A DUI involving property damage in Florida is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. That is double the maximum jail exposure of a standard first-offense DUI. A conviction also brings mandatory probation, community service, vehicle impoundment, a substance abuse course, license revocation, restitution to the property owner, and three years of high-cost FR-44 insurance.
What Prosecutors Have to Prove
To convict you, the state must show three things: you were driving under the influence, you were operating a vehicle, and your driving caused or contributed to damage to someone else’s property.1Justia Law. Florida Code 316.193 – Driving Under the Influence; Penalties The property can be a car, a fence, a building, a mailbox, or anything else that isn’t yours. Florida sets no minimum dollar amount.
Prosecutors don’t have to prove both impairment and a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Either one is enough. You can be convicted on impairment of your normal faculties even with a BAC under 0.08%, and a BAC at or above 0.08% is sufficient on its own regardless of how you appeared.1Justia Law. Florida Code 316.193 – Driving Under the Influence; Penalties The link between impaired driving and the damage is typically shown through crash reports, witness accounts, and sometimes crash reconstruction.
Criminal Penalties for a First Offense
Because the charge is a first-degree misdemeanor rather than a standard second-degree misdemeanor DUI, the maximum jail time is one year.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures The maximum fine is $1,000.3FindLaw. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines Those are ceilings; actual sentences depend on the extent of damage, any prior offenses, and other circumstances.
Every first-time DUI conviction in Florida also carries a fixed set of mandatory requirements:
- Probation of up to one year, with monthly reporting.
- A minimum of 50 hours of community service.
- Vehicle impoundment or immobilization for 10 days.
- A DUI substance abuse education course through a licensed program, including a psychosocial evaluation. If the evaluation refers you to treatment, completing treatment becomes a probation condition.
These are mandatory, not discretionary.1Justia Law. Florida Code 316.193 – Driving Under the Influence; Penalties Skipping the substance abuse course is particularly costly. If you don’t complete it, the program notifies the court and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), which cancels your driving privilege entirely.
When the Penalties Get Worse
A first-offense DUI with a BAC of 0.15% or higher, or with a passenger under 18 in the vehicle, raises the fine to between $1,000 and $2,000, the maximum jail time to nine months, and requires an ignition interlock device (IID) on any vehicle you own or routinely drive for at least six continuous months.1Justia Law. Florida Code 316.193 – Driving Under the Influence; Penalties At lower BAC levels, an IID is discretionary. A DUI with property damage counts as a DUI for repeat-offender purposes, so a subsequent conviction escalates into higher fines, mandatory minimum jail time, longer IID requirements, and, at the third within ten years, a third-degree felony.
License Suspension and Revocation
Two separate license actions can apply, and they can stack.
Administrative Suspension by the FLHSMV
The FLHSMV imposes an administrative suspension based on your BAC result or your refusal to submit to breath, blood, or urine testing. It takes effect immediately and applies whether or not you are ultimately convicted.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.2615 – Suspension of License; Right to Review The periods are:
- Six months for a first offense with a BAC of 0.08% or higher.
- One year if you have a prior suspension under this section.
- One year for a first test refusal.
- 18 months for a second or subsequent refusal.
You have 10 days from the date on the notice to request a formal or informal review hearing. Miss it and you lose the right to challenge the administrative suspension.
Court-Ordered Revocation
A conviction adds a court revocation on top of the administrative suspension. For a first DUI conviction, revocation runs from 180 days to one year.5Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.28 – Period of Suspension or Revocation The two actions may overlap or run consecutively depending on your case timeline. Repeat convictions bring far longer revocation periods, up to permanent revocation after a fourth.
Can You Still Drive? Hardship Licenses
Florida allows drivers with a revoked license to apply for restricted privileges for work, education, medical needs, and church attendance through the FLHSMV’s Bureau of Administrative Reviews. You have to show that losing the license creates a serious hardship affecting employment or your ability to support your family.6Justia Law. Florida Code 322.271 – Authority to Modify Revocation, Cancellation, or Suspension of License
One requirement is absolute: you cannot get a hardship license until you have completed the DUI substance abuse course and evaluation. The FLHSMV may waive the hearing itself for first-time offenders who have enrolled in or completed the course, but the course itself cannot be waived. If your BAC was 0.15% or higher, an IID is usually a condition of the restricted license, and driving is limited to permitted purposes. Driving outside those purposes can bring further charges.
Restitution to the Property Owner
Florida courts must order restitution for damage caused by the offense unless there are clear and compelling reasons not to.7FindLaw. Florida Code 775.089 – Restitution In practice, restitution is ordered in nearly every DUI property damage case. It is separate from the criminal fine: fines go to the state, restitution goes to the person whose property you damaged.
Restitution covers repair or replacement of vehicles, buildings, fences, utility poles, and similar property. Victims can also claim towing, rental car costs, and lost business revenue where a commercial property was affected. Amounts are set from estimates, receipts, and sometimes expert assessments. Courts often allow payment plans, but restitution is typically a condition of probation, and nonpayment can be treated as a probation violation.
FR-44 Insurance for Three Years
Florida does not use the SR-22 form that most states require after a DUI. It uses the FR-44, which requires much higher liability minimums. Before your license can be reinstated, your insurer must file the FR-44 with the FLHSMV certifying that you carry at least $100,000 in bodily injury coverage per person, $300,000 per crash, and $50,000 in property damage coverage.8Online Sunshine. Florida Code 324.023 – Financial Responsibility You must keep this coverage in force for three years.9Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. FR-44 Insurance Requirement Bulletin
Those limits sit well above standard Florida minimums, and premiums rise accordingly. Nationally, drivers with a DUI pay roughly 79% more for auto insurance than those with clean records, with wide variation by location and insurer. If the FR-44 coverage lapses during the three years, your insurer notifies the FLHSMV and your license is suspended again.
Leaving the Scene Adds Another Charge
Leaving the scene after damaging property while driving under the influence is a separate offense. Florida law requires drivers involved in a crash to stop, remain, and exchange information. Leaving the scene of a property-damage crash is a second-degree misdemeanor on its own, punishable by up to 60 days in jail.10Online Sunshine. Florida Code 316.061 – Crashes Involving Damage to Vehicle or Property That charge stacks on top of the DUI with property damage charge, so you face two cases at once, and the court can order restitution as part of the hit-and-run conviction as well. Fleeing also tends to make the DUI harder to defend, because it forecloses arguments that something other than impairment caused the crash.
Sealing or Expunging the Conviction
You can’t. Florida law does not permit expunging or sealing a DUI conviction, and that includes misdemeanor DUI with property damage. A guilty plea, no-contest plea, or trial conviction stays on your record permanently.
Two narrow exceptions exist, and neither is a DUI conviction itself. If the DUI charge was dismissed or you were acquitted, the arrest record may be eligible for expungement provided you have no prior felony convictions and have never had another Florida record sealed or expunged. If the charge was reduced to reckless driving through a plea, the reckless driving conviction may qualify for sealing once sentencing conditions are met. That is why plea negotiations to reduce a DUI to reckless driving matter so much when the evidence gives your attorney room to work.
The Real Financial Picture
The fine is a small piece of the total. Add the substance abuse course, IID installation and monthly monitoring (typically several hundred to over a thousand dollars across the required period), three years of FR-44 premiums, restitution, court costs, probation fees, towing and impound charges, and any lost wages from jail or court appearances, and the total often runs into the tens of thousands. Private defense representation for a misdemeanor DUI case generally runs from $3,000 to $15,000 depending on complexity. Skipping probation conditions, the substance abuse program, or restitution payments only compounds the cost by triggering violations and further license suspensions.