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 Montana, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a dui / dwi in Montana costs on average $7,150, typically $4,750-$9,500 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $175 to $330 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 | $1,600 | $2,800 | $4,000 | 1-3 months |
| Moderate | $4,750 | $7,150 | $9,500 | 3-6 months |
| Complex | $8,050 | $13,700 | $20,100 | 6-12 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$175 – $330/ 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 Montana. The recorded median total is $7,150, with reported quotes clustering between $4,750 and $9,500. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,200–$3,500, which leaves roughly $3,650–$5,950 of the Montana 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 $7,150, the median dui / dwi cost in Montana runs 3% below the $7,403 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Montana carries 3 rows — simple, $1,600–$4,000 at $135–$265/hr over 1-3 months; moderate, $4,750–$9,500 at $175–$330/hr over 3-6 months; complex, $8,050–$20,100 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.
$7,150 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,400 above the $4,750 floor, $2,350 under the $9,500 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 51.
Montana occupies the 30th row of 51 for a dui / dwi. Its $7,150 median trails the $7,450 table midpoint by $300, which is 4% — close enough that a single firm's quote can straddle both figures.
Florida ($7,150) and Pennsylvania ($6,950) bracket Montana inside a $200 window — narrow enough that 30th is close to arbitrary.
Maine, Florida, Pennsylvania record medians within three percent of Montana's $7,150. A dui / dwi quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
Hourly rate does not explain this state's position. At $245 an hour Montana is only 36th of 51 on rate, yet 30th on total dui / dwi cost — the totals reflect billed hours accumulating, not an unusually high rate.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Montana |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Georgia | $7,700 | +$550 |
| 25 | Nevada | $7,450 | +$300 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | $7,450 | +$300 |
| 27 | Wyoming | $7,450 | +$300 |
| 28 | Maine | $7,200 | +$50 |
| 29 | Florida | $7,150 | −$0 |
| 30 | Montana | $7,150 | — |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $6,950 | −$200 |
| 32 | Idaho | $6,850 | −$300 |
| 33 | Ohio | $6,850 | −$300 |
| 34 | Indiana | $6,800 | −$350 |
| 35 | Tennessee | $6,550 | −$600 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $6,400 | −$750 |
Within ten percent of the Montana figure there are 8 states above and only 5 below. $0 up or $200 down moves Montana a row, which means the ranking has far more room to improve than to slip: the dui / dwi field is dense overhead and sparse underneath.
Climbing five places would mean passing Nevada, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Maine, Florida and adding $300 to the $7,150 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Pennsylvania, Idaho, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee: $600.
$2,650 short of Washington ($9,800), $1,600 clear of South Carolina ($5,550).
The $7,150 median divided by the $245 median rate implies roughly 29 billable hours. The peer median is 27 hours, so 2 more hours of work sit behind the Montana 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 Montana, but the implied workload only rises 3.1x — 14 hours at $200 becomes 44 hours at $310 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.55x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $4,750 to $9,500 the moderate band is $4,750 wide, close to the $5,000 peer median. End to end that is 19 hours at $245.
Per month of elapsed time the two tiers are close: about $1,589 a month across the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate matter, and $1,522 a month across the 6-12 months recorded for a complex one.
A third ordering: by implied hours Montana is 8th of 51 at 29 hours, 22 places above its cost rank of 30th on cost — more work behind the same dui / dwi money.
57% up the $4,750–$9,500 band sits the $7,450 table midpoint, buying 30 hours at $245 against the 29 the local dui / dwi median implies — 1 hour apart.
| Measure | Montana | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $7,150 | 30th |
| Hourly median | $245 | 36th |
| Implied hours | 29 | 8th |
| Simple median | $2,800 | 46th |
| Complex median | $13,700 | 40th |
$245 an hour puts Montana between Missouri ($245) and Tennessee ($245) — not the dui / dwi cost pairing.
5 other states record exactly $245 — Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri among them — so rate is a coarse instrument in this dui / dwi table.
$7,150 buys 36 hours at $200, 29 at $245, 23 at $310.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 34 | Iowa | $245 |
| 35 | Missouri | $245 |
| 36 | Montana | $245 |
| 37 | Tennessee | $245 |
| 38 | Kansas | $230 |
Montana moves up the table as complexity rises: 46th at the simple tier, 30th at moderate, 40th at complex, a 6-place climb. The state's position on the headline moderate figure understates where it sits once a matter is contested.
$2,800 is 46th of 51 on a straightforward dui / dwi, under Mississippi ($2,800) and over North Carolina ($2,750), $600 under the $3,400 tier midpoint.
$13,700 is 40th of 51 once contested, between Idaho ($14,400) and Missouri ($13,600), $2,650 off the $16,350 tier midpoint.
$750 separates the simple ceiling of $4,000 from the moderate floor of $4,750, so the first escalation is a clean break, while the moderate and complex bands overlap from $8,050 upward. The expensive end of a routine dui / dwi and the cheap end of a contested one are the same money in Montana.
| Tier | Montana | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $2,800 | 46th | $3,400 | 14 |
| moderate | $7,150 | 30th | $7,450 | 29 |
| complex | $13,700 | 40th | $16,350 | 44 |
$2,800 drops Montana to 46th of 51 on straightforward matters, 16 below its moderate position and $600 (18%) under the $3,400 tier midpoint.
14 implied hours at $200: 48% of the moderate tier's 29, over 1-3 months.
Mississippi ($2,800) and North Carolina ($2,750) bracket it — a $50 window.
5 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $2,800, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
$13,700 drops Montana to 40th of 51 on contested matters, 10 below its moderate position and $2,650 (16%) under the $16,350 tier midpoint.
44 implied hours at $310: 152% of the moderate tier's 29, over 6-12 months.
Idaho ($14,400) and Missouri ($13,600) bracket it — a $800 window.
5 states record a complex-tier median within three percent of $13,700, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 44 | Louisiana | $2,800 |
| 45 | Mississippi | $2,800 |
| 46 | Montana | $2,800 |
| 47 | North Carolina | $2,750 |
| 48 | Kentucky | $2,650 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 38 | Iowa | $14,500 |
| 39 | Idaho | $14,400 |
| 40 | Montana | $13,700 |
| 41 | Missouri | $13,600 |
| 42 | West Virginia | $13,500 |
$7,150 ranks a dui / dwi 3rd of 8 in Montana, under Divorce, over Immigration. At 84% of Criminal Defense ($8,550).
The state does not rank uniformly. Montana is 27th of 51 for Immigration but 42nd for Divorce, a 15-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 30th on dui / dwi says little about what the other lines cost.
Montana is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, DUI / DWI runs 4% below its own midpoint while Personal Injury runs 19% below its own midpoint — a 15-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in Montana is 5x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
0 of 5 matter types rank Montana in the upper third, 2 in the lower, 3 between; dui / dwi is 30th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 42th percentile of the 51 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,050 | $8,550 | $26,200 | 32 | 38th | −16% | North Carolina |
| Divorce | $2,750 | $7,350 | $20,350 | 28 | 42nd | −14% | Tennessee |
| DUI / DWI | $2,800 | $7,150 | $13,700 | 29 | 30th | −4% | Florida |
| Immigration | $1,800 | $4,500 | $9,300 | 18 | 27th | −5% | Tennessee |
| Personal Injury | $1,200 | $4,200 | $13,000 | — | — | −19% | — |
| Bankruptcy | $1,300 | $3,350 | $4,500 | 15 | — | −7% | — |
| Real Estate Closing | $800 | $1,950 | $3,600 | 9 | 30th | −12% | Florida |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $500 | $1,700 | $5,600 | 7 | — | −18% | — |
Simple tier. $2,800 ÷ $200 = about 14 hours, spread over 1-3 months at roughly $1,400 a month. The $4,350 step to the moderate tier is 15 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $7,150 to $13,700 is a $6,550 step weighted toward price: 15 more hours at $245 is $3,675, but $310 across 44 hours adds $2,860 — 44% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Budgeting from Pennsylvania ($6,950) lands $200 under Montana; from Florida ($7,150), $0 over; from the $7,450 table midpoint, $300 out.
Both ends, in time. $4,750 is 19 hours at $245; $9,500 is 39. Over the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate dui / dwi, that is 4 to 9 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Montana's own recorded figures, $13,700 buys 4.9 matters at the $2,800 simple median — or, counted in time, 44 implied hours against 14, a factor of 3.1 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Montanacourt'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.