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YOUR TEXAS DRIVER’S LICENSE – ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING REQUEST
If you have been charged with DWI in Texas, your driving privileges are in jeopardy. You only have fifteen (15) days to file for an administrative license hearing (ALR) to protect your driving privileges. The officer took your driver’s license, gave you a notice of suspension form and temporary driving privilege that is valid for forty (40) days. If you fail to timely and correctly file for your ALR within the first fifteen (15) days after receiving the notice of suspension that acts as your temporary driver’s license, your Texas driving privileges will be suspended on the forty first (41) day after you received the notice. Contact Chad E. Jones to assist you in requesting your administrative hearing. Your driving privileges are at stake. Complete the form on this page to have Chad E. Jones contact you to discuss you options. Do not delay, contact Chad E. Jones today.
Timely requesting an ALR is crucial. It delays suspension of your driving privileges and may prevent it all together. Further, the State has to prove that the officer who stopped you had probably cause to arrest you, and it gives you the opportunity to hear the officer testify about your case, if properly subpoenaed. This may assist you in the preparation of your criminal case. You only have one chance to chose the best DWI lawyer for you. Contact Chad E. Jones to assist you in keeping your driver’s license.
SUMMARY OF TEXAS DWI LAWS AND PENALTIES
The DWI Legal Limit in Texas. The legal limit for intoxication in Texas is .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). For anyone under 21, Texas has a zero tolerance law making it illegal to drive with any detectable amount of alcohol.
- Jail time – A first time offender may face 72 hours to 6 months in jail
- Driving Privileges – If convicted of a first offense, suspension of driver’s license could last 90 days to 1 year. First time offenders may also be required to attend DWI School and do a minimum of 24 hours of community service.
- Monetary Fines – A first time offender will pay no more than $2,000
- Commercial Drivers – Any commercial driver with a BAC level over .04 will have their commercial driver’s licenses suspended for 1 year, 3 years if the vehicle was carrying hazardous materials.
- Subsequent Offenses – If convicted of a second offense, fines are as much as $4,000 with possible jail time of 30 days to 1 year, 32 hours of DWI School, a minimum of 80 hours of community service, and suspension of your driver’s license for 180 days to 2 years. If convicted of a third offense, the fines could be $10,000 with 2 to 10 years in a penitentiary and suspension of your license for 180 days to 2 years.
- If convicted of a third DWI, it becomes a 3rd degree FELONY
UNDERAGE DRINKING IN TEXAS
If you’re under 21, the first time you are found in possession of alcohol the penalties could be:
- 30-day driver’s license suspension
- up to a $500 fine
- Community Service
- Mandatory attendance in Alcohol-awareness classes
Subsequent offenses: Ninety (90) days to One Hundred Eighty (180) days suspension of your driver’s license; if you’re 17 or older, you also can be fined up to $2,000 and go to jail for up to One Hundred Eighty (180) days for a third offense.
If you’re under 21, the first time you are stopped for drinking and driving the penalties could be:
- 60-day driver’s license suspension
- up to a $500 fine
- Community Service
- Mandatory attendance in Alcohol-awareness classes
If you’re 17 and over, and you are stopped for drinking and driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or greater the penalties could be:
- up to a $2,000 fine
- Seventy two (72) hours to One Hundred Eighty (180) days in jail
- Driver’s License Suspension of Ninety (90) days to one (1) year
Suspension of Minor's License Upon DWI Conviction
(n) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or other law, the judge who places on community supervision a defendant who is younger than 21 years of age and convicted for an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, shall:
(1) order that the defendant's driver's license be suspended for 90 days beginning on the date that the person is placed on community supervision; and
(2) require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant not operate a motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with the device described by Subsection
(3) of this section.
Texas Code Criminal Procedure Article 42.12, § 13(n)
Community Service Provisions
(a) A judge shall require as a condition of community supervision, that the defendant work a specified number of hours at community service project or projects for an organization or organizations approved by the judge and designated by the department, unless the judge determines and notes on the order placing the defendant on community supervision that:
(1) the defendant is physically or mentally incapable of participating in the project;
(2) participating in the project will work a hardship on the defendant or the defendant's dependents;
(3) the defendant is to be confined in a substance abuse punishment facility as a condition of community supervision; or
(4) there is other good cause shown.