Ignition interlock requirements in Virginia

For a first adult DUI, Virginia's restricted license has one condition: the interlock, for 12 consecutive months without an alcohol-related violation. After a second, it goes on every vehicle you own.

The device the statute describes

Virginia defines the system before it orders one. An “ignition interlock system” connects the ignition to an analyser, “prevents a motor vehicle ignition from starting if a driver's blood alcohol content exceeds 0.02 percent,” and must be able to perform a rolling retest and log every ignition, attempted ignition and retest. A rolling retest that shows more than 0.02, or that the driver skips, sounds the horn and flashes the lights.

A first offense: the interlock is the restriction

For an adult's first conviction under section 18.2-266, Virginia's restricted license is unusual. “The only restriction of a restricted license that the court shall impose is to prohibit the offender from operating a motor vehicle that is not equipped with a functioning, certified ignition interlock system for not less than 12 consecutive months without alcohol-related violations.” Section 18.2-271.1 confirms that such a person may be issued a restricted permit to drive “for any lawful purpose.” The court may accept six consecutive clean months instead, on the offender's motion, if it adds other restrictions for the life of the restricted license.

Consecutive and violation-free

The period is not a number of calendar months from installation. It is twelve consecutive months without alcohol-related violations of the interlock requirements, which is how the statute ties the end date to compliance. It is counted from the day the court issues the restricted license, and it is paused if the court's restricted license expires before the Department of Motor Vehicles issues its own.

Convicted in another state

A Virginia resident convicted elsewhere of a substantially similar offense, and facing revocation in Virginia, may petition the general district court for probation, an alcohol safety action program and a restricted license. If the court grants it, the restricted license carries the same interlock condition: no vehicle without a functioning, certified system for at least 12 consecutive months without alcohol-related violations.

Before trial

A person charged with a first or second offense may enter an alcohol safety action program before trial, pre-qualify for an interlock and have one installed. Time installed before trial counts toward any interlock or restricted-license period later ordered.

Second and later offenses: every vehicle you own

For a second or subsequent offense, or for restoration after certain revocations, the court must require the system “on each motor vehicle… owned by or registered to the offender, in whole or in part”, for at least 12 consecutive months without alcohol-related violations. Partial ownership is enough to bring a vehicle in.

Restoration after a second offense in ten years

Where a second offense falls within ten years of the first, restoration of the license is conditioned on the interlock on each owned or registered vehicle for 12 clean months beginning at the end of the three-year revocation — unless the person already completed 12 clean months on a restricted license. No restricted license is issued during the first four months of that revocation, or during the first year where the second offense came within five years.

Running the device: ASAP, 30 days, quarterly logs

The offender is enrolled in and supervised by an alcohol safety action program for the whole interlock period. Within 30 days of the court's order they must give the program proof of installation; the system must be monitored and calibrated at least every 30 days by an approved entity; and at least quarterly they must hand the program a printout of the electronic log showing every ignition, attempted ignition, rolling retest, and any attempt to tamper. The offender pays for the device. The clerk collects a $20 fee for court and administrative costs. Failing, without good cause, to install in time or to keep the system monitored and calibrated can cost the driving privilege.

Remote alcohol monitoring

Since 2021 a court may, on the offender's motion, order a remote alcohol monitoring device alongside the interlock for someone not eligible for the first-offense restricted license, and with it issue a restricted license for any purpose. The same program supervision and quarterly data reporting apply.

You pick the company

The Commission on VASAP certifies the systems and publishes the list, and the local program makes it available. The statute gives the choice to the driver: offenders “shall have the responsibility and authority to choose which certified ignition interlock company… will supply the offender's equipment.” Regulations also set up a fund, drawn from a percentage of provider fees, to cover all or part of the cost for someone the court finds indigent.

What a certified system must do

The Commission's certification standards are set out in the statute itself. A certified system must not impede safe operation; must minimize and record any attempt to bypass or tamper with it; must correlate accurately with blood alcohol measures and work reliably unsupervised; must give a written measure for every ignition, attempted ignition and rolling retest; and must deliver its electronic log to the supervising agency within 24 hours of collecting it from the data logger. The manufacturer or distributor must meet federal highway safety requirements, carry liability insurance in an amount the Commission sets, and provide a toll-free, 24-hour telephone line for users at no cost to the Commonwealth. A device may not be sold or leased to someone under an order unless it is certified and carries the Commission's warning label, which states that tampering is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Employer vehicles and other people

A person under an interlock order may drive an employer's vehicle without a system solely in the course of employment, and only if the court expressly permits it as a license condition at the employer's request. It never covers a school bus, school vehicle or commercial motor vehicle, and does not apply where the driver wholly or partly owns or controls the employer.

Starting a vehicle for a restricted person, tampering with or trying to circumvent the system, or knowingly lending them a vehicle without one is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

The filing that runs alongside it

For an intoxication conviction the Virginia filing is the FR-44, at 100/200/50, not the SR-22. It runs for 3 years from the point the person would otherwise be entitled to a license again, which is a different clock from the 12 consecutive clean months. The Virginia page covers both forms and the reinstatement fee.

What this page does not cover

The revocation lengths in section 18.2-271 and the Commission's regulations are not described here. Device prices are set by providers, not by statute.

Common questions