DUI & OWI Defense Lawyer in Mequon, WI

An OWI arrest in Mequon sets two separate clocks running, and each one is tied to its own notice. On the license side, if you refused the test you have 10 days from the Notice of Intent to Revoke to request a refusal hearing; if you failed it, you have 10 days from the Notice of Intent to Suspend to request administrative review — and an administrative suspension takes effect on its own 30 days after the Notice of Intent to Suspend is issued. The other clock runs on your case in court. Mays Law Office defends OWI charges — the offense most people search as DUI or DWI, though Wisconsin’s statutory charge is OWI — along with drugged-driving allegations, throughout Mequon and Ozaukee County. Mays Law Office represents clients across Wisconsin from our office in Middleton — including Mequon and Ozaukee County. Call 608-305-4518 for a free consultation before you say anything to anyone else about your arrest.

OWI Attorneys in Mequon, WI

Attorney Stephen E. Mays has practiced law in Wisconsin since 1995 and was named a 2025 Wisconsin Super Lawyer in DUI/DWI defense. He belongs to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Dane County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the State Bar of Wisconsin. Mequon sits in Ozaukee County, a Lake Michigan suburb directly north of Milwaukee. A criminal OWI charged there is heard at the Ozaukee County Circuit Court in Port Washington, the county seat — not in Milwaukee County next door — while a civil first offense may be handled in municipal or circuit court depending on the agency that wrote the citation. Knowing where a Mequon charge will actually land, and which questions apply to it, shapes the defense from the first call.

An OWI lawyer earns their fee in the specifics — whether the stop was lawful, whether the field sobriety tests actually show what the officer claims, whether the blood draw held up under the Fourth Amendment, and whether every deadline that protects your license was met. Those are the questions a case needs answered from the start.

When to Call Our Mequon, WI OWI Lawyers

Reach out right away if any of this fits your situation:

• You were handed a “Notice of Intent to Revoke” after refusing a breath or blood test. You have 10 days from that notice to request a refusal hearing in writing — let the window close and you forfeit the statutory chance to contest the revocation.
• You took the test and the result was over the limit. That triggers a Notice of Intent to Suspend, and you have 10 days from it to request administrative review — otherwise a 6-month administrative suspension takes effect 30 days after the Notice of Intent to Suspend is issued.
• You already have an OWI on your record. A second offense is generally a criminal misdemeanor carrying 5 days to 6 months in jail if the prior was within the last 10 years. A third runs 45 days to a year. A fourth is a Class H felony.
• A child under 16 was riding with you. That one fact turns even a first offense into a criminal misdemeanor — a $350 to $1,100 fine and a mandatory 5 days to 6 months in jail.
• Someone was hurt. Causing injury to another person while intoxicated makes even a first offense a crime, and great bodily harm or death brings separate felony charges.
• You hold a CDL. A single OWI conviction — even in your own car — disqualifies your commercial privileges for a year, and a second lifetime conviction ends them for good.
• You were at 0.15 or above. On a first offense, that reading brings a mandatory one-year ignition interlock order.

What an OWI Conviction Costs in Wisconsin

Wisconsin prosecutes drunk driving as OWI — DUI and DWI are the search terms, not separate charges. (A single stop can also produce a companion PAC count for the alcohol concentration itself; a driver found guilty of both is sentenced on one conviction.) Penalties climb with each prior:

• First offense. Civil forfeiture, not a crime. $150–$300, plus the mandatory $435 surcharge. No jail. License revoked 6–9 months. A civil first offense may be handled in municipal or circuit court depending on the agency that wrote the citation.
• Second offense. Generally a criminal misdemeanor if the prior happened within 10 years. Jail: 5 days to 6 months.
• Third offense. Criminal. Jail: 45 days to 1 year. From here on, priors count for life — earlier OWIs, refusal revocations, OWI-related injury convictions, and qualifying out-of-state convictions all come back into play.
• Fourth offense. Class H felony. 60 days to 6 years of imprisonment.
• Minor under 16 in the car. Even a first offense becomes a criminal misdemeanor: a $350–$1,100 fine and 5 days–6 months in jail.
• Ignition interlock. Required in three situations only: a test refusal, a first offense with a BAC of 0.15 or higher, or a repeat offense.
• Your license. Revocation accompanies every conviction. An occupational license can cover work, school, and treatment driving — but eligibility is not automatic. It depends on your suspension type, interlock status, the rest of your driving record, and DMV approval.
• Deadlines. Refused the evidentiary test? 10 days from the Notice of Intent to Revoke to request a refusal hearing. Failed it (the station breath or blood test, not the roadside PBT)? 10 days from the Notice of Intent to Suspend to request administrative review.

Miss a deadline and the license consequences run on autopilot.

The fine on the citation is the smallest number in an OWI case. Wisconsin adds a mandatory $435 surcharge to every conviction, the required alcohol and drug assessment typically runs $165 to $500 depending on the county, and if an interlock is ordered you can plan on roughly $50 to $150 to install it and $60 to $100 a month while the order lasts. Getting your license back costs another $200 reinstatement fee, and years of SR-22 high-risk insurance stack on top. Add it together and a typical first offense totals $4,000 to well over $10,000 all-in. Every figure here is a typical range, not a quote — your county, your vendor, and your insurer set the actual numbers.

How OWI Cases Move Through Ozaukee County Courts

Mequon is one of several communities in Ozaukee County, and where a Mequon OWI is heard depends on the charge. A criminal OWI runs through the Ozaukee County Circuit Court at the county seat in Port Washington. A civil first offense may be handled in municipal or circuit court depending on the agency that issued the citation. Where it is contested in municipal court, the standard the prosecution must meet is “clear, satisfactory and convincing” evidence under § 800.08(3) — a lower bar than the criminal standard, but a real one, and one a defense can test.

Every criminal OWI — a second offense within the 10-year window, a third or subsequent offense, or a first offense involving a minor passenger or injury — is filed in the Ozaukee County Circuit Court at 1201 S. Spring Street in Port Washington, which runs three circuit-court branches. That is where a Mequon criminal case is charged, litigated, and, if it goes that far, tried. The criminal track follows a set path: the arresting agency forwards its file to the prosecutor, who issues a criminal complaint; you make an initial appearance; contested issues get litigated at motion hearings; and if a pretrial conference produces no resolution, the case proceeds to trial, where the State must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Because a criminal Mequon case is heard at the Ozaukee County Circuit Court in Port Washington, the courthouse, the filing deadlines, and the local procedures are the county’s — not Milwaukee’s — even though Milwaukee sits just to the south. That is one of the first things our Wisconsin OWI defense practice confirms when a Mequon case comes in.

How We Defend OWI Charges

Prosecutors must build an OWI case in layers, and defending one means testing every layer. The stop comes first: reasonable suspicion is required to stop you, and probable cause is required to arrest you — a defect in either may support a motion to suppress the resulting evidence. Then the field sobriety tests, which are error-prone: the three standardized tests were validated on research that excluded people 65 and older and those 50 or more pounds overweight, and arthritis, inner-ear problems, leg injuries, cold, wind, wet pavement, and footwear can each produce false “clues.” Then the breath number — for most drivers 0.08 is the line, though drivers behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle (0.04), drivers under 21 (absolute sobriety), and drivers under an interlock order or with three or more priors (0.02) face stricter limits — and close readings invite challenge. Chemical-test reliability is a core defense front, and after you take the agency’s primary test you can request its alternative test free of charge, or arrange your own testing at your own expense. The blood draw raises a separate constitutional question: drawing blood is a Fourth Amendment search, and in State v. Prado (2021) the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the presumption that an incapacitated driver consents — exceptions like exigent circumstances can still justify a draw, but a warrantless draw without valid consent faces serious scrutiny. Finally, the operation element: the State must prove you operated the vehicle — physically manipulated or activated the controls needed to put it in motion — and parked-car and sleeping-driver cases often turn on exactly that. No single defense fits every arrest. The right one comes out of your reports, your video, and your facts — call 608-305-4518 before those details go cold.

We also handle the license side of the case — refusal hearings and administrative reviews run parallel to the main case, and both carry 10-day request windows anchored to their own notices. An occupational license is not automatic either; eligibility depends on the type of suspension, any interlock requirement, other suspensions on your record, and DMV approval, so the paperwork is worth getting right the first time.

Mequon OWI Questions We Hear Most

Will I go to jail for a first-offense OWI in Wisconsin?

For a standard first offense, no. Wisconsin is the only state that treats a first OWI as a non-criminal civil forfeiture — a fine and license revocation, but no jail. That changes fast if a child under 16 was in the car — a criminal misdemeanor with a mandatory 5 days to 6 months in jail — or if anyone else was injured, which also criminalizes the charge.

Why is my Mequon OWI case heard in Port Washington?

Because that is the county seat. Mequon does not have its own circuit court — it sits in Ozaukee County, and Ozaukee County’s circuit court is located at 1201 S. Spring Street in Port Washington, where three branches handle the county’s cases. A civil first offense may stay in a municipal court depending on the agency that wrote the citation, but any criminal OWI from Mequon — a repeat offense, or a first offense with a minor passenger or injury — is filed and litigated in the Ozaukee County Circuit Court at Port Washington. Even though Mequon borders Milwaukee, the case belongs to Ozaukee County, not to Milwaukee County next door.

Can I still drive to work?

Often, yes — but it is not automatic. An occupational license permits up to 12 hours of driving per day and 60 hours per week for work, school, medical appointments, treatment, and essential household duties — never recreation. Eligibility depends on the type of suspension or revocation, any interlock requirement, other suspensions on your record, and DMV approval — and the timing rules differ by situation, so we confirm your exact eligibility window before filing. The application runs through WisDOT paperwork, an SR-22 filing from your insurer, and proof of interlock installation where ordered — we can help prepare and review the application and supporting filings.

Is a lawyer really worth it for a civil first offense?

The first offense is where the record starts. It cannot be expunged, it raises your insurance for years, it disqualifies commercial driving privileges for a year if you hold a CDL, and it sets the counting clock — a second OWI within 10 years is generally a crime, and every prior counts forever once you reach a third. Challenging a weak stop or an unreliable test is often the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

Is refusing the test better than failing it?

They are two different problems, not a loophole and a trap. Refusal is a stand-alone violation: a first refusal brings a 1-year license revocation, a mandatory alcohol assessment, and a mandatory 1-year ignition interlock — and the refusal itself can be used as evidence against you in the OWI case. Failing the evidentiary chemical test — the breath, blood, or urine test after arrest, not the roadside preliminary breath test — instead triggers a 6-month administrative suspension. Either way the clocks are short, and each is anchored to its own notice: 10 days from the Notice of Intent to Revoke to request a refusal hearing, or 10 days from the Notice of Intent to Suspend to request administrative review, with the suspension otherwise taking effect 30 days after that notice is issued. Which situation you are in changes the strategy — it does not change the urgency.

Get a Free Consultation

Se Habla Español — Call 608-305-4518

Whether this is a civil first offense or a felony repeat charge, the days right after a Mequon OWI arrest are the ones that matter most. Call 608-305-4518 or contact Mays Law Office online for a free consultation. Mays Law Office, LLC — 6405 Century Ave STE 103, Middleton, WI 53562.