Did you know DUI checkpoints are perfectly legal—until they aren’t?
If you’ve heard that DUI checkpoints are legal in Indiana, well, that’s technically true. But legality isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card for law enforcement. There are strict constitutional rules in play, and the moment officers deviate from those rules? That’s when legality flies out the window, and we start talking about unconstitutional arrests.
This isn’t a blog about how unfair or intrusive checkpoints are. We’re not here to debate the broader civil liberties issues—like stopping hundreds of sober drivers, inconveniencing the public, and funneling folks into surprise interactions with armed government agents. That’s a rant for another day.
Instead, we’re going to focus on what Indiana law actually requires for these checkpoints to be legal—and how often the police mess it up.
The Legal Ground Rules
The Indiana Supreme Court has held that DUI checkpoints are legal under both the U.S. and Indiana Constitutions—as long as they meet six very specific criteria. Miss one, and there is a legitimate argument that the whole checkpoint becomes unconstitutional. And if the checkpoint is determined to be unconstitutional then any arrest coming out of that checkpoint should be thrown out.
Let’s walk through the six requirements that are required of a constitutional checkpoint.
1. A Neutral, Approved Plan
Every checkpoint must be run according to a written plan approved by the appropriate officials. Not just some vague idea of how things are supposed to go—an actual, detailed manual. In Marion County, home to Indianapolis, there’s a 45-page guide put together by the Traffic Safety Partnership that lays out exactly how checkpoints should be run. Every county getting federal funding for checkpoints has to have something similar.
This plan covers everything, including,
- Where to put the signs warning of a checkpoint
- How many officers should be present
- The exact phrasing officers should use when speaking to drivers
- How vehicles are selected for additional screening
- How a location for a checkpoint should be chosen
The theory is simple: If the checkpoint follows the plan, the argument is that it is constitutional. But as Mike Tyson famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Execution is where things fall apart. In practice, officers skip steps, improvise procedures, or just flat-out ignore the plan—and that’s where we step in.
We’ve taken checkpoint cases to trial. We’ve gone to the Court of Appeals. We’ve dug into records, reviewed body cam footage, and cross-examined officers. And what do we find over and over?
Deviation from the plan.
A few real-world examples:
- The sign warning drivers of the checkpoint was 125 feet from the intersection instead of the required 200 feet.
- The location chosen wasn’t a known DUI hotspot—just a random parking lot with no statistical justification.
- Officers picked and chose which vehicles to send into the inspection chute, rather than following the required “next two vehicles” rule.
These aren’t just technicalities. They’re constitutional red flags. When officers skip steps or play favorites, they turn a supposedly neutral checkpoint into a legally indefensible trap.
2. A Legitimate Purpose
The sole purpose of a DUI checkpoint must be to get impaired drivers off the road. That’s it. It can’t be a sneaky way to run warrant checks, snoop for drugs, or fish for unrelated charges. The mission must be clear, and it must be stated up front.
Part of that clarity includes time and location. A checkpoint should be set up when and where drunk driving is actually likely to occur. Think: Friday or Saturday night near busy bar districts—not Tuesday morning in a residential neighborhood.
If a checkpoint nets one DUI arrest out of 300 cars, something’s wrong. Either the location was poorly chosen, the time was off, or the checkpoint was never really about catching drunk drivers in the first place. We’ve seen this firsthand—like the checkpoint set up in a church parking lot in Hamilton County that resulted in a single arrest after inconveniencing hundreds of drivers.
Low DUI yield in a checkpoint? That’s a neon sign to a good defense attorney that something’s amiss.
3. Minimal Officer Discretion
This one is huge. Officers running the checkpoint can’t just make it up as they go. The plan should dictate:
- Which vehicles get stopped
- What officers are supposed to say
- What happens next based on the driver’s responses
Any deviation—letting some vehicles through while pulling others aside for subjective reasons—opens the door to bias, discrimination, and abuse.
And I’ve seen it happen.
- Officers skipping cars because they “knew the driver.”
- Letting police cruisers breeze through without screening.
- Pulling in a driver because they “looked suspicious.”
These aren’t hypotheticals—they’re case facts. Officer discretion is precisely what the courts are trying to eliminate in checkpoint operations. Any meaningful discretion turns a neutral, systematic checkpoint into something resembling a roving patrol—which has very different constitutional standards.
4. Minimal Intrusion
The whole idea behind checkpoints is to balance public safety with individual rights. That means checkpoints should be as non-intrusive as possible.
Drivers should see clear signs well in advance. They should be able to avoid the checkpoint altogether if they choose (though they’ll probably get followed by a designated “chase car” if they do). Officers should limit their questioning to a quick, focused inquiry: “Have you had anything to drink tonight?”
That’s it.
Not:
- “Where are you coming from?”
- “Do you have any weapons in the car?”
- “Mind if I search your trunk?”
In fact, checkpoint guidelines often specify a target interaction time—usually around two minutes. Unless the officer smells alcohol, sees signs of impairment, or hears a confession, you should be sent on your way quickly.
And by the way, trying to avoid a checkpoint is not illegal. You have every right to take the next legal turn to steer clear. But if you do, a chase unit will often follow and look for any excuse to pull you over—speeding, rolling through a stop sign, failing to signal. It’s perfectly legal, but let’s not pretend it’s subtle.
5. Safety for All
It should go without saying: Checkpoints have to be physically safe—for both drivers and officers.
That means adequate lighting, proper traffic flow, and enough space to safely conduct screenings without blocking the roadway or putting people in danger.
But here’s where it gets weird. We’ve seen officers and prosecutors argue that they couldn’t follow the checkpoint plan (say, placing a sign 200 feet from the intersection) because it “wasn’t safe.” “It was ‘safer’ to place the sign 100 feet away”.
Wait—if the location isn’t safe enough for a sign, why are you stopping cars there?
That’s not just bad judgment—it’s a constitutional flaw.
6. The Checkpoint Has to Work
This final requirement gets overlooked, but it’s critical: The checkpoint must actually be effective at finding impaired drivers.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: DUI checkpoints are a waste of time, tax dollars, and police resources. They’re flashy and performative, but they don’t do the job better than traditional patrols. That alone should make us question their value.
But more importantly, if they’re not effective, they fail the constitutional test.
Bottom Line: Know Your Rights
The law says DUI checkpoints are legal in Indiana—if they meet all six requirements. But in practice, law enforcement often misses the mark. And that means innocent people can end up facing criminal charges from an unconstitutional checkpoint.
Don’t let that happen to you.
If you’re pulled over at a checkpoint, stay calm. Be polite. And if you’re arrested or even just hassled and something about the stop felt off, call the Marc Lopez Law Firm. We know exactly what to look for.
We’ve fought DUI checkpoint cases—and won. We know how to challenge unconstitutional procedures, expose lazy shortcuts, and hold the State accountable.
If you or a loved one is facing DUI charges after a checkpoint, don’t plead guilty without a fight. Call us at 463-842-1724, and remember—always Plead the Fifth!
