After a Felony DWI Arrest in Minnesota: What Happens in the First Days

Most talk about felony DWI jumps straight to prison time. But a lot happens long before a sentence. The first days after the arrest bring their own rules, and some come with short deadlines. Here is what the law says about that early stretch.

You Will Not Be Cited and Released

For most minor offenses, an officer can hand you a ticket and let you go. A felony DWI is different.

Say an officer decides to charge a first-degree DWI without a warrant. The law says the officer must then arrest the person and take them to jail. The person must stay there until their first court date.

Your License Is Taken on the Spot

If you refused a breath test or tested at 0.08 or more, the officer acts for the state right away. The officer marks your license card invalid and gives you a temporary license. That temporary license lasts only 14 days.

Your License Plates May Go Too

A DWI within ten years of a past incident can also mean losing your plates. In that case, the officer serves an order to impound the plates on the vehicle you were driving. If the car is there, the officer can take the plates on the spot.

If the car is registered to you, you get a temporary vehicle permit good for 14 days. Any plates the officer did not take must be turned in within 14 days.

These early steps are only the start. For what a conviction can bring later, see this guide to felony DWI penalties in Minnesota and how sentencing works.

Release Comes With Strict Rules

At the first court appearance, a judge sets the terms for release. For a person charged within ten years of the first of three or more past incidents, the law requires rules like these:

• The plates on the vehicle used must be impounded.
• You must check in with a probation agent every week.
• You may not use alcohol or controlled substances.
• You must take random alcohol or drug tests at least once a week.
• If convicted, you must pay back the cost of these services.

The judge can add other rules too. Electronic alcohol monitoring may also be required when it is available. A person who joins the ignition interlock program may be able to avoid that monitoring.

Deadlines You Should Not Miss

The license and plate orders run apart from the criminal case. They have their own clocks:

• License review by the state. You can ask in writing for an administrative review at any time during the revocation. The state must answer within 15 days.
• License review by a judge. You have 60 days after getting the revocation notice to ask a court to review it.
• Plate review by a judge. You also have 60 days after the plate order to ask a court to review it.

Asking for review does not pause the revocation by itself. That is why it pays to act early.

If the Case Ends in Prison

If a felony DWI ends with a prison term, the person faces five years of conditional release after leaving prison. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission explains how conditional release works for felony DWI and other offenses.

The First Week Shapes the Case

Evidence, deadlines, and release rules all start in the first days. Missing a 60-day window can cost you a chance to challenge the license loss in court.

Write down every date on every paper you receive. Then get a lawyer to review the stop, the test, and each order.