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As many followers of the DUI News Blog may be aware, typically states across the nation impose greater penalties for those defendants whose blood/breath alcohol levels meet or exceed a certain level. In Tennessee, that level has been .20% since its inception many years ago. In 2024, however, the enhanced penalty provisions for DUI and other related offenses such as vehicular homicide and vehicular assault has been dramatically reduced to .15%.
Accordingly, as of the date of the publication of this blog entry, a person convicted of a DUI, first offense with a blood or breath alcohol level of .15% or greater faces a minimum punishment of seven days of incarceration, rather than the minimum of 48 hours imposed upon those with a blood or breath alcohol level less than .15%. In 2025, this reduced blood alcohol level allows for the enhancement of penalties in other crimes such as vehicular assault, bearing a penalty of two to 12 years confinement and/or a fine not to exceed $5,000. Therefore, a defendant with a blood alcohol level of .15% or more may be charged with aggravated vehicular assault, resulting in a penalty of 3 to 15 years confinement and a fine of $5000-$15,000. Of course, other factors may increase the penalty for this crime as well.
Additionally, as of July 1, 2025, depending on other circumstances, the penalty for vehicular homicide may also be increased from a penalty of eight to 30 years, and a fine not to exceed $25,000 to a penalty of 15 to 60 years confinement and/or a fine not to exceed $50,000. This Class A felony is the most serious of all graded felonies in Tennessee. Furthermore, as part of the “Truth in Sentencing Act,” a person must serve essentially 100% of the sentence imposed by the court.
About the Author: Steven Oberman has been licensed in Tennessee since 1980, and successfully defended over 2,500 DUI defendants. Steve was the first lawyer in Tennessee to be Board Certified as a DUI Defense Specialist by the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (NCDD). Among the many honors bestowed upon him, Steve has served as Dean of the NCDD and currently serves as chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers DUI Committee.
He is the author of DUI: The Crime & Consequences in Tennessee, updated annually since 1991 (Thomson-West), and co-author with Lawrence Taylor (1942 – 2023) of the national treatise, Drunk Driving Defense, 9th edition (Wolters Kluwer/Aspen). Steve has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee Law School since 1993 and has received a number of prestigious awards for his faculty contributions. He is a popular international speaker, having spoken at legal seminars in 30 states, the District of Columbia and 10 foreign countries. After being named a Fulbright Scholar, Steve was honored to teach as a Visiting Professor at the University of Latvia Faculty of Law (Law School) in the capital city of Riga, Latvia for a semester during 2019. In 2023, Steve accepted an offer to teach for a semester as a Visiting Professor at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest, Hungary. Steve was designated a Fulbright Scholar for a second time and taught American Criminal Law and American Trial Advocacy at The University of Ljubljana Faculty of Law in the capital city of Ljubljana, Slovenia for the 2024 spring semester. Since then, Steve taught American Trial Advocacy to Masters Students in Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law for the Winter Semester in 2025 at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Faculty of Law in Madrid, Spain. If you would like to contact the author, please visit his website at www.tndui.com.
