A.R.S. § 28-1383 — Aggravated (Felony) DUI

What makes a DUI aggravated

• Committing any DUI while your license is suspended, revoked, or restricted — a class 4 felony
• A third DUI within 84 months — a class 4 felony
• Committing DUI with a passenger under fifteen in the vehicle — a class 6 felony
• Committing DUI while required to have an ignition interlock device — a class 4 felony
• Driving the wrong way on a highway while DUI — a class 4 felony

The suspended-license variant is the most common — and the most preventable. Many people charged under it did not know their license was suspended, often because of an unpaid ticket or a missed MVD notice. Knowledge is a genuine issue in these cases, and the State has to prove the person knew or should have known.

Penalties

A class 4 aggravated DUI carries mandatory incarceration: the person is not eligible for probation or release until serving at least four months in prison, and prior felony history can raise the exposure to years. Conviction also brings a multi-year license revocation, an extended interlock requirement after reinstatement, felony assessments, and everything a felony record touches — employment, housing, and civil rights. The child-passenger variant, a class 6 felony, does not carry the four-month mandatory prison term, and first offenders may be probation-eligible.

Defenses

Every defense to the underlying DUI applies — the stop, the testing, actual physical control — plus defenses specific to the aggravating factor: whether the suspension was valid and whether the person had notice of it, whether the prior convictions actually qualify and fall within the 84-month window, and whether the State can prove the passenger’s age. Beating the aggravator, even without beating the DUI, is the difference between prison and a misdemeanor sentence.

Felony DUI cases move fast and the mandatory minimums leave no room for casual handling. If you are charged under this statute, talk to a Phoenix DUI attorney before you make any decision in the case.