if you took a urine or blood test, you will face an ALS when the result comes back.
Avoiding a Conviction is Important.
A Conviction is a huge penalty. Avoiding a conviction can be extremely important to your current and future employment and opportunities, not to mention your insurance rates.
How to tell which of the above OVI offenses you may be facing.
1. The Impaired Offense is the basic OVI offense and almost everyone is, at minimum, charged with this offense regardless of whether you submitted to a breath, urine, or blood alcohol test. This can even be charged if you took a test and tested below the legal limit. You may also be charged with one of the below offenses.
2. A Low Tier Test Offense can be charged if there is:
- a breath alcohol test result at or above .08 but below .17
- a blood alcohol test result at or above .08 but below .17
- a plasma or serum alcohol test result at or above .096 but below .204
- a urine alcohol test result at or above .11 but less than .237
3. A High Tier Test Offense can be charged if there is:
- a blood alcohol level of .17 or above
- a blood plasma or blood serum alcohol level of .204 or above
- a breath alcohol level of .17 or above
- a urine alcohol level of .237 or above
4. A Criminal Refusal Offense can be charged only if you have a prior OVI conviction within 20 years and refused to submit to a chemical test.
As you will see in reviewing the charts applicable to you, if you have a High Tier Test Offense or a Criminal Refusal Offense it increases your minimum penalties.
Please review your paperwork carefully or contact us if you need help determining what you have been or potentially may be charged with.
A quick summary of the relevant Second 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 Second 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 Second 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 Second 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 Second Offense OVIs are found in Ohio Revised Code Section (ORC) 4511.19(G)(1)(b), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(i), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(ii), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(iii), ORC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(iv), and 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(v).
Below is the actual text of the statutes.
RC 4511.19(G)(1)(b) Second Offense Penalties
(b) 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 one violation of division (A) or (B) of this section or one other equivalent offense is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. The court shall sentence the offender to all of the following:
RC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(i) Second Offense Low Tier or Impaired Jail
(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 jail term of ten consecutive days. The court shall impose the ten-day mandatory jail term under this division unless, subject to division (G)(3) of this section, it instead imposes a sentence under that division consisting of both a jail term and a term of house arrest with electronic monitoring, with continuous alcohol monitoring, or with both electronic monitoring and continuous alcohol monitoring. The court may impose a jail term in addition to the ten-day mandatory jail term. The cumulative jail term imposed for the offense shall not exceed six months.
RC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(i) Second Offense Low Tier or Impaired – Assessment and Follow-up Required
In addition to the jail term or the term of house arrest with electronic monitoring or continuous alcohol monitoring or both types of monitoring and jail term, the court shall require the offender to be assessed by a community addiction services provider that is 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 purpose of the assessment is to determine the degree of the offender’s alcohol usage and to determine whether or not treatment is warranted. 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)(b)(ii) Second Offense High Tier or Crim. Refusal Jail
(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, except as otherwise provided in this division, a mandatory jail term of twenty consecutive days. The court shall impose the twenty-day mandatory jail term under this division unless, subject to division (G)(3) of this section, it instead imposes a sentence under that division consisting of both a jail term and a term of house arrest with electronic monitoring, with continuous alcohol monitoring, or with both electronic monitoring and continuous alcohol monitoring. The court may impose a jail term in addition to the twenty-day mandatory jail term. The cumulative jail term imposed for the offense shall not exceed six months.
RC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(ii) Second Offense High Tier or Crim Refusal – Assessment and follow-up required
In addition to the jail term or the term of house arrest with electronic monitoring or continuous alcohol monitoring or both types of monitoring and jail term, the court shall require the offender to be assessed by a community addiction service provider that is 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 purpose of the assessment is to determine the degree of the offender’s alcohol usage and to determine whether or not treatment is warranted. 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)(b)(iii) Second Offense – Fines
(iii) In all cases, notwithstanding the fines set forth in Chapter 2929. of the Revised Code, a fine of not less than five hundred twenty-five and not more than one thousand six hundred twenty-five dollars;
RC 4511.19(G)(1)(b)(iv) Second Offense – Driver’s License Suspension
(iv) In all cases, a suspension of the offender’s driver’s license, commercial driver’s license, temporary instruction permit, probationary license, or nonresident operating privilege for a definite period of one to seven years. 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)(b)(v) Second Offense – Vehicle Immobilization
(v) In all cases, if the vehicle is registered in the offender’s name, immobilization of the vehicle involved in the offense for ninety days in accordance with section 4503.233 of the Revised Code and impoundment of the license plates of that vehicle for ninety days.
[But see 4510.13(A)(5)(e)(i) allowing immobilization to be removed after 45 days if limited driving privileges are granted.]