• Anyone convicted of an Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) offense is required to contact the approved IDP assessment facility for their county of residence within 72 hours after conviction.
• Anyone with multiple OWI arrests/convictions within the following specific periods of time is ordered by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation DMV to have an IDP assessment within 45 days:
• If the driver has one OWI arrest within the past 12 months, and the department has an IDP assessment that shows “dependent” or “suspected dependent” or higher within the past two years.
• If the driver has one OWI arrest within the past 12 months, and two additional OWI arrests within the past two years.
• If the driver has two OWI arrests within 12 months.
• Second and subsequent OWI convictions require completion of an IDP assessment before the driver may be eligible for an occupational license.
• An OWI arrest from another jurisdiction that would have resulted in suspension or revocation in Wisconsin will result in an order for an IDP assessment.
• An individual may also voluntarily obtain an IDP assessment after an arrest. (Be advised, if the IDP assessment result is “suspected dependent” or higher, even if not convicted of the OWI, the driver is required to complete the driver safety plan or the driver license will be cancelled or denied for non-compliance.)

An individual will obtain an IDP assessment with the authorized facility based upon their county of residence. If you are not a resident of the state of Wisconsin but need to obtain an IDP assessment to comply with Wisconsin’s law, you may contact the local resources of your state. Your IDP assessment must be completed with an IDP assessor in your state of residence.

Wisconsin does not accept online IDP assessments or online alcohol education/counseling programs under any circumstances. This includes victim impact panels.

Note: Due to the current health pandemic of Covid-19, telehealth services (i.e. zoom, google meet, skype, etc.) are acceptable (with the exception of the victim impact panel).

Driver safety plans for OWI convictions are education and/or rehabilitation programs based on the findings from the IDP assessment.

For example, when an IDP assessor identifies a driver as:

• Irresponsible User
• the driver may be sent to a Group Dynamics-Traffic Safety program taken at a local technical college
• Irresponsible User-Borderline
• the driver may be sent to a combination of education and short-term, outpatient counseling
• Suspected Chemical Dependent
• the driver may be sent to outpatient treatment programs
• Chemically Dependent
• the driver may be sent to inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment programs
• Dependency in Remission
• The driver may be sent to any combination of treatment or education.

Driver safety plan must be completed within one year of the IDP assessment date. If additional time is required to complete the plan, the driver may request a one-time, four-month extension by contacting the IDP assessment agency prior to the end of the one-year time period.

The IDP assessor submits a report to the DMV. For Wisconsin assessments, this must be completed on the appropriate DMV forms. (MV3633/MV3634) The Alcohol and Drug Review Unit in the Bureau of Driver Services screens the report to see whether:

• the assessment and driver safety plan are appropriate
• the assessor recommends the individual for a license
• the assessment mentions all OWI-related offenses

All licenses are cancelled or denied, including occupational licenses, for individuals deemed non-compliant.

Non-compliance includes:

• Driver is arrested for OWI while in a plan
• Driver does not schedule or appear at an IDP assessment
• Driver does not submit the IDP assessment before the withdrawal date
• Driver does not comply with a driver safety plan
• Driver does not pay the fee for the assessment or the driver safety plan
• Driver does not complete the driver safety plan within one year from the date of the IDP assessment

Driver may request a DMV review of the non-compliance action by following the instructions in the non-compliance letter. This request must be in writing and postmarked within 10 days of receipt of the notice of non-compliance.