OWI Sentencing Guidelines in Dane County, Wisconsin (2026)

This guide was updated in August 2026. These details may change over time.

If you're facing an OWI in Dane County, Wisconsin, this guide shows the grid your judge is looking at. It also shows where that grid no longer matches current law, which matters, because two of the numbers printed on it are wrong today.

If you or someone you know is facing OWI charges in Dane County, contact Stangl Law to request a free consultation immediately.

What These Guidelines Are, and What They Are Not

Dane County sits in Wisconsin's Fifth Judicial District, along with Columbia, Green, Lafayette, Rock, and Sauk counties. Each of Wisconsin's nine judicial administrative districts publishes its own OWI sentencing grid.

The grids are advisory. Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2m) requires a sentencing court to consider them, but a judge is free to depart from them, and district attorneys keep their own internal recommendations that often run harsher than the court's published numbers. What the grid gives you is the starting point and the vocabulary the parties will use.

The Fifth Judicial District's grid applies to citations issued on or after July 3, 2018. It was issued November 1, 2018 under then-Chief Judge William E. Hanrahan, out of the Office of Chief Judge and District Court Administrator at 215 S. Hamilton Street, Room 6111 in Madison. The Dane County District Attorney's office publishes the same document.

As of this update, no newer Fifth District grid has been posted by the state court system. Several other districts have revised theirs since, including the Third and Seventh in 2023 and the Tenth in 2024.

How the District Decides Mitigated, Intermediate, or Aggravated

Every grid below has three columns, and which one applies to you drives everything else. The Fifth District publishes the criteria it uses, and they are more specific than the summaries you will find elsewhere.

Two things stand out here you need to be aware of:

• Entering a plea within 60 days of the initial appearance is listed as a mitigating factor, which creates real pressure to resolve a case quickly. That pressure runs directly against the work of investigating the stop and the testing, and it is one of the decisions worth talking through with an attorney before the clock starts.

• The other is what is missing. Lack of proof of insurance does not appear anywhere in the Fifth District's criteria, despite being widely repeated online as an aggravating factor. It appears in some other districts' lists, not this one.

First Offense OWI in Dane County (District 5)

It's important to unpack some of the details here:

What the forfeiture actually costs

The statutory forfeiture is $150 to $300 under § 346.65(2)(am)1. On top of that, the grid adds costs totaling $572.50, covering the driver improvement surcharge, court costs, jail surcharge, justice information surcharge, court support surcharge, and crime lab and drug surcharge, plus a penalty surcharge equal to 26 percent of the forfeiture. Surcharge schedules change, so confirm the current figure with the court.

Revocation

Revocation is six to nine months. There is no waiting period for an occupational license on a first offense.

Ignition interlock

An IID is required for one year when the alcohol concentration is 0.15 or higher, or on a refusal. Under § 343.301(1g) and (2m), a court-approved 24/7 sobriety program can substitute for the interlock. The restriction begins on the date you obtain any license, including an occupational one, and while it runs your legal limit drops to 0.02.

Minor passenger under 16

This is not an add-on. The offense becomes criminal and the second offense penalty range applies: a $350 to $1,100 fine and 5 days to 6 months in jail under § 346.65(2)(f)1., with revocation doubled to 12 to 18 months.

Refusal

One year revocation, with a 30-day wait for an occupational license under § 343.305(10)(b)2. If no refusal hearing is requested, revocation begins 30 days after the refusal. If a hearing is requested, it begins 30 days after the refusal or immediately upon a final determination that the refusal was improper, whichever comes later.

Assessment and driver safety plan

The court shall order community service for a defendant who cannot pay the forfeiture. The court may order the safety plan to address the effect on victims, community service that demonstrates the effects of substance abuse, a site visit, a reduction in the forfeiture with the difference applied to the cost of the assessment, or restitution.

Second Offense OWI in Dane County (District 5), and First Offense with a Minor Passenger

Jail

Five days to six months under § 346.65(2)(am)2. On probation the maximum term is two years with a minimum five days conditional jail, and conditional jail earns good time. (The Safe Streets option under § 346.65(2)(bm) can reduce the maximum conditional time to seven days, and it can be used once in a lifetime.)

Fine and costs

$350 to $1,100 by statute, plus costs the grid totals at $545 and a penalty surcharge equal to 26 percent of the fine, plus the $435 OWI surcharge under § 346.655.

Revocation

Twelve to eighteen months, extended by the length of any jail sentence. Occupational eligibility after 45 days, or one year if there are two OWIs within five years.

One detail worth knowing

A second OWI with no prior offense in the preceding 10 years is penalized at first offense levels under WisDOT's chart: a $150 to $300 forfeiture and no jail, though the one-year interlock requirement still attaches. Whether your second offense is charged as a second offense turns on the dates, which is why the prior-offense analysis is where these cases are often won or lost.

Minor passenger under 16

Minimum and maximum fines, jail, and revocation all double.

Refusal

Two year revocation and a 90-day wait for an occupational license, or one year if it is a second offense within five years.

One detail for second offense worth knowing

A second OWI with no prior offense in the preceding 10 years is penalized at first offense levels under WisDOT's chart: a $150 to $300 forfeiture and no jail, though the one-year interlock requirement still attaches. Whether your second offense is charged as a second offense turns on the dates, which is why the prior-offense analysis is where these cases are often won or lost.

Third Offense OWI in Dane County (District 5)

Jail

45 days to one year under § 346.65(2)(am)3. The 45-day floor is mandatory. On probation the maximum term is two years with a minimum 45 days conditional jail. The Safe Streets option under § 346.65(2)(cm) can lower the minimum to 14 days.

Fine

$600 to $2,000, subject to the high-BAC multiplier described above, plus costs the grid totals at $545, the 26 percent penalty surcharge, and the $435 OWI surcharge.

Revocation

Twenty-four to thirty-six months, extended by any jail time. Interlock for one to three years.

Vehicle seizure

At the third offense, the court may order seizure and forfeiture of a vehicle owned and operated by the defendant, unless it orders interlock or immobilization instead, or unless seizure would cause undue hardship or endanger health and safety.

Prior offenses count differently here

The 10-year lookback that applies at the second offense does not apply at the third. Every qualifying prior counted under § 343.307(1) is in play regardless of age. Striking a single prior can move a case from third to second offense and remove the 45-day mandatory minimum entirely.

Commercial Vehicle OWI Offenses in Dane County (District 5)

These grids apply to CDL holders and commercial motor vehicles, where the prohibited concentration is 0.04. The original version of this post omitted them.

First offense OWI commercial in Dane County

Forfeiture $150 to $300, costs totaling $580.50 plus the 26 percent penalty surcharge.

Second offense OWI commercial in Dane County

Fine of $350 to $1,100, costs totaling $553. Jail is 5 days to 6 months, with a minimum 48 consecutive hours, and a minimum of 5 days jail or 30 days community service.

Third offense OWI commercial in Dane County

Fine of $600 to $2,000, costs totaling $553. Jail is 30 days to 12 months with a minimum 48 consecutive hours.

The alcohol concentration bands in the commercial tables overlap as printed in the source document. Where a reading falls on a boundary, expect argument about which row applies.

Separately from any sentence, an OWI conviction disqualifies a CDL holder for one year, or three years if hauling hazardous materials, even when the offense happened in a personal vehicle. A second offense means lifetime disqualification.

Fourth Offense OWI in Dane County and Beyond

A fourth OWI is a Class H felony carrying 60 days to 6 years, regardless of when the prior offenses occurred. Fifth and sixth are Class G felonies. Seventh through ninth are Class F felonies, and a tenth or greater is a Class E felony. WisDOT's chart lays out the full range.

We cover these separately:

• Fourth offense OWI in Wisconsin: felony and lifetime revocation
• Wisconsin's penalties for fifth and sixth offense OWI
• Seventh, eighth, and ninth offense OWI in Wisconsin

For guidelines in other parts of the state, see our statewide OWI sentencing guidelines guide. For how a Dane County case gets routed between municipal and circuit court, see our Dane County first offense guide.

Two Dane County OWI Victories from Stangl Law

An OWI accident in Madison

Attorney Stangl represented a client who had a vehicle accident in the City of Madison and registered a breath alcohol concentration of .14. No one was hurt, but the client was charged with OWI and PAC as a first offense under §§ 346.63(1)(a) and (b).

The City appeared to have a strong case and the client was willing to put the matter behind him. Attorney Stangl kept investigating and found that the arresting officer had failed to comply with technical requirements governing the reading of the Informing the Accused, which must be given before any chemical test of blood, breath, or urine. The OWI was amended to reckless driving and the PAC charge was dismissed.

State of Wisconsin v. R.T.

The client was charged with a fifth offense OWI, a felony, with a high alcohol concentration and a likely prison sentence. He had several prior convictions from Minnesota where he had not been represented.

After a thorough factual and legal investigation, Attorney Stangl established that in four of those prior cases the client had not been properly advised of his right to appointed counsel or how an attorney might have helped him, making those convictions constitutionally defective under the Sixth Amendment. The State conceded that four priors could not be counted, and the case was amended from a criminal fifth offense to a first offense civil ordinance violation.

FREE 10-Minute Legal Consultation

Nationally recognized OWI Defense Attorney Patrick J. Stangl has over 32 years of experience protecting the rights of clients accused of OWI across Wisconsin.

If you're facing OWI charges in Dane County, including drug charges or repeat OWI charges, click below to request a FREE 10-minute consultation to discuss your drunk driving or driving under the influence case and help explore options for your defense.

In the video below, I introduce myself and my practice.

Madison OWI Attorney Patrick J. Stangl, is committed to exploring options for your best defense and has defended clients across the state since 1991. To this end, he is pleased to offer a FREE 10-minute consultation at no obligation to discuss the specifics of your case and take the first step in putting this stressful time behind you.

Sources: Fifth Judicial District OWI Sentencing Guidelines (Wisconsin Court System); Dane County District Attorney; Wisconsin DOT, OWI and Related Alcohol and Drug Offense Penalties; Wis. Stat. §§ 343.30, 343.301, 343.305, 346.65; State v. Neill, 2020 WI 15.