sr22finderIgnition interlock requirements by state
Almost everything published about ignition interlocks is published by somebody who installs them. This is not that. We have no device to sell, no provider list, and nothing to gain from what you decide — and the one thing we can actually help with, the insurance filing, is a separate obligation that most pages on this subject blur into the same sentence.
We do not sell interlocks. We do not install, service, calibrate or lease them, we take nothing from anyone who does, and there is no approved-provider list on this site. The state that issued your order publishes the list of devices it certifies; that list is the authority and it is free.
Two obligations, one case, different end dates
An interlock order and a financial-responsibility filing typically arrive out of the same driving-under-the-influence case. They are not the same instrument and they are not governed by the same chapter.
The interlock is a restriction on the vehicle you may drive, imposed by a court or a licensing agency, and its length is set by the facts of the offense — in California, by the number of prior convictions within ten years and by whether anybody was injured. The filing is a certificate your insurer sends the state, and its length is set by the financial-responsibility chapter, which in Washington uses a rolling clean-record look-back rather than a countdown.
Because the two are set by different tests, they routinely finish years apart. Satisfying one does nothing for the other. If you take away one thing from this page, that is it.
States read directly
A state appears here only if its interlock provision was read from a primary source. Three have been.
What those three show is how little they have in common. California publishes a complete term table and exempts most first offenses. Washington's section is a list of triggers, and the published version is marked as expiring. Arizona's makes the interlock license conditional on the insurance filing having happened first.
The filing is the part we can help with
Enter your ZIP and we will carry it up to the form.
What we will not tell you
Device prices, monitoring fees, calibration intervals, removal conditions and provider names are absent from this site. Not because they do not matter — they are most of what an interlock costs — but because they are set by certified providers rather than by statute, they vary by region and device, and a figure copied from another website has no provenance.
Your state publishes the list of devices and providers it certifies. That list is free, it is current, and it is the right place to ask.
What the device actually does, minute to minute
Worth being concrete, because the mechanics explain most of the complaints.
An interlock is a breath-alcohol analyser wired into the ignition circuit. Before the engine will start, it takes a sample. If the sample is above the set point the vehicle does not start, and the attempt is logged. That much everyone expects.
What people do not expect is the rolling retest. At intervals after the engine is running, the device asks for another sample, and it asks while you are driving. A refused or failed rolling retest generally does not cut the engine — that would be its own hazard — but it is recorded, and in many programs it triggers the horn and lights until the vehicle is switched off. The log is the product. Every start, every failure, every missed retest and every service visit is data the program reads later.
The practical consequences follow from the log rather than from the device. Mouthwash, some medications and certain foods can produce a reading that a program will treat as an event until it is explained. The remedy is generally a service visit and a record, not an argument.
Why this site covers three states and not fifty
Because interlock law is the worst subject area we have found for secondary summaries, and publishing one would make this page part of the problem.
Three reasons it is worse than the insurance side. Interlock provisions are amended often and on short cycles — the Washington section read for this site is stamped, in the code itself, “Effective until January 1, 2026”. They are split across chapters: a criminal code sets the condition, a licensing chapter sets the restriction, and an administrative rule sets the device standard. And much of what is written about them online is published by companies that install them, which is not a reason to disbelieve it but is a reason not to repeat it without a source.
So a state appears here only after somebody read its statute. Three have.
The two obligations, side by side
| Ignition interlock | SR-22 / FR-44 filing | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A restriction on which vehicle you may drive | A certificate an insurer files with the state |
| Who acts | You, by having a certified device installed | Your insurer. You cannot file it yourself. |
| Where it comes from | A court order or a licensing-agency program | The state financial-responsibility chapter |
| What sets the length | Priors and injury, in the states read here | Elapsed time, or a clean-record look-back |
| What a failure does | Logs an event for the program to read | Triggers a notification and the suspension resumes |
| Can we help | No — we sell nothing here | Yes — quotes from agencies that file |
Read down the last column and the division of labour is clear enough. Everything about the device is between you, the court and a certified provider. The only column with a commercial relationship on this site is the second one, and it is a fixed fee per enquiry rather than anything that moves with what you buy.
Why a neutral page on this subject is unusual
Search the term and count the results that are not selling a device or a service contract. In the market analysis behind this site, the answer at the top of the page was none: manufacturers and their own funnels, end to end, with the single pairing of interlock content and an insurance funnel owned by a manufacturer's subsidiary.
That is not a scandal. Companies that install interlocks know more about them than anybody, and their pages are often accurate. But it does mean every explanation of what you are required to do is also, structurally, an argument for buying something from whoever wrote it — and the specific sentence you would want a neutral opinion on is which exemptions you might qualify for.
We have no device to sell, so the exemptions get a section of their own on the state pages. That is the entire editorial value of this part of the site, and it costs us nothing to write because nothing here is for sale.
What to ask, and who to ask
Four questions, in this order, and none of them are for us.
Which section am I under? Your order or notice names it. That single reference resolves the version problem, because you can then read the text that applies to your offense date rather than the current one.
How long, and from when? Interlock terms and filing periods are measured from different events and end on different dates. Ask for both, in writing, from whoever issued each.
Which devices are certified? Your state publishes the list. It is free and it is current. Anything else is somebody's marketing.
Is there an exemption I qualify for? California, for instance, carves out first-time offenders whose violation did not involve drugs only and did not injure anyone. An exemption you do not ask about is an exemption you do not get.
Common questions
Is an ignition interlock the same as an SR-22?
No. One is a device fitted to a vehicle under a court or agency order. The other is a certificate an insurer files with the state. They usually arrive from the same case and they almost never end on the same date.
Does finishing the interlock term end the SR-22?
No. They run under different statutes with different tests. In Washington the filing release depends on a clean three-year look-back, which can push it well past the device coming off.
Do you sell or install interlocks?
No. We do not sell, install, service, calibrate or lease devices, and we take nothing from anyone who does. The state that issued your order publishes the certified-provider list.
Why are only three states covered?
Because three states' interlock provisions have been read from a primary source. Publishing terms for the other forty-seven from secondary summaries is exactly the practice this site was built against.
Which state ties the two together?
Arizona. A.R.S. section 28-3319(A) makes the interlock-restricted license conditional on proof of financial responsibility having been filed first.