An OWI arrest in Green Bay starts two separate fights, and both begin before your first court date. One is over your driver’s license, and it moves fast: if you failed the test, the state issues a Notice of Intent to Suspend, and you have just 10 days to request administrative review — do nothing and a six-month suspension takes effect on its own 30 days after that notice is issued. The other fight is the charge itself. Mays Law Office defends OWI cases — the offense most people type into a search bar as DUI or DWI, though Wisconsin’s statute calls it OWI — along with drugged-driving allegations, throughout Green Bay and Brown County. We work from our Middleton office and appear where Green Bay cases are decided, including the Brown County Courthouse on South Jefferson Street. Call 608-305-4518 for a free consultation before you talk to anyone else about your arrest.

OWI Attorneys in Green Bay, 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. Green Bay is a port city built around the mouth of the Fox River, and Interstate 41 and Interstate 43 meet here, so its roads carry heavy traffic around the clock. An OWI stop can come from any agency working these roads — city police, sheriff’s deputies, or the Wisconsin State Patrol. Which agency made the stop, and where the charge lands, shapes the defense from the first day.

An OWI lawyer earns the fee in the details — whether the stop was lawful, whether the field sobriety tests measure what the officer says they measure, whether the breath or blood evidence survives a Fourth Amendment look, and whether every deadline that protects your license was actually met. Those are the questions a case needs answered from the start.

When to Call Our Green Bay, WI OWI Lawyers

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

• You were handed a “Notice of Intent to Revoke” after refusing a breath or blood test. You have 10 days to request a refusal hearing in writing — miss that window and the revocation runs automatically, and you lose the statutory chance to contest it.
• You took the test and blew over the limit. That triggers a Notice of Intent to Suspend, and you have 10 days to request administrative review — otherwise a six-month administrative suspension takes effect 30 days after the notice is issued.
• You already have an OWI on your record. A second offense is a criminal misdemeanor carrying 5 days to 6 months in jail when the prior falls 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 in the vehicle. That single fact turns even a first offense into a criminal misdemeanor — a $350 to $1,100 fine plus a mandatory 5 days to 6 months in jail.
• Someone was hurt. Causing injury while intoxicated criminalizes even a first offense, and great bodily harm or death brings separate felony charges.
• You hold a CDL. One OWI conviction — even in your personal vehicle — disqualifies your commercial privileges for a year, and a second lifetime conviction ends them permanently.
• Your reading was 0.15 or higher. On a first offense, that number 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.
• Second offense. Criminal misdemeanor if the prior happened within 10 years. Jail: 5 days to 6 months.
• Third offense. 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 to request a refusal hearing. Failed it (the station breath or blood test, not the roadside PBT)? 10 days to request administrative review.

Miss a deadline and the license consequences run on autopilot.

What an OWI Really Costs in Green Bay

The citation shows one number. The real bill has several:

• $435 — mandatory OWI surcharge on every conviction.
• $165–$500 — the required alcohol and drug assessment (varies by county).
• $50–$150 to install, $60–$100 per month — ignition interlock, if one is ordered.
• $200 — license reinstatement fee.
• Years of SR-22 high-risk insurance premiums stacked on top.

A typical first offense totals $4,000 to over $10,000 all-in. Every figure above is a typical range — your county, your vendor, and your insurer set the actual numbers, so treat these as planning estimates rather than a quote. Weigh the cost of a defense against that full total before deciding to simply pay and plead through. A free consultation costs nothing: 608-305-4518.

How OWI Cases Move Through Green Bay and Brown County Courts

Green Bay is the seat of Brown County, and its courthouse sits at 100 South Jefferson Street downtown — one of the state’s larger circuit courts, with eight branches. Where your case lands depends on the charge and on the agency that wrote it. A standard first-offense OWI remains a civil forfeiture, not a crime, and depending on which department cited you it may be heard in a municipal court within Brown County or in the Brown County Circuit Court. Either way it stays civil, not criminal — the license and financial consequences are still real. In municipal court, the government has to prove the case only by “clear, satisfactory and convincing” evidence, a lower bar than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard of a criminal trial.

Every criminal OWI — a repeat offense, or a first offense involving a minor passenger or an injury — is filed in the Brown County Circuit Court at 100 South Jefferson Street and prosecuted there. Which agency built the file affects the reports, the squad video, and how the whole case is put together — so sorting that out early is one of the first jobs of our Wisconsin OWI defense practice.

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 goes to trial, where the State must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

How We Defend OWI Charges

Prosecutors must build an OWI case in layers. Defending one means testing every layer:

• The stop. Reasonable suspicion is required to stop you. Probable cause is required to arrest you. A defect in either may support a motion to suppress the resulting evidence.
• Field sobriety tests. The three standardized tests are error-prone. The validation research excluded people 65 and older and those 50 or more pounds overweight. Arthritis, inner-ear problems, leg injuries, cold, wind, wet pavement, footwear — each can produce false “clues.”
• The breath number. For most drivers 0.08 is the line — drivers behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle, under-21 drivers, drivers under an interlock order, and anyone with three or more priors 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. Drawing blood is a Fourth Amendment search. 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.
• The operation element. The State must prove you operated the vehicle — physically manipulated or activated the controls needed to put it in motion. Parked-car and sleeping-driver cases often turn on this element.
• The license track. Refusal hearings and administrative reviews run parallel to the main case. Both carry 10-day request windows.

No single defense fits every arrest. The right one comes out of your reports, your video, and your facts — 608-305-4518 starts that review.

Green Bay 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.

Where will my Green Bay OWI case actually be heard?

That depends on the charge and on who cited you. A standard civil first offense is a forfeiture, and depending on the agency that wrote it, it may be handled in a Brown County municipal court or in the Brown County Circuit Court. Any criminal OWI — a repeat offense, or a first offense with a minor passenger or an injury — is filed in the Brown County Circuit Court at 100 South Jefferson Street in downtown Green Bay, an eight-branch court. So whether your stop came from Green Bay police, the Brown County Sheriff, or a State Patrol trooper on I-41 or I-43, the criminal side of your case runs through that courthouse.

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.

I have a CDL. What does an OWI do to my commercial license?

A first OWI conviction disqualifies your commercial driving privileges for 1 year — even if you were driving your personal vehicle at the time — and for 3 years if you were hauling placarded hazardous materials. A second lifetime OWI conviction means lifetime CDL disqualification. Commercial drivers also operate under a stricter 0.04 limit in a commercial vehicle, and any detectable alcohol triggers an immediate 24-hour out-of-service order.

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 Green Bay OWI arrest are the ones that decide the 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.