Ignition interlock requirements in Kansas

Kansas sets a suspension and then years on the device, by whether you refused or failed the test and how many times. Getting off it takes more than time: the last 90 days must be clean.

Suspension first, then years on the device

Kansas writes its interlock periods into the same section as its suspensions, and the shape is always the same: a suspension, followed by a period in which the person may drive only a vehicle fitted with a device. The length of each depends on two things — whether the person refused a test or failed one, and how many occurrences there have been.

After a test refusal

A refusal carries a one-year suspension at every occurrence, then an interlock restriction of two years for a first occurrence, three for a second, four for a third, five for a fourth and ten for a fifth or later.

After a test failure or an alcohol- or drug-related conviction

A first occurrence is a 30-day suspension followed by the restriction in section 8-1015(b). A second is a one-year suspension then one year on the device; a third, one year then two; a fourth, one year then three; a fifth or later, one year then ten.

At 0.15 or more

Where the blood or breath alcohol concentration was 0.15 or greater, every step is heavier: a one-year suspension from the first occurrence, then one, two, three, four or ten years on the device.

Why refusing costs more than failing

Set the first occurrences side by side and the arithmetic is stark. A first test failure is a 30-day suspension followed by 180 days on the device — about seven months in total. A first test refusal is a one-year suspension followed by two years on the device — three years. Refusing the test does not avoid the interlock; under these sections it multiplies the time spent under one, and it does so at every later occurrence too.

The 180-day first restriction

After a first-occurrence 30-day suspension, the division restricts the person to an interlock vehicle for 180 days — or for one year if the record shows certain prior convictions, three moving violations on separate occasions within 12 months, or a prior suspension, revocation, cancellation or withdrawal.

Asking to drive on the device during the suspension

A person suspended under these provisions may apply to the division to have the suspension modified to driving only an interlock vehicle for the suspension period. The division charges an application fee of $100 and approves the request unless the person's privileges are restricted, suspended, revoked or disqualified by another action. On proof of installation, the division issues an order the person must carry whenever driving. Violating the restriction adds a further year of suspension.

How it ends: a clean last 90 days

Kansas does not release the restriction on a date alone. The person must complete an ignition interlock device program, and may only complete it “if the person has not more than two standard violations and no serious violation in the 90 consecutive days prior to application for reinstatement,” with the application made at or after the end of the required period.

What counts as a violation

The section defines both kinds. A standard violation is a failed start-up test, a failed or missed rolling retest, switching the engine off to avoid a retest, or a high reading on a start-up test. A serious violation is tampering, circumventing the device, or a high reading — 0.08 or more — on a rolling retest taken while the engine is running. Two standard violations in the window are tolerated; one serious violation is not.

Two of the terms need unpacking. A rolling retest is a breath test the device asks for after the engine has started and while it is running — the device can demand one mid-journey, and declining by switching the engine off is itself a violation. A BrAC fail is any reading at or above the alcohol set point, which the secretary of revenue sets by regulation rather than the statute; a high BrAC is a fail at 0.08 or more.

Getting the license back

Once the required period has expired and the program is completed, the person may apply to the division for the return of any license they surrendered, or for a new license if the old one has expired in the meantime. Completion is the trigger, not the calendar date.

The approved service provider sends proof of completion to the division, and proof of installation for the whole required period must be on file before full reinstatement. The device is approved by the highway patrol and maintained at the person's expense.

Ten years, with a door at five

A person restricted to an interlock for ten years may petition a district court for relief after five years have been served. The court considers, among other things, whether there has been any other restriction or suspension, and whether the person proves installation, maintenance and use of an approved device throughout the five years.

Driving an employer's vehicle

A restricted person may drive an employer's vehicle without a device during normal business activities, provided they do not partly or entirely own or control the vehicle or the business. The exception does not apply to someone restricted for the remainder of a one-year suspension under the application route.

The filing that runs alongside it

The one-year insurance filing in Kansas is triggered by a single conviction on the habitual-violator list, which includes DUI, and is kept on file by the insurer. It certifies 25/50/25 plus personal injury protection, and its clock is separate from the interlock's. The Kansas SR-22 page covers it.

What this page does not cover

Kansas criminal DUI penalties and the device standards adopted by regulation are in provisions this site has not read. Device prices are set by providers, not by statute.

Common questions