North Dakota DUI License Reinstatement (2026): Suspension, Steps and Fees
How do you get your license back after a first DUI in North Dakota?
North Dakota suspends a first-offense DUI license for 91 days if the BAC was under 0.18%, or 180 days at 0.18% or higher. The arresting officer issues a Report and Notice with a 14-day temporary permit and the driver has 10 days from that notice to request an administrative hearing before the suspension takes effect on day 25. North Dakota requires SR-22 insurance for reinstatement and a chemical dependency evaluation. It imposes no ignition interlock mandate at any BAC: the phrase does not appear in the criminal DUI chapter or the implied consent chapter and the one statutory hook is NDDOT director discretion on a temporary restricted license under N.D.C.C. 39-06.1-11(4). The 0.18% figure sets the 180-day suspension, not a device requirement and 0.16% is the aggravated-first-offense criminal line.
North Dakota runs two tracks after a DUI arrest. The North Dakota Department of Transportation handles the license through its own administrative process, with 10 days to request a review hearing, while the court case runs separately on its own calendar. The page below lays out both tracks and the order the pieces come in, so the whole path is visible before any single deadline is due.
The ignition interlock is not automatic here; it enters by court order or by the driver's own election, often as the route to driving sooner. The SR-22 filing is required. The education or treatment step comes before reinstatement. Each piece has its own section below, with the official source beside it.
The parts North Dakota drivers most often miss are the 10-day hearing-request deadline, which runs from the arrest or notice date, the insurance filing that lives with your insurer rather than the court and the order of the steps, since several gate the ones after them. The sections below take them in order.
How long is your license suspended after a first DUI in North Dakota?
The first-offense term and how the administrative and court tracks interact in North Dakota.
| Item | North Dakota rule |
|---|---|
| First-offense suspension | 91 days (BAC under 0.18%) or 180 days (BAC 0.18% or higher) |
| Administrative vs court | North Dakota runs a separate administrative per-se suspension through NDDOT, distinct from and parallel to the criminal DUI case in court. The administrative suspension proceeds on its own timeline once the Report and Notice is issued, regardless of the criminal case's outcome. |
| Worth knowing | The tiers come from N.D.C.C. 39-20-04.1(1) and run on a seven-year lookback: 91 days where the driving record shows no previous violation of 39-08-01 within the seven years preceding the arrest, 180 days where the last violation was at an alcohol concentration of at least eighteen one-hundredths of one percent. A separate 0.16% line sits in the criminal code rather than the license schedule: under 39-08-01(5)(a) a first offense at 0.16% or above is an aggravated first offense carrying a fine of at least $750 and at least two days' imprisonment. Refusal to submit to a chemical test is penalized under the implied consent law and is one of the offense categories covered by the same $100 reinstatement fee and administrative hearing process. |
Confirm the exact term for your case with the North Dakota Department of Transportation; the figure can shift with the test result and the case details.
The hearing clock: how long you have to act in North Dakota
The deadline to request the administrative review of the license suspension. It runs from the arrest or notice date, not from the court date.
| Item | North Dakota rule |
|---|---|
| Request window | 10 days |
| How it works | The arresting officer issues a Report and Notice with a 14-day temporary driving permit. The driver has 10 days from that notice to request an administrative hearing in writing or online with NDDOT. Missing the deadline waives the hearing right and the suspension automatically takes effect on the 25th day after the notice was issued. If requested, the hearing must be held within 30 days of the notice date. |
The path back: the North Dakota reinstatement steps in order
Several of these steps gate the ones after them, so the order matters as much as the list.
- Receive the Report and Notice and 14-day temporary permit at arrest
- Request an administrative hearing within 10 days, if contesting the suspension
- Serve the required no-driving hard-suspension portion (commonly cited as 30 days for a first offense not enrolled in 24/7 sobriety)
- Apply for a Temporary Restricted License or interlock-restricted license for the remainder of the suspension, if eligible
- Complete the chemical dependency evaluation within 14 days of conviction and any recommended treatment
- Satisfy court-ordered fines and any alcohol education/treatment program
- File SR-22 proof of financial responsibility with NDDOT
- Pay the $100 reinstatement fee
- Contact the NDDOT Driver License Division to complete reinstatement once the suspension period ends
From the team behind this library
The License Comeback Kit
Want the whole path in one place? The kit turns everything on this page into one ordered walkthrough for North Dakota: your state requirement sheet, the dependency-ordered checklist, the SR-22 steps with an insurer call script, a factual interlock comparison worksheet and the compliance and removal tracker. Set it up in an evening.
Ignition interlock rules in North Dakota
Whether the device is required for a first offense, for how long and where the state lists its certified providers.
| Item | North Dakota rule |
|---|---|
| Required for a first offense? | Not automatic; by court order or the driver's own election |
| First-offense duration | unverifiable exact term when the director requires one; no statutory first-offense term exists |
| BAC trigger | n/a. No BAC triggers a device in North Dakota. A phrase search for 'ignition interlock' across N.D.C.C. chapter 39-08 (criminal DUI penalties) and chapter 39-20 (implied consent) returns nothing. The BAC lines in the code do other work: 0.16% makes a first offense an aggravated first offense under 39-08-01(5)(a), carrying a fine of at least $750 and at least two days' imprisonment and 0.18% sets the administrative suspension at 180 days under 39-20-04.1(1) against 91 days below it |
| Approved providers | NDDOT ignition interlock program information, https://www.dot.nd.gov |
| Worth knowing | The interlock decision belongs to NDDOT's director rather than the court. N.D.C.C. 39-06.1-11(4) provides that for a temporary restricted license under subsection 3, the director may conduct a hearing and may require an ignition interlock device be installed in the offender's vehicle. That power is scoped to the subsection 3 route (24/7 sobriety participation or one clean year), not to the subsection 2 first-offense temporary restricted license, which takes effect after thirty days of the suspension have been served, or fourteen days for a driver enrolled in the 24/7 sobriety program under chapter 54-12. |
Confirm the exact interlock term and trigger for your case with the North Dakota Department of Transportation before you schedule an install.
Do you need SR-22 insurance in North Dakota?
The financial-responsibility filing your insurer makes with the state, where North Dakota requires one.
| Item | North Dakota rule |
|---|---|
| Required after a first DUI? | Yes |
| The form | SR-22 |
| How long it must stay in force | unverifiable exact duration, not confirmed against a primary NDDOT source |
| Worth knowing | NDDOT requires proof of financial responsibility via SR-22 before reinstating a suspended license or issuing a Temporary Restricted License. |
Not settled in one published place. Confirm the filing requirement and how long it must stay in force with the North Dakota Department of Transportation and your insurer before you rely on it.
Driving before full reinstatement in North Dakota
The limited license, if any, that lets a first offender drive during the suspension.
| Item | North Dakota rule |
|---|---|
| Available for a first offense? | Yes |
| What North Dakota calls it | Temporary Restricted License (TRL) |
| Waiting period | A portion of the suspension (commonly cited as a 30-day hard suspension for a first offense with no prior DUI and no 24/7 sobriety enrollment) must be served with no restricted driving privileges before TRL eligibility |
| Worth knowing | TRLs are not granted to drivers under 18. An ignition interlock-restricted license is a separate, earlier-available restricted option distinct from the standard TRL. |
The DUI program, the fees and the lookback
The DUI program. North Dakota law requires everyone convicted of DUI to undergo a chemical dependency/substance abuse evaluation, generally within 14 days of conviction and complete any treatment the evaluation recommends, along with any other court-ordered requirements such as an alcohol education or treatment program. Length: unverifiable, exact program length was not confirmed against a primary source.
The lookback period. 7 years for the administrative suspension tiers. N.D.C.C. 39-20-04.1(1) sets the 91-day suspension where the driving record shows that, within the seven years preceding the date of the arrest, the person has not previously violated section 39-08-01. This is the window over which a prior offense counts toward repeat-offense treatment.
The costs a North Dakota driver can expect on the way back.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Reinstatement fee (BAC over legal limit, implied consent, refusal, physical control) | $100 |
Not published as one current figure. Confirm the exact amount with the North Dakota Department of Transportation before you pay. Confirm the exact program length and the providers the North Dakota Department of Transportation accepts before you enroll.
