Ignition interlock requirements in Minnesota

Minnesota's interlock law is a program you join to keep driving. The ticket in is a certified device and proof of insurance on that car; the way out is 90 days without a reading of 0.02.

A program you enter, not a sentence you serve

Minnesota's interlock law is written as a program. A person whose license was revoked, canceled or denied under the impaired-driving sections, or under certain criminal vehicular operation provisions, may become a “program participant” by signing an acknowledgment of the program guidelines. In return, the commissioner issues a restricted class D license that lets them drive a device-equipped vehicle during what would otherwise be a period of no driving at all.

The device itself is defined by a number: equipment that prevents a vehicle from starting “by a person whose breath alcohol concentration measures 0.02 or higher.” That threshold appears throughout the section and decides most of what follows.

What the commissioner needs before the license: a device and insurance

The restricted license is issued only on satisfactory proof of two things: that a certified device has been installed on the participant's vehicle at a designated service center, and “that the participant has insurance coverage on the vehicle equipped with the ignition interlock device.”

For a participant with a prior conviction for driving without insurance, or a prior insurance-related license withdrawal, the requirement tightens: the commissioner requires an insurance identification card “certified by the insurance company to be noncancelable for a period not to exceed 12 months.” That is Minnesota's version of a filing — an insurer's certification that the cover cannot simply lapse.

The reinstatement fee can wait

The same subdivision says the commissioner “must not require a program participant to pay the reinstatement fee and surcharge” before issuing the restricted license. The fee is still owed; the participant is not eligible for full reinstatement until it is paid. But it is not a barrier to driving on the device.

The insurance amounts

The plan of reparation security that Minnesota requires of vehicle owners carries residual liability limits of $30,000 per person / $60,000 per accident / $10,000 property damage — 30/60/10 — under Minn. Stat. sec. 65B.49, subd. 3(1). It also includes no-fault basic economic loss benefits, which this page does not describe.

Who can join, and what joining commits you to

A person under 18 is not eligible. A participant's driving record carries a notation that they are in the program. Every participant pays the device costs on every vehicle they drive or intend to drive, takes part in any treatment a chemical use assessment recommends, and brings each device-equipped vehicle for calibration and servicing on the commissioner's schedule. Someone with a qualified prior impaired-driving incident within the past 20 years, or two or more, whose assessment recommends treatment, must complete licensed treatment before full reinstatement.

The restriction also reaches the water and the trails: a participant may operate an off-road recreational vehicle or a motorboat only if it too is fitted with an approved device.

The license restriction, and the employer exception

The restricted license prohibits driving any vehicle not fitted with a functioning certified device. A participant may drive an employer-owned vehicle without one in the normal course of employment, under the program guidelines and with the employer's written consent.

Lending an unequipped vehicle to someone you know is on the program is a misdemeanor, and so is tampering with, circumventing or bypassing the device, or helping someone else to — except for emergencies or mechanical repair when the participant does not drive while it is disengaged.

How it ends: 90 clean days

The end of the program is not a date. The commissioner decides when a participant is eligible for full privileges, but may not reinstate them until every other prerequisite is met and “the program participant's device has registered no positive breath alcohol concentrations of 0.02 or higher during the preceding 90 days.” A reading during the program extends it until the required abstinence period is met.

What a violation costs: 180 days, a year, 545 days

Tampering, driving an unequipped vehicle, breaking a condition of the restricted license or breaking the program guidelines each extend both the revocation period and the time the device must be used: by 180 days for a first violation, one year for a second, and 545 days for a third and each subsequent one. The commissioner may also terminate participation on public-safety grounds, and the time already spent on the restricted license then does not reduce the revocation.

Leaving and coming back

If a participant's license is withdrawn during the program for something that does not involve alcohol, they may not drive — but they keep earning program credit if the device stays serviced and calibrated and they keep to the requirements. A participant who withdraws voluntarily is credited with the time already spent if they come back. An act involving alcohol that leads to revocation ends participation, and re-entry then follows the abstinence rules in section 171.178.

Two protections most programs do not write down

Your choice of vendor

“A judicial officer, county agency, or probation office may not require or suggest that a person participating in the ignition interlock program… use a particular ignition interlock vendor.” They may hand over the list of every certified Minnesota vendor — nothing narrower. The only exception is a county with a contract for devices for indigent participants.

Location tracking only on a court order

The commissioner may not enable location tracking on a device except when a court orders it, and manufacturers must give participants a separate notice about any tracking capability.

Manufacturers must also provide discounted installation and monitoring to indigent participants, limit a participant who withdraws to the costs incurred while the device was installed, and pay towing or repair costs caused by device failure or by damage during installation or servicing.

What this page does not cover

Minnesota's impaired-driving offense levels, revocation periods and the abstinence periods in section 171.178 are in provisions this site has not read in full. This site has no Minnesota SR-22 page: the Minnesota sections read so far require proof of insurance for reinstatement but do not set a filing period, and this site publishes a state's filing page only when both the amounts and the period have been read.

Common questions