Wisconsin Policy Forum: Impairment to imprisonment: Drunk driving incarceration soars in Wisconsin

The number of people incarcerated in Wisconsin state prisons for intoxicated driving offenses hit a record high in 2024 and stayed elevated in 2025, a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report finds. The state’s long-term rise in incarceration for operating while intoxicated (OWI) was influenced by increasingly tough penalties for the most serious cases, as well as increasing prison admissions for new of...