The DUI Stop and the Test
Utah Code 41-6a-520 — the officer picks the tests, and refusing one is a refusal
Anyone operating a motor vehicle in Utah consents to a chemical test of breath, blood, urine or oral fluids to determine whether they were driving over the alcohol limit, under the influence, or with a measurable controlled substance in the body. An officer with reasonable suspicion of one of those directs that a test be given.
Who handles this in Utah: legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Utah directory.
- The officer decides which tests are given and how many, and the person may not choose.
- Refusing any requested test is a refusal, even after submitting to another one.
- A person asked to take a test has no right to consult an attorney, or to have anyone present, before deciding.
- The person may have a physician or physician assistant of their own choice give an additional test afterward, at their own expense, and may have the results of the tests on request.
Before a test, an arrested person is warned that refusing may mean criminal prosecution, revocation of the license, a prohibition of five or 10 years on driving with any measurable alcohol depending on driving history, and two years of driving only with an ignition interlock device.
Refusing after a warrant is its own crime. Refusing a chemical test is a class B misdemeanor when, after that warning, a court issues a warrant to draw and test the blood and the person still refuses. It is sentenced like a DUI with 24 consecutive hours more jail and a fine $100 higher, plus an ignition interlock, a transdermal alcohol monitor or home confinement.
Testing is also limited by the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that a breath test may be taken without a warrant as part of a lawful arrest for drunk driving and a blood test may not; that a driver may not be criminally punished for refusing a blood test where no warrant was obtained; and that the natural fall of alcohol in the blood does not by itself create an emergency excusing a warrant in every case, which is decided case by case on all the circumstances. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Sources for this section (4)
- Utah Code 41-6a-520 — Implied consent to chemical tests for alcohol or drug -- Number of tests -- Refusal -- Warning, report
- Utah Code 41-6a-520.1 — Refusing a chemical test
- Birchfield v. North Dakota, 579 U.S. 438 (2016) — A breath test may be taken incident to arrest, a blood draw needs a warrant
- Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. 141 (2013) — The natural fall of blood alcohol is not by itself an emergency justifying a warrantless draw
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Utah attorney.