The car gets towed. You make the calls you need to make. Then you sit down and start wondering what actually happens next. If you or someone you care about was arrested for drunk driving in Indiana, the hours that follow can feel disorienting in ways that are hard to describe. The questions pile up fast, and most of the answers online are either vague or written for a different state entirely.

Here’s something most people don’t know right away: the moment an OWI arrest happens in Indiana, two separate legal processes start running simultaneously. One is the criminal case. The other is a BMV administrative action against the license. They run on different timelines, follow different rules, and both require attention. Missing the window on the BMV side while focusing only on court can cost a driver options that are hard to recover later.

With more than 75 years of combined experience in Indiana criminal defense, including direct knowledge of how the state builds and prosecutes these cases, our team at Arnold Terrill Ridenour, P.C. has seen what happens when people act quickly and when they don’t. This post explains what Indiana OWI law actually does, from the charge level set at arrest through the penalties, the court where a Fort Wayne case is heard, and the collateral consequences most people never think about until it’s too late.

What Indiana Actually Charges You With After a Drunk Driving Arrest

Indiana uses the term OWI (Operating While Intoxicated) rather than DUI. The specific charge filed at arrest depends on the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), the circumstances of the stop, and whether any aggravating factors were present.

Under Indiana Code, a BAC between 0.08% and 0.14% is a Class C misdemeanor. A BAC of 0.15% or higher escalates the charge to a Class A misdemeanor, which carries meaningfully steeper penalties. Notably, a driver can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor under IC 9-30-5-2 for operating while visibly impaired even if the BAC comes in below 0.08%.

Certain circumstances present at arrest can push the charge to a Level 6 felony before the case ever reaches a courtroom. These aggravating factors include:

• A passenger under age 18 in the vehicle at the time of the stop
• Causing injury to another person as a result of impaired driving
• A prior OWI conviction within seven years of the current offense

Two Legal Battles Start the Moment You’re Arrested

Most people arrested for OWI assume they have one problem: the court case. In Indiana, they have two. The criminal case is the one most people think about, but the BMV administrative suspension starts running on its own timeline the moment of arrest, entirely independent of how the criminal case resolves.

Indiana’s implied consent law adds another layer. Anyone operating a vehicle on Indiana roads has implicitly agreed to submit to chemical testing if lawfully arrested for OWI. Refusing that test triggers an automatic additional license suspension: one year on a first offense, two years on a subsequent offense. Refusal also disqualifies the driver from obtaining Specialized Driving Privileges (SDP) during the suspension period tied to the refusal.

Specialized Driving Privileges are the mechanism Indiana courts use to allow a suspended driver limited driving rights, typically for work, school, or medical appointments. A petition for SDP filed early in the process can stay the court-ordered suspension. The timing of that filing matters, and it operates separately from any plea or trial strategy on the criminal side.

Penalties by Charge Level: What the Statute Actually Allows

Indiana OWI penalties are tied directly to the charge level. Here’s what the statute authorizes at each tier.

Class C Misdemeanor (First Offense, BAC 0.08% to 0.14%)
Up to 60 days in jail, fines up to $500, and a license suspension of up to 60 days. This is the lowest tier, but it still carries real consequences and creates a criminal record.

Class A Misdemeanor (First Offense, BAC 0.15% and Above)
Up to one year in jail, fines up to $5,000, a license suspension of up to one year, and court-ordered participation in substance abuse programs. The jump from Class C to Class A is steep.

Level 6 Felony (Second OWI Within Seven Years or Aggravated Circumstances)
A mandatory minimum of five actual days in jail (or 240 hours of community service), up to 2.5 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, fines up to $10,000, and a minimum one-year license suspension. If the state also files a Habitual Vehicular Substance Offender (HVSO) enhancement, which applies when a driver has two prior substance-related driving offenses with at least one within the last ten years, or three or more prior convictions regardless of timing, up to eight additional years can be added on top of the underlying sentence.

One more development worth knowing: effective January 1, 2026, Indiana judges may impose a no-alcohol-sales restriction on driver’s licenses for OWI convictions involving a BAC of 0.16% or higher. Under this restriction, bars, restaurants, and liquor stores are permitted to refuse alcohol sales to the license holder. It’s a public-facing consequence that goes well beyond the courtroom.

Where Fort Wayne OWI Cases Are Heard

The court where a case is heard shapes the timeline, the local prosecutorial approach, and the alternatives to incarceration that may be available. In Allen County, that depends on whether the charge is a misdemeanor or a felony. Misdemeanor OWI cases are handled at Allen Superior Court’s Misdemeanor and Traffic Court, located at the Charles “Bud” Meeks Criminal Justice Center at 101 E. Superior Street. Felony OWI charges are heard in Allen Circuit Court at 715 S. Calhoun Street.

Allen County also operates a specialized OWI Court through Allen Circuit Court for qualifying felony repeat offenders. Participants enter deferred prosecution agreements and, upon successful completion of the roughly 2.5-year program, charges are dismissed. It isn’t available to everyone, but for those who qualify, it represents a meaningful alternative to a felony conviction and incarceration. Whether a client qualifies, and whether participation actually serves their interests, is part of the early defense evaluation we conduct.

Consequences That Extend Beyond the Courtroom

The statutory penalties are only part of what an OWI conviction actually costs. Several collateral consequences reach into areas of life that have nothing to do with what happened in a courtroom.

CDL Disqualification
A first OWI conviction triggers a mandatory one-year CDL disqualification, even when the arrest occurred in a personal vehicle. CDL holders are also ineligible for Specialized Driving Privileges during the suspension. Because CDL disqualifications are federally mandated under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act, Indiana courts have no authority to modify or shorten them. For anyone who drives commercially for a living, this is often the most severe practical consequence of an OWI conviction.

Professional Licensure
A felony OWI conviction can expose professional licenses in fields such as healthcare, accounting, and social work to disciplinary review. Licensing boards in these fields require self-reporting of criminal convictions, and the review process is entirely separate from any court proceeding.

Insurance Costs and Background Checks
An OWI conviction at any level typically causes substantial auto insurance premium increases and, in some cases, policy cancellation. A felony conviction also appears on background checks in ways that can affect housing applications and employment in positions that require a clean record.

What Defense Actually Looks Like at This Stage

Understanding what you’re facing isn’t the same as accepting it as final. The state has to earn a conviction by proving specific things: probable cause for the traffic stop, that field sobriety tests were properly administered, and that chemical testing followed valid procedures. Each of those elements can be examined and, where the facts support it, challenged. A stop made without legal justification, a breath test administered with a device that wasn’t properly calibrated, or field sobriety instructions that didn’t follow standardized protocols aren’t technicalities. They’re points where the state’s case can break down before any penalty ever applies.

In some cases, a charge reduction to what’s often called a “wet reckless” is possible. This refers to a reckless driving charge involving alcohol under IC 9-21-8-52. A wet reckless carries significantly lower penalties than an OWI conviction and avoids the mandatory license consequences tied to an OWI finding. It isn’t available in every case, and it’s not something the state offers voluntarily. It’s a negotiated outcome that depends on what the evidence actually looks like and how the defense presents it.

Our team includes a former felony prosecutor. That background gives us direct knowledge of how the state builds Indiana OWI cases, what evidence prosecutors rely on, and where procedural gaps tend to appear. We bring that perspective from the first consultation, not after the case is already well underway.

Acting Quickly on Both Tracks Matters

The decisions made in the first hours and days after an OWI arrest carry weight that’s genuinely difficult to undo later. The BMV window for protecting driving privileges is short. The court timeline starts moving whether you’re ready or not. Being informed on day one rather than day ten is often the difference between having options and running out of them.

We’re available around the clock because that’s when these situations happen. If you or someone you care about is dealing with an OWI arrest in Fort Wayne, reach Arnold Terrill Ridenour, P.C. at (888) 912-7220. We can tell you exactly where things stand and what needs to happen next.