Ignition interlock in South Carolina

A law passed in 2007 put the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services in charge of the Ignition Interlock Device Program. The rules you live under come from that department. A private interlock company handles the actual install and the service work, and the choice of company is yours.

The answer depends on your BAC, meaning the alcohol level measured in your blood when you were arrested, and on the date of the offense. Emma's Law says a first offense with a BAC of .15 or above requires the program.

Had a first DUI with a BAC below .15, and did it happen before May 19, 2024? Then the program isn't mandatory for you. For any other first conviction, South Carolina requires an interlock with every DUI.

If your offense date falls on or after October 1, 2014, the state will not return your driver's license until the program is finished. Completing it means serving the entire term assigned to you, no matter when your offense happened.

Once the device is in, there are just a few steps:

1. Get the device installed and ask for your installation certificate.
2. Bring the certificate to SCDMV, which handles driver's licenses for the state.
3. You'll be issued an Ignition Interlock Restricted License, and it's what lets you drive while you're in the program.

That license only covers vehicles fitted with the device. Your term doesn't begin until the install happens, so each week you put off booking is a week added to the wait. One quick call starts the clock.

A number of national companies do installs in South Carolina: Smart Start, Intoxalock, LifeSafer, Guardian Interlock and ADS among them. Prices vary from one to another, and so do the locations of their service centers. That's worth thinking about, since you'll be returning to the same center every 60 days or more often.

When you call us, we send your request to a company or installer that covers South Carolina, and they arrange your appointment.

The device's installation and maintenance come out of your own pocket. MADD's national averages run $70 to $150 for installation plus $60 to $80 each month. By those numbers, a 2 year term totals roughly $1,510 to $2,070, and a 3 year term roughly $2,230 to $3,030.

Monthly prices that companies publish start at $54.99 for Intoxalock and $59.99 for Smart Start. LifeSafer and Guardian Interlock both list a range of $50 to $120 monthly. ADS keeps its pricing unpublished.

At least once each 60 days you have to go back to the service center so the device can be checked. Picking a center near your home or your job makes that routine far easier to keep up with.

Problems in the program get logged as violation points. Hit 4 points or more and you're facing a 6-month license suspension along with a mandatory substance abuse assessment. Two habits protect the ground you've gained: keep your 60-day appointments, and drive only the vehicle that has the device.

If you drive a vehicle for work, it also needs a device unless SCDMV has given you an employer exemption. That exemption is written permission allowing you to drive your employer's vehicle without an interlock in it. Without one, your work vehicle needs its own device installed before you get behind the wheel.