An OWI arrest in Marshfield starts two separate clocks the same afternoon. One runs against your driver’s license: if you failed the evidentiary test, the state issues a Notice of Intent to Suspend, and the administrative suspension takes effect 30 days after that notice is issued unless you request administrative review within 10 days. If you refused, the parallel refusal clock runs the same 10-day length. The other clock runs against your case in court. Mays Law Office defends OWI charges — the offense most people search as DUI or DWI, though Wisconsin’s statutory name is OWI — along with drugged-driving allegations, throughout Marshfield and the surrounding counties. Mays Law Office represents clients across Wisconsin from our office in Middleton — including Marshfield, whichever side of the line a case lands on. Call 608-305-4518 for a free consultation before you talk to anyone else about the arrest.

OWI Attorneys in Marshfield, 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. Marshfield sits on a county line, and that geography matters more here than in most Wisconsin cities: the city spans the Wood–Marathon county line, so where a case is handled can depend on which side of the line the stop happened. Nailing down which county the offense occurred in is one of the first practical questions in a Marshfield OWI, and it shapes everything that follows.

An OWI lawyer earns the 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 the deadlines that protect your license were met. Those are the questions a case needs answered from the start.

When to Call Our Marshfield, 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 on its own, and you forfeit the statutory chance to contest it.
• You took the test and the result was over the limit. That triggers a Notice of Intent to Suspend, and you have 10 days to request administrative review — otherwise a 6-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 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 single 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 personal vehicle — 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.
• 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.

One more distinction worth knowing early: a standard first offense is handled as a civil matter, and when it is contested in municipal court the burden of proof the government must meet is “clear, satisfactory and convincing” evidence. A second or subsequent OWI is criminal, filed in circuit court, where the State must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The citation shows one number. The real bill has several. Wisconsin adds a mandatory $435 surcharge to every OWI conviction, and the required alcohol and drug assessment typically runs $165 to $500 depending on the county. If an interlock is ordered, 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 SR-22 high-risk insurance keeps raising your premiums for years afterward. Add it together and a typical first offense lands somewhere between $4,000 and well over $10,000 all-in. Every figure here 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.

How OWI Cases Move Through Marshfield’s Courts

Marshfield is one of the handful of Wisconsin cities built across a county line, and that fact drives where your case is handled. The city spans the Wood–Marathon county line, and criminal venue follows where the offense occurred: a criminal OWI on the Wood County side is handled at the Wood County Circuit Court, in the county seat of Wisconsin Rapids at 400 Market Street; one on the Marathon County side goes to the Marathon County Circuit Court, in the county seat of Wausau at 500 Forest Street. One of the first things our Wisconsin OWI defense practice confirms is which county the offense occurred in, because the answer determines which court sets your dates, who prosecutes, and where you appear.

Not every OWI is a criminal case, and not every OWI is heard in circuit court. A standard first offense is a civil, non-criminal matter, and whether it is handled in a local municipal court or in circuit court depends on the citing agency and the ordinance charged. Every criminal OWI — a repeat offense, or a first offense involving a minor passenger or an injury — is filed in the circuit court for the county where the offense occurred and prosecuted by that county’s District Attorney’s Office.

For a criminal OWI, the track follows a set path. The arresting agency forwards its file to the District Attorney for the county where the offense occurred, 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. Any traffic stop can come from city officers, a county sheriff’s deputy, or a state trooper — and which agency made the stop can affect the reports, the video, and how the case is built.

How We Defend OWI Charges

Prosecutors have to 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 — call 608-305-4518 to start that review before the details go cold.

We also handle the license side of the case — refusal hearings and occupational license applications. An occupational license is not automatic; 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.

Marshfield OWI Questions We Hear Most

Which county will my Marshfield OWI case be heard in — Wood or Marathon?

It depends on where the offense occurred. Marshfield spans the Wood–Marathon county line, and for a criminal OWI, Wisconsin venue follows the location of the offense, not your home address. A criminal OWI on the Wood County side goes to the Wood County Circuit Court in Wisconsin Rapids, at 400 Market Street; one on the Marathon County side goes to the Marathon County Circuit Court in Wausau, at 500 Forest Street. That also decides which District Attorney’s office prosecutes and where you appear. A standard civil first offense is different — depending on the citing agency and the ordinance, it may be handled in a local municipal court rather than circuit court. Confirming the correct county is one of the first things we sort out, because the schedule of your case is built off it.

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 clock is the same: 10 days to request a refusal hearing or administrative review, or the license consequence takes effect on its own 30 days after the notice is issued. Which situation you are in changes the strategy — it does not change the urgency.

Can I get an OWI expunged later?

No. Wisconsin’s expungement statute excludes OWI convictions entirely, and the civil first offense stays on your WisDOT driving record permanently — and once you reach a third offense, every prior counts, no matter how old.

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 a crime, and it counts forever once you reach a third. Challenging a weak stop or an unreliable test is often the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

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.

Get a Free Consultation

Se Habla Español — Call 608-305-4518

Whether this is a civil first offense or a felony repeat charge, and whether your case lands in Wisconsin Rapids or Wausau, the days right after a Marshfield 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.