What happens after a first DUI/OVI in Ohio?
A first OVI in Ohio is a misdemeanor carrying a mandatory minimum of 3 days in jail or a 3-day driver intervention program, a fine of $375–$1,075, and a license suspension of 1–3 years. You have only 30 days to appeal the automatic administrative license suspension. That deadline runs even while the criminal case is pending.
Many first-time OVI cases have defensible issues: the reason for the stop, how field sobriety tests were administered, breath-test calibration records, and the 20-minute observation period all get reviewed. Where the evidence holds up, resolution often means minimizing consequences: driving privileges for work, the intervention program instead of jail, and in some courts a reduction to a lesser offense.
The most important early moves: request the administrative appeal within 30 days, ask for limited driving privileges immediately, and preserve the cruiser and body-cam video before it cycles out of retention.
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