This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for dui / dwi in Indiana, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a dui / dwi in Indiana costs on average $6,800, typically $4,550-$9,100 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $180 to $335 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 3-6 months to resolve. Common related costs include court filing fee ($100-$300) and dmv hearing fee ($100-$200).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $1,850 | $3,250 | $4,700 | 1-3 months |
| Moderate | $4,550 | $6,800 | $9,100 | 3-6 months |
| Complex | $9,400 | $16,000 | $23,500 | 6-12 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$180 – $335/ hour
Median: $245/hr
3-6 months
For moderate complexity cases
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</script>DUI/DWI legal cost has two layers that are easy to underestimate: the attorney fee itself, and the non-attorney costs that follow a conviction or plea. The attorney fee is driven mainly by whether the case goes to trial (far more hours billed) or resolves through a plea agreement, plus complicating factors like BAC level, prior offenses, or an accident with injuries. Many DUI attorneys charge a flat fee for a straightforward first offense and switch to hourly billing once the case becomes contested.
Beyond the attorney, a DUI case typically layers on court fines, a state-mandated alcohol education or treatment program, license reinstatement fees, and — for many drivers — an ignition interlock device with ongoing monthly costs. Insurance premium increases are not a one-time legal cost but often the largest total expense over a 3-5 year period following conviction, which is why the figures on this page reflect legal defense costs specifically, not the lifetime cost of a conviction.
Take a moderate-complexity dui / dwi matter in Indiana. The recorded median total is $6,800, with reported quotes clustering between $4,550 and $9,100. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,200–$3,500, which leaves roughly $3,300–$5,600 of the Indiana median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. 2 further recorded fees are not itemised above and are not in that total.
At $6,800, the median dui / dwi cost in Indiana runs 8% below the $7,403 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Indiana carries 3 rows — simple, $1,850–$4,700 at $135–$265/hr over 1-3 months; moderate, $4,550–$9,100 at $180–$335/hr over 3-6 months; complex, $9,400–$23,500 at $220–$400/hr over 6-12 months — on 4 shared citations. They put it below the midpoint of the table without reaching the bottom quarter.
$6,800 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,250 above the $4,550 floor, $2,300 under the $9,100 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 51.
Indiana occupies the 34th row of 51 for a dui / dwi. Its $6,800 median trails the $7,450 table midpoint by $650, which is 9% — close enough that a single firm's quote can straddle both figures.
Ohio is only $50 above Indiana at $6,850, but the drop to Tennessee at $6,550 is $250 — the state sits at the bottom edge of its group, with clear air beneath it.
Pennsylvania, Idaho, Ohio record medians within three percent of Indiana's $6,800. A dui / dwi quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
The two measures nearly agree: 33rd of 51 on hourly rate at $245 an hour, 34th on total cost, 1 place apart.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Indiana |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Maine | $7,200 | +$400 |
| 29 | Florida | $7,150 | +$350 |
| 30 | Montana | $7,150 | +$350 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $6,950 | +$150 |
| 32 | Idaho | $6,850 | +$50 |
| 33 | Ohio | $6,850 | +$50 |
| 34 | Indiana | $6,800 | — |
| 35 | Tennessee | $6,550 | −$250 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $6,400 | −$400 |
| 37 | Missouri | $6,350 | −$450 |
| 38 | New Mexico | $6,350 | −$450 |
| 39 | Iowa | $6,300 | −$500 |
| 40 | Nebraska | $6,250 | −$550 |
The 34th position is not a stable fact about Indiana: $50 up or $250 down moves Indiana a row, and a ten percent revision in either direction would cross 17 rows, 9 above and 8 below in near-equal numbers.
Climbing five places would mean passing Florida, Montana, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Ohio and adding $350 to the $6,800 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, New Mexico, Iowa: $500.
$3,000 short of Washington ($9,800), $1,250 clear of South Carolina ($5,550).
The $6,800 median divided by the $245 median rate implies roughly 28 billable hours. The peer median is 27 hours, so 1 more hours of work sit behind the Indiana figure than behind the typical state's.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex dui / dwi costs 4.9x a simple one in Indiana, but the implied workload only rises 3.3x — 16 hours at $200 becomes 52 hours at $310 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.55x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $4,550 to $9,100 the moderate band is $4,550 wide, close to the $5,000 peer median. End to end that is 19 hours at $245.
Spread across the 3-6 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $6,800 median works out to roughly $1,511 a month. A complex dui / dwi runs longer, at 6-12 months, but it also runs hotter — about $1,778 a month — so the extra cost is not simply the extra calendar time.
A third ordering: by implied hours Indiana is 20th of 51 at 28 hours, 14 places above its cost rank of 34th on cost — more work behind the same dui / dwi money.
64% up the $4,550–$9,100 band sits the $7,450 table midpoint, buying 30 hours at $245 against the 28 the local dui / dwi median implies — 2 hours apart.
| Measure | Indiana | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $6,800 | 34th |
| Hourly median | $245 | 33rd |
| Implied hours | 28 | 20th |
| Simple median | $3,250 | 31st |
| Complex median | $16,000 | 28th |
$245 an hour puts Indiana between Idaho ($245) and Iowa ($245) — not the dui / dwi cost pairing.
5 other states record exactly $245 — Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana among them — so rate is a coarse instrument in this dui / dwi table.
$6,800 buys 34 hours at $200, 28 at $245, 22 at $310.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Wyoming | $250 |
| 32 | Idaho | $245 |
| 33 | Indiana | $245 |
| 34 | Iowa | $245 |
| 35 | Missouri | $245 |
The ranking barely moves across tiers — 31st at the simple tier, 34th at moderate, 28th at complex of 51 — so Indiana keeps roughly the same relative position whether the dui / dwi is straightforward or contested.
$3,250 is 31st of 51 on a straightforward dui / dwi, under Georgia ($3,250) and over Idaho ($3,150), $150 under the $3,400 tier midpoint.
$16,000 is 28th of 51 once contested, between Pennsylvania ($16,050) and Maine ($15,950), $350 off the $16,350 tier midpoint.
The lower two bands run into each other — the simple tier tops out at $4,700 against a moderate floor of $4,550 — but there is a clear gap of $300 between the moderate ceiling of $9,100 and the complex floor of $9,400. In Indiana the jump into contested work is a step, not a slope.
| Tier | Indiana | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $3,250 | 31st | $3,400 | 16 |
| moderate | $6,800 | 34th | $7,450 | 28 |
| complex | $16,000 | 28th | $16,350 | 52 |
$3,250 puts Indiana 31st of 51 on straightforward matters, 3 up on its moderate position, and $150 (4%) under the $3,400 tier midpoint.
16 implied hours at $200: 57% of the moderate tier's 28, over 1-3 months.
Georgia ($3,250) and Idaho ($3,150) bracket it — a $100 window.
4 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $3,250, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
$16,000 puts Indiana 28th of 51 on contested matters, 6 up on its moderate position, and $350 (2%) under the $16,350 tier midpoint.
52 implied hours at $310: 186% of the moderate tier's 28, over 6-12 months.
Pennsylvania ($16,050) and Maine ($15,950) bracket it — a $100 window.
4 states record a complex-tier median within three percent of $16,000, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Utah | $3,300 |
| 30 | Georgia | $3,250 |
| 31 | Indiana | $3,250 |
| 32 | Idaho | $3,150 |
| 33 | Wyoming | $3,150 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Tennessee | $16,350 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $16,050 |
| 28 | Indiana | $16,000 |
| 29 | Maine | $15,950 |
| 30 | Wisconsin | $15,950 |
$6,800 ranks a dui / dwi 3rd of 8 in Indiana, under Divorce, over Personal Injury. At 74% of Criminal Defense ($9,250).
The state does not rank uniformly. Indiana is 25th of 51 for Real Estate Closing but 40th for Divorce, a 15-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 34th on dui / dwi says little about what the other lines cost.
Indiana is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Real Estate Closing runs 3% below its own midpoint while Bankruptcy runs 14% below its own midpoint — a 11-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in Indiana is 4.7x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
0 of 7 matter types rank Indiana in the upper third, 2 in the lower, 5 between; dui / dwi is 34th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 34th percentile of the 51 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,050 | $9,250 | $24,200 | 35 | 30th | −9% | Wyoming |
| Divorce | $2,400 | $7,450 | $18,550 | 28 | 40th | −13% | Louisiana |
| DUI / DWI | $3,250 | $6,800 | $16,000 | 28 | 34th | −9% | Ohio |
| Personal Injury | $1,300 | $4,550 | $12,850 | — | — | −12% | — |
| Immigration | $1,600 | $4,150 | $10,050 | 17 | 36th | −13% | North Carolina |
| Bankruptcy | $1,200 | $3,100 | $4,100 | 14 | 34th | −14% | Georgia |
| Real Estate Closing | $900 | $2,150 | $3,900 | 10 | 25th | −3% | Texas |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $600 | $1,950 | $5,550 | 8 | 28th | −6% | Pennsylvania |
Simple tier. $3,250 ÷ $200 = about 16 hours, spread over 1-3 months at roughly $1,625 a month. The $3,550 step to the moderate tier is 12 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $6,800 to $16,000 is a $9,200 step, mostly work: 24 more hours at $245 is $5,880, while moving to $310 across 52 hours adds $3,380. Work carries 63%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Budgeting from Tennessee ($6,550) lands $250 under Indiana; from Ohio ($6,850), $50 over; from the $7,450 table midpoint, $650 out.
Both ends, in time. $4,550 is 19 hours at $245; $9,100 is 37. Over the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate dui / dwi, that is 4 to 8 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Indiana's own recorded figures, $16,000 buys 4.9 matters at the $3,250 simple median — or, counted in time, 52 implied hours against 16, a factor of 3.3 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Indianacourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.