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 Ohio, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a dui / dwi in Ohio costs on average $6,850, typically $4,550-$9,100 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $185 to $350 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 | $1,900 | $3,300 | $4,700 | 1-3 months |
| Moderate | $4,550 | $6,850 | $9,100 | 3-6 months |
| Complex | $9,800 | $16,700 | $24,600 | 6-12 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$185 – $350/ hour
Median: $255/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 Ohio. The recorded median total is $6,850, 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 $3,350–$5,650 of the Ohio 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 $6,850, the median dui / dwi cost in Ohio runs 7% below the $7,403 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Ohio carries 3 rows — simple, $1,900–$4,700 at $140–$280/hr over 1-3 months; moderate, $4,550–$9,100 at $185–$350/hr over 3-6 months; complex, $9,800–$24,600 at $230–$420/hr over 6-12 months — on 4 shared citations. They put it below the midpoint of the table without reaching the bottom quarter.
$6,850 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,300 above the $4,550 floor, $2,250 under the $9,100 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 51.
Ohio occupies the 33rd row of 51 for a dui / dwi. Its $6,850 median trails the $7,450 table midpoint by $600, which is 8% — close enough that a single firm's quote can straddle both figures.
Idaho ($6,850) and Indiana ($6,800) bracket Ohio inside a $50 window — narrow enough that 33rd is close to arbitrary.
Pennsylvania, Idaho, Indiana record medians within three percent of Ohio's $6,850. A dui / dwi quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
Ohio ranks 30th of 51 on hourly rate at $255 an hour and 33rd on total cost — 3 places apart, enough that the rate is a slightly optimistic guide to the total.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Ohio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Wyoming | $7,450 | +$600 |
| 28 | Maine | $7,200 | +$350 |
| 29 | Florida | $7,150 | +$300 |
| 30 | Montana | $7,150 | +$300 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $6,950 | +$100 |
| 32 | Idaho | $6,850 | −$0 |
| 33 | Ohio | $6,850 | — |
| 34 | Indiana | $6,800 | −$50 |
| 35 | Tennessee | $6,550 | −$300 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $6,400 | −$450 |
| 37 | Missouri | $6,350 | −$500 |
| 38 | New Mexico | $6,350 | −$500 |
| 39 | Iowa | $6,300 | −$550 |
The 33rd position is not a stable fact about Ohio: $0 up or $50 down moves Ohio a row, and a ten percent revision in either direction would cross 16 rows, 7 above and 9 below in near-equal numbers.
Climbing five places would mean passing Maine, Florida, Montana, Pennsylvania, Idaho and adding $350 to the $6,850 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, New Mexico: $500.
$2,950 short of Washington ($9,800), $1,300 clear of South Carolina ($5,550).
The $6,850 median divided by the $255 median rate implies roughly 27 billable hours. That rounds to the same 27 hours as the peer median, so on workload Ohio is indistinguishable from the middle of the table at this precision.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex dui / dwi costs 5.1x a simple one in Ohio, but the implied workload only rises 3.2x — 16 hours at $210 becomes 51 hours at $325 — 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 18 hours at $255.
Spread across the 3-6 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $6,850 median works out to roughly $1,522 a month. A complex dui / dwi runs longer, at 6-12 months, but it also runs hotter — about $1,856 a month — so the extra cost is not simply the extra calendar time.
By implied hours Ohio falls to 34th of 51 at 27 hours, 1 places below its 33rd on cost — the dui / dwi total arriving on less recorded work.
64% up the $4,550–$9,100 band sits the $7,450 table midpoint, buying 29 hours at $255 against the 27 the local dui / dwi median implies — 2 hours apart.
| Measure | Ohio | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $6,850 | 33rd |
| Hourly median | $255 | 30th |
| Implied hours | 27 | 34th |
| Simple median | $3,300 | 28th |
| Complex median | $16,700 | 24th |
$255 an hour puts Ohio between Georgia ($260) and Wyoming ($250) — not the dui / dwi cost pairing.
No other tracked state records $255 as its median rate, so the figure identifies Ohio on its own within this dataset.
$6,850 buys 33 hours at $210, 27 at $255, 21 at $325.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | Florida | $265 |
| 29 | Georgia | $260 |
| 30 | Ohio | $255 |
| 31 | Wyoming | $250 |
| 32 | Idaho | $245 |
Ohio moves up the table as complexity rises: 28th at the simple tier, 33rd at moderate, 24th at complex, a 4-place climb. The state's position on the headline moderate figure understates where it sits once a matter is contested.
$3,300 is 28th of 51 on a straightforward dui / dwi, under Arizona ($3,300) and over Utah ($3,300), $100 under the $3,400 tier midpoint.
$16,700 is 24th of 51 once contested, between Georgia ($17,000) and Texas ($16,600), $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 $700 between the moderate ceiling of $9,100 and the complex floor of $9,800. In Ohio the jump into contested work is a step, not a slope.
| Tier | Ohio | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $3,300 | 28th | $3,400 | 16 |
| moderate | $6,850 | 33rd | $7,450 | 27 |
| complex | $16,700 | 24th | $16,350 | 51 |
$3,300 puts Ohio 28th of 51 on straightforward matters, 5 up on its moderate position, and $100 (3%) under the $3,400 tier midpoint.
16 implied hours at $210: 59% of the moderate tier's 27, over 1-3 months.
Arizona ($3,300) and Utah ($3,300) bracket it — a $0 window.
4 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $3,300, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
$16,700 puts Ohio 24th of 51 on contested matters, 9 up on its moderate position, and $350 (2%) over the $16,350 tier midpoint.
51 implied hours at $325: 189% of the moderate tier's 27, over 6-12 months.
Georgia ($17,000) and Texas ($16,600) bracket it — a $400 window.
3 states sit within three percent of the $16,700 here, against 3 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | Texas | $3,400 |
| 27 | Arizona | $3,300 |
| 28 | Ohio | $3,300 |
| 29 | Utah | $3,300 |
| 30 | Georgia | $3,250 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Oregon | $17,400 |
| 23 | Georgia | $17,000 |
| 24 | Ohio | $16,700 |
| 25 | Texas | $16,600 |
| 26 | Tennessee | $16,350 |
$6,850 ranks a dui / dwi 3rd of 8 in Ohio, under Divorce, over Personal Injury. At 76% of Criminal Defense ($9,050).
Across practice areas Ohio ranges from 25th of 51 for Estate Planning / Probate to 35th for Real Estate Closing — a 10-place spread, with its 33rd on dui / dwi inside it.
Ohio is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Estate Planning / Probate runs 1% below its own midpoint while Real Estate Closing runs 15% below its own midpoint — a 14-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in Ohio is 4.8x 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 Ohio in the upper third, 1 in the lower, 6 between; dui / dwi is 33rd.
In percentile terms it sits at the 36th percentile of the 51 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,200 | $9,050 | $25,500 | 32 | 32nd | −11% | Florida |
| Divorce | $2,850 | $8,000 | $19,100 | 29 | 32nd | −6% | Florida |
| DUI / DWI | $3,300 | $6,850 | $16,700 | 27 | 33rd | −8% | Idaho |
| Personal Injury | $1,400 | $4,700 | $13,450 | — | — | −10% | — |
| Immigration | $1,850 | $4,400 | $9,900 | 17 | 31st | −7% | Missouri |
| Bankruptcy | $1,500 | $3,500 | $4,500 | 15 | 26th | −3% | Oregon |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $550 | $2,050 | $5,800 | 8 | 25th | −1% | Georgia |
| Real Estate Closing | $900 | $1,900 | $3,800 | 8 | 35th | −15% | Mississippi |
Simple tier. $3,300 ÷ $210 = about 16 hours, spread over 1-3 months at roughly $1,650 a month. The $3,550 step to the moderate tier is 11 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $6,850 to $16,700 is a $9,850 step, mostly work: 24 more hours at $255 is $6,120, while moving to $325 across 51 hours adds $3,570. Work carries 63%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Indiana ($6,800) is $50 light, Idaho ($6,850) is $0 heavy — but the $7,450 table midpoint is out by $600, 12x the neighbour error.
Both ends, in time. $4,550 is 18 hours at $255; $9,100 is 36. 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 Ohio's own recorded figures, $16,700 buys 5.1 matters at the $3,300 simple median — or, counted in time, 51 implied hours against 16, a factor of 3.2 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Ohiocourt'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.