What Does a Felony DUI Cost in California?

A felony DUI in California is a different universe of cost than a misdemeanor. Before any victim restitution, a felony realistically runs about $25,000 to $65,000 or more — and when someone is injured, the restitution and civil liability on top of that are uncapped and can dwarf everything else. The single fine is almost beside the point. Here is the honest, statute-verified breakdown of the three ways a DUI becomes a felony and what each one costs.

Key takeaways

• A felony DUI costs about $25,000–$65,000+ before any victim restitution, plus uncapped restitution and civil liability in injury cases.
• A DUI becomes a felony in three ways: a fourth offense in ten years, a prior felony DUI, or a DUI that causes injury.
• Felony exposure means state prison, a four-year license revocation, and the highest defense fees of any DUI.
• Two of the three triggers are wobblers — chargeable as a misdemeanor — so reducing a felony DUI to a misdemeanor is often the single most valuable outcome a defense can win.

The three ways a DUI becomes a felony

A standard DUI is a misdemeanor. It rises to a felony in exactly three situations: a fourth DUI within ten years under Vehicle Code § 23550; any DUI after a prior felony DUI conviction (VC 23550.5); or a DUI that causes injury to someone else under Vehicle Code § 23153. The first and third are “wobblers” — the prosecutor can charge them as a felony or a misdemeanor — which is exactly where a defense goes to work.

What a felony DUI actually costs

These are the quantifiable costs of a felony DUI, on one scale. Victim restitution in an injury case is deliberately left off — it is uncapped and can exceed everything here combined, and it gets its own section below.

Even before restitution, the defense and the insurance surcharge dominate. Add an injured victim and the picture changes entirely — which is the next section.

Prison, not just jail

The defining difference is custody. A felony DUI carries a state-prison term — served in county facilities under realignment — of 16 months, two years, or three years, and more when enhancements apply. A fourth offense (VC 23550) can alternatively be punished as a misdemeanor with 180 days to a year, which is exactly the outcome a defense fights for. Where injury is involved, the exposure climbs with a great-bodily-injury enhancement under Penal Code 12022.7 and an added year for each additional injured victim under VC 23558.

DUI causing injury: restitution and civil liability

This is the cost no competitor quantifies, because it has no ceiling. When a DUI injures someone, the court orders victim restitution for the full documented loss under Penal Code 1202.4(f) — medical bills, lost wages, and property damage — with no statutory cap. On top of the criminal case, the injured person can sue civilly, and a DUI makes liability easy to prove; those judgments routinely reach tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars and are generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy. In an injury felony, restitution and civil liability are usually the largest cost by a wide margin, which is why the defense's first job is often to challenge causation and the extent of injury.

Your license: a four-year revocation

A fourth-offense felony revokes your license for four years under Vehicle Code 13352(a)(7), along with a three-year habitual-traffic-offender designation. A restricted license with an ignition interlock — up to three years for a fourth offense — is available after a portion of the revocation. Injury felonies carry their own suspension consequences depending on the priors involved. As always, the interlock is what lets most people keep driving at all.

Can a felony DUI be reduced to a misdemeanor?

Often, yes — and it is the highest-value outcome in a felony DUI. Because a fourth offense and an injury DUI are wobblers, the charge can be reduced to a misdemeanor at charging, at a preliminary hearing, or at sentencing (Penal Code 17(b)), which erases the prison exposure and much of the cost. Challenging a prior conviction, the extent of an injury, or the traffic stop itself is what creates the leverage to get there. This is the work that separates a $25,000 case from one that costs six figures.

What a felony DUI lawyer costs

Felony DUI defense typically runs $10,000 to $30,000 or more — reflecting an investigation, expert and accident-reconstruction witnesses in injury cases, pretrial motions, and the real possibility of trial. It is the most expensive line on the list, and usually the most cost-effective: reducing the charge to a misdemeanor, defeating an enhancement, or minimizing restitution exposure can save many times the fee, and can be the difference between prison and probation.

Felony DUIs in Los Angeles

Felony DUIs are filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney and heard in the county's criminal courts, and how a case is charged and resolved varies by courtroom and prosecutor. Whether a wobbler is filed as a felony or a misdemeanor, whether an enhancement is pursued, and whether probation is offered in place of prison all turn on local practice and on the strength of the defense presented early. A lawyer who works these specific courts knows where the leverage is — which is what moves a felony case from the high end of the ranges above toward the low end.

So what is the real total?

Add it up and a felony DUI in California realistically runs about $25,000 to $65,000 or more before any victim restitution — and an injury case can climb into six figures once restitution and civil liability are counted. The fine is a fraction of a percent of that. The prison exposure, the insurance surcharge, the felony-level defense, and, above all, the uncapped restitution are the real bill — and every one of them is smaller when a felony is reduced to a misdemeanor, which is where a defense earns its fee many times over.

Common questions

How much does a felony DUI cost in California?

About $25,000 to $65,000 or more before victim restitution, once the fine and assessments, bail, the 30-month program, up to three years of interlock, a high-risk insurance surcharge, and felony-level defense are added. Injury cases add uncapped restitution and civil liability that can push the total into six figures.

When is a DUI a felony in California?

In three situations: a fourth DUI within ten years (VC 23550), any DUI after a prior felony DUI (VC 23550.5), or a DUI that causes injury to another person (VC 23153). The fourth-offense and injury versions are wobblers, meaning they can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor.

Do I have to pay restitution for a DUI injury?

Yes. If a DUI injures someone, the court orders victim restitution for their full documented losses under Penal Code 1202.4(f) — medical bills, lost wages, and property damage — with no cap, and the injured person can also sue you civilly. It is usually the largest cost of an injury felony.

Can a felony DUI be reduced to a misdemeanor?

Frequently. A fourth-offense DUI and an injury DUI are wobblers, so under Penal Code 17(b) the charge can be reduced to a misdemeanor at several points in the case — eliminating the prison exposure and much of the cost. It is the central goal of most felony DUI defenses.