State .08 BAC Laws
July 2004

As of July, 2004, all fifty states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have adopted .08 BAC illegal per se laws, as the legal level of intoxication in their state. Illegal per se means that a BAC level above the set limit is a violation in and of itself-impairment need not be demonstrated.

State	Enactment Date	Effective Date
Alabama	07/31/95	10/01/95
Alaska	07/03/01	09/01/01
Arizona	04/11/01	08/31/01
Arkansas	03/06/01	08/13/01
California	1989	01/01/90
Colorado	5/21/04	7/1/04
Connecticut	07/01/02	07/01/02
Delaware	07/12/04	07/12/04
District of Columbia	12/01/98	04/13/99
Florida	04/27/93	01/01/94
Georgia	04/16/01	07/01/01
Hawaii	06/30/95	06/30/95
Idaho	03/17/97	07/01/97
Illinois	07/02/97	07/02/97
Iowa	04/24/03	07/01/03
Indiana	05/09/01	07/01/01
Kansas	04/22/93	07/01/93
Kentucky	04/21/00	10/01/00
Louisiana	06/26/01	09/30/03
Maine	04/28/88	08/04/88
Maryland	04/10/01	09/30/01
Massachusetts	06/03/03	06/03/03
Michigan	7/15/03	9/30/03
Minnesota	5/27/04	8/1/05
Mississippi	03/11/02	07/01/02
Missouri	06/12/01	09/29/01
Montana	04/15/03	04/15/03
Nebraska	03/01/01	09/01/01
Nevada	06/10/03	9/23/03
New Hampshire	04/15/93	01/01/94
New Jersey	1/20/04	1/20/04
New Mexico	03/19/93	01/01/94
New York	12/30/02	11/01/03
North Carolina	07/05/93	10/01/93
North Dakota	04/07/03	08/01/03
Ohio	03/31/03	07/01/03
Oklahoma	06/08/01	07/01/01
Oregon	08/04/83	10/15/83
Pennsylvania	9/30/03	10/1/03
Puerto Rico	01/10/00	01/10/01
Rhode Island	07/13/00	07/13/00
South Carolina	06/19/03	08/19/03
South Dakota	02/27/02	07/01/02
Tennessee	06/27/02	07/01/03
Texas	05/28/99	09/01/99
Utah	03/19/83	08/01/83
Vermont	06/06/91	07/01/91
Virginia	04/06/94	07/01/94
Washington	03/30/98	01/01/99
West Virginia	2/5/04	2/17/04
Wisconsin	07/03/03	09/30/03
Wyoming	03/11/02	07/01/02
Total: 50 States, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico

Sources: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Westlaw & Lexis bill tracking, MADD and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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