Texas DWI Defense Guide: Penalties, ALR Hearing & License Suspension (2026)

A DWI charge in Texas triggers two parallel proceedings: a criminal case in the county court (or district court if it's a felony) AND an administrative license-suspension case (Administrative License Revocation, or ALR) run by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Each has its own deadlines, its own consequences, and its own opportunities for defense. Miss the 15-day deadline to request an ALR hearing and you lose your license automatically, even before the criminal case is decided. Texas treats DWI seriously — first-offense fines can reach $2,000 and 180 days in county jail, with ignition interlock requirements becoming increasingly common. This guide walks through the offense itself, penalties at each level, ALR mechanics, breath and blood testing, sentencing options, and how and whether you can later clear the record. This is general information, not legal advice — consult a Texas-licensed attorney for advice about your specific situation.

What counts as DWI in Texas

Tex. Penal Code § 49.04(a) defines DWI: a person commits the offense if intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place. "Intoxicated" is defined in Tex. Penal Code § 49.01(2) as either:

Not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination thereof, or any other substance — known as the "impairment" or "loss of faculties" theory; OR
Having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more — the "per se" theory.

The statute is disjunctive. Prosecutors can pursue either or both theories. The impairment theory does not require a chemical test — officer observations alone (slurred speech, poor balance, performance on field sobriety tests, driving errors) can be enough to support a conviction. Drugs and prescription medication are covered too: a driver impaired by lawfully prescribed medication can still be charged with DWI if the medication impaired their faculties. There is no separate "DUID" charge in Texas; drug-impaired and alcohol-impaired driving fall under the same DWI statute.

For commercial drivers (CDL), the BAC threshold drops to 0.04 (Tex. Transp. Code § 522.081). For drivers under 21, ANY detectable amount of alcohol can result in a charge under the zero-tolerance Driving Under the Influence (DUI) by Minor statute (Tex. Alc. Bev. Code § 106.041) — a separate offense from DWI. "Public place" includes any street, highway, parking lot, alley, or any other place open to the public.

First DWI: Class B and Class A penalties

A first-offense DWI is a Class B misdemeanor under Tex. Penal Code § 49.04(b): jail time of 72 hours minimum (the statutory "shock" days) up to 180 days, and a fine up to $2,000. Probation (community supervision) is available and common for first-time offenders.

A first DWI is elevated to a Class A misdemeanor under Tex. Penal Code § 49.04(d) if the driver's BAC was 0.15 or higher at the time of testing. Class A means jail up to one year and fine up to $4,000. Additional first-DWI consequences include:

License suspension. A criminal-court DWI conviction triggers a separate DPS license suspension (Tex. Transp. Code § 521.342) of 90 days to one year, in addition to any ALR suspension already imposed.
Ignition interlock. For first DWI at 0.15+, the court will typically order an interlock device as a condition of bond or probation (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.441).
DWI Education. Mandatory completion of a state-approved DWI Education program (12 or 32 hours depending on offense level) under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42A.402.
Open container present in the vehicle (Tex. Penal Code § 49.04(c)): minimum jail term jumps from 72 hours to 6 days.
State and DPS fees separate from the criminal fine; ongoing surcharge/reinstatement fees apply under Tex. Transp. Code § 521.427.

For a full breakdown of first-DWI penalties, fines, license consequences, and probation conditions, see our spoke: First DWI in Texas: penalties, fines, license consequences.

DWI 2nd, DWI 3rd, and felony enhancements

Tex. Penal Code § 49.09 enhances DWI penalties based on prior convictions and other aggravating factors:

DWI 2nd: Class A misdemeanor. Jail 30 days to 1 year, fine up to $4,000. Mandatory ignition interlock and longer license suspension.
DWI 3rd: 3rd-degree felony. Imprisonment 2 to 10 years, fine up to $10,000. Probation is available but discretionary. Mandatory interlock.
DWI with prior intoxication-manslaughter conviction: 2nd-degree felony.

Two important enhancements that elevate a first DWI:

DWI with child passenger (Tex. Penal Code § 49.045): if a passenger under 15 was in the vehicle, the offense is a state-jail felony regardless of priors — 180 days to 2 years state jail, fine up to $10,000.
Open container present (Tex. Penal Code § 49.04(c)): raises the minimum jail term to 6 days.

DWI prior convictions never "wash out" — a Texas DWI from 25 years ago can still be used to enhance a current charge to a felony. This is unusual; many states have look-back periods of 5 to 10 years. Federal-court DWIs and most other states' DWIs count as priors for Texas enhancement purposes if substantially similar to Texas's statute. For details on the 3rd-degree felony DWI threshold and the child-passenger felony, see our spoke: Felony DWI in Texas: DWI 3rd and child-passenger DWI.

ALR: administrative license suspension

The Administrative License Revocation program (Tex. Transp. Code Chapter 524) is the civil/administrative side of a DWI arrest, completely separate from the criminal case. It can result in a license suspension even if the DWI charge is later dismissed or you're found not guilty.

How it works:

At arrest: if you refuse a breath/blood test OR fail (provide a sample showing 0.08+ BAC), DPS automatically initiates a license suspension. The officer typically gives you a Notice of Suspension at arrest. Your physical license is taken; the Notice serves as a temporary permit for 41 days.
15-day deadline: you have 15 days from the date of arrest to request a hearing with the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH). Miss this deadline and the suspension goes into effect automatically.
The hearing: a SOAH administrative law judge decides whether DPS has proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, four issues — reasonable suspicion to stop, probable cause to arrest, proper request to provide a specimen, and refusal (or BAC ≥ 0.08).
Suspension length: failed test, first offense — 90 days; refused test, first offense — 180 days; longer with prior contacts (up to 2 years for repeat refusals).
Occupational license: drivers may petition for a limited-purpose occupational license to drive to work, school, and essential errands (Tex. Transp. Code Chapter 521 Subchapter L).

For a deeper walkthrough of the 15-day deadline, what happens at the SOAH hearing, and how an occupational license works, see our spoke: Texas ALR hearing & license suspension after a DWI arrest.

Implied consent and refusing breath/blood test

Texas's implied consent law (Tex. Transp. Code § 724.011) provides that anyone who operates a motor vehicle on a Texas public road is deemed to have consented to chemical testing of breath or blood if lawfully arrested for DWI. Refusing the test triggers two consequences:

Automatic ALR license suspension longer than for failing the test — 180 days vs 90 days for a first offense.
The refusal can be used as evidence against you in the criminal case (Tex. Transp. Code § 724.061): the prosecutor can argue that refusal implies consciousness of guilt.

Many Texas counties operate "No-Refusal" weekends and holidays: officers obtain blood-draw warrants under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. ch. 18 in real time when a driver refuses, bypassing the consent question entirely. Blood draws conducted under a warrant are constitutional even over the driver's refusal (Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. 141 (2013), as applied to Texas warrant procedures).

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that warrantless blood draws based solely on implied consent violate the Fourth Amendment (Birchfield v. North Dakota, 579 U.S. 438 (2016)). After Birchfield, blood draws in Texas DWI cases generally require either consent OR a warrant. Breath tests can still be required without a warrant under implied consent.

The decision whether to refuse is fact-specific: refusal triggers a longer license suspension AND can be used in the criminal case, but also denies the prosecution a numerical BAC result. There is no universal right answer. For deeper coverage of implied consent, no-refusal weekends, and the legal landscape after Birchfield, see our spoke: Refusing the breath/blood test in Texas.

DWI checkpoints in Texas

Texas is one of the minority of states where DWI sobriety checkpoints are NOT legal under state law. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held in Holt v. State, 887 S.W.2d 16 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) that sobriety checkpoints violate the Texas Constitution unless authorized by the Texas Legislature — and the Legislature has not authorized them.

What IS legal in Texas:

Driver's license and vehicle-insurance checkpoints: officers may stop drivers to verify license, registration, and insurance, provided the checkpoint follows neutral procedures (every Nth car, no discretion in selection).
Federal border and immigration checkpoints: federal checkpoints on highways near the Mexico border are constitutional under federal law (United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543 (1976)).
Individual traffic stops: officers can stop individual drivers based on observed traffic violations — and a routine stop can become a DWI investigation if the officer develops reasonable suspicion of intoxication.

What is NOT legal: general sobriety checkpoints where officers stop every (or every Nth) driver to look for signs of intoxication without a non-DWI lawful purpose. If you're stopped at what looks like a DWI sobriety checkpoint, the stop may be challengeable. For more, see our spoke: DWI checkpoints in Texas: are they legal?.

Intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter

If a DWI incident results in serious bodily injury to another person, the charge is intoxication assault — a 3rd-degree felony (Tex. Penal Code § 49.07): 2 to 10 years imprisonment, fine up to $10,000. If the victim is a peace officer, firefighter, or EMS personnel acting in the discharge of an official duty, the offense is enhanced to a 2nd-degree felony.

If a DWI incident results in death, the charge is intoxication manslaughter — a 2nd-degree felony (Tex. Penal Code § 49.08): 2 to 20 years imprisonment, fine up to $10,000. Multiple victims = multiple counts. If the victim is a peace officer, firefighter, EMS personnel, or judge, the offense is enhanced to a 1st-degree felony (5 to 99 years or life).

Mandatory community-service hours apply to both: 160 hours for intoxication assault, 240 hours for intoxication manslaughter (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42A.302). Mandatory ignition interlock applies post-release. These charges are not eligible for deferred adjudication. They are prosecuted aggressively and routinely result in significant prison time. If you face intoxication assault or manslaughter charges, retain experienced Texas criminal defense counsel immediately.

Sentencing options and probation

DWI cases generally proceed by either plea or trial. Common dispositions include:

Plea to DWI with probation (community supervision): a guilty or no-contest plea with conditions (DWI education, community service, sometimes interlock, no alcohol or controlled substances, regular reporting). Avoids jail time but creates a permanent conviction.
Plea to a lesser non-DWI charge such as obstruction of a passageway or reckless driving, when facts and the local prosecutor's office permit. Eligibility varies widely by county.
Deferred adjudication: NOT available for DWI in Texas (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42A.102(b)). Many other Texas offenses allow deferred adjudication that can later be sealed; DWI is excluded.
Trial: jury or bench. DWI trials center on the legality of the stop, field sobriety test validity, breath or blood test reliability and chain of custody, and the impairment evidence apart from any chemical test.

Counties vary substantially in how aggressively they pursue jail time on first DWI versus probation with conditions.

Nondisclosure (sealing) of a Texas DWI

For decades, Texas law did not allow DWI convictions to be sealed. That changed in 2017 with the addition of Tex. Gov't Code § 411.0731, which permits nondisclosure of certain first-offense DWI convictions after a waiting period.

Eligibility for DWI nondisclosure under § 411.0731 generally requires:

First DWI offense (no prior convictions for any offense other than traffic offenses punishable by fine only).
BAC under 0.15 at time of testing (Class A DWI under § 49.04(d) is excluded).
No accident with injury to any person.
Successful completion of probation OR sentence served.
Waiting period: 2 years after completing probation if ignition interlock was required; 5 years otherwise.

Even with a nondisclosure order, the record remains accessible to law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, certain state agencies, and certain occupational licensing boards. It may still be discoverable in background checks by certain employers (school districts, healthcare facilities, financial institutions).

A full expunction (complete deletion of the arrest record) is available only in narrow circumstances under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. ch. 55: acquittal, dismissal not resulting from a plea bargain, or pardon. A DWI conviction itself is never eligible for expunction — only a dismissal or acquittal is. For full details on the petition process and what nondisclosure does and does not block, see our spoke: DWI nondisclosure / expungement in Texas.

When you need a DWI lawyer

A pro se DWI defense is generally inadvisable. The procedural complexity — the 15-day ALR deadline, suppression motions on the stop and the chemical test, expert testimony on field sobriety tests, breath/blood machine error rates, sentencing nuances — makes self-representation risky even for what looks like a "simple" first DWI. Consult a Texas-licensed criminal defense attorney IMMEDIATELY if:

You've been arrested for DWI (the 15-day ALR clock is running).
You've been charged with DWI with prior convictions, with a child passenger, with an accident involving injury, or with refusal of breath or blood test.
Any commercial license is at stake (CDL drivers face career-ending consequences from even a misdemeanor DWI).
You hold any professional license (medical, legal, real estate, financial) that could be affected by a DWI conviction.

Many Texas criminal defense attorneys offer free initial consultations and accept DWI cases on flat-fee or hourly arrangements. Fee agreements must be in writing for non-trivial matters (Tex. Disciplinary R. Prof. Conduct 1.04). The Texas Board of Legal Specialization (TBLS) certifies attorneys in Criminal Law after exam, experience, and peer review — one signal of expertise.

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose my driver's license after a Texas DWI arrest?

You may, through two separate processes. The ALR program suspends your license civilly upon refusal of (or failure of) a breath/blood test — 90 days to 2 years depending on circumstances. You have only 15 days from arrest to request a hearing to contest this. Separately, a criminal-court DWI conviction triggers an additional DPS license suspension (Tex. Transp. Code § 521.342). You may petition for an occupational license to drive to work, school, and essential errands during suspension.

How much does a Texas DWI cost?

Court fines run up to $2,000 (Class B) or $4,000 (Class A) for a first offense, with higher caps at felony levels. Court costs, DPS fees, mandatory DWI Education, and interlock device costs add to the total. Attorney fees vary widely; flat-fee arrangements are common for first DWI, while contested cases with hearings and trial cost considerably more. Always ask for a written fee agreement (Tex. Disciplinary R. Prof. Conduct 1.04). Insurance premium increases over 3 to 5 years often dwarf the immediate costs.

Can I refuse a field sobriety test?

Yes. Field sobriety tests (HGN, walk-and-turn, one-leg-stand) are voluntary in Texas — there is no penalty for declining. They are not the same as the chemical breath or blood test required by implied consent law (Tex. Transp. Code § 724.011), which DOES carry consequences for refusal. Declining the field tests removes one source of evidence the prosecutor would otherwise use.

Will a DWI stay on my record forever in Texas?

A DWI conviction ordinarily remains on your record permanently. A first DWI may be eligible for nondisclosure (sealing) under Tex. Gov't Code § 411.0731 after a 2- to 5-year waiting period from completion of probation, with narrow eligibility requirements. A full expunction is available only for DWI cases ending in dismissal or acquittal — not for convictions.

What if it was my first DWI and no one was hurt?

Texas treats first-offense DWI seriously. The offense is a Class B misdemeanor (or Class A at 0.15+ BAC), punishable by jail and fine. Probation is common for first offenders and avoids actual jail time. After probation completion, a first DWI with BAC under 0.15 and no accident with injury may be eligible for nondisclosure after a 2- or 5-year waiting period. The criminal record is permanent absent that sealing.

Find a Texas DWI attorney

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Texas DWI Defense: First-Offense Penalties, ALR, and How to Fight a Charge