DWI in Texas: the first 24 hours

A DWI arrest in Texas triggers two completely separate proceedings the moment the handcuffs go on. The first is the criminal case, prosecuted by the Starr County or Hidalgo County District or County Attorney depending on where the stop occurred. The second is the civil Administrative License Revocation (ALR) action, run by the Texas Department of Public Safety. They have different rules, different deadlines, and different consequences. Most people focus on the criminal case and lose the ALR by default. This is how to avoid that.

Hour zero to four: the booking. You will be booked at the Starr County Jail or the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center. The arresting officer will offer you a breath or blood test. You should know, before you face this choice, that Texas Transportation Code section 724.035 provides a 180-day license suspension for refusing the first time and a longer suspension for refusing again. A failed test (BAC 0.08 or higher) carries a 90-day suspension for a first offender. Whether to provide the specimen is a personal decision and the consequences flow either way; what matters is what you do next.

Hour four to eight: the magistrate and bond. You will be brought before a magistrate, who will set bond. In Starr County, bond on a first-offense Class B misdemeanor DWI typically ranges from one thousand to two thousand five hundred dollars. A bail bondsman in Rio Grande City can usually post bond for around ten percent. Have someone call the office before you sign anything; we routinely walk family members through the bond process from the parking lot of the jail.

Hour eight to twenty-four: get the paperwork. When you are released, you should leave with two specific items: (1) a "Notice of Suspension / Temporary Driving Permit," called a DIC-25, and (2) a copy of the probable cause statement (a DIC-23 or similar). Both are critical. The DIC-25 is what starts the 15-day clock for requesting your ALR hearing. Photograph both documents front and back the moment you are home.

The 15-day deadline. From the day you are served with the DIC-25, you have exactly fifteen calendar days to request an ALR hearing in writing to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Miss the deadline and the suspension is automatic on day forty. Request the hearing and the suspension is postponed until after the hearing, which is usually scheduled 60 to 120 days out. The ALR hearing is also the single best piece of free discovery in your criminal case: the arresting officer is subpoenaed and testifies under oath about the stop, the field sobriety tests, and the basis for the arrest.

Do not post about the arrest on social media. Photos of you with a drink in your hand from any time in the last several years can and will be used at trial. Lock your accounts. Tell your family not to post anything either. Anything posted about the arrest, including a sympathetic "thank you for the prayers" post, becomes discoverable.

Document your own version of the stop. Sit down within 24 hours and write, in your own handwriting or in a private note, a chronological account of everything you remember: where you had been, what you ate, what you drank and when, where you were going, what the officer said, how you performed on the field sobriety tests, and how you physically felt. Memory fades; this contemporaneous record is the spine of any suppression motion later.

For commercial drivers, the stakes change. A CDL holder faces a one-year disqualification on a first DWI offense regardless of the vehicle being driven at the time, and three years if hazardous materials were involved. A second offense is lifetime disqualification. CDL clients should call before bond is posted if possible; some bond conditions may be negotiated to preserve interlock-friendly options later.

For non-citizens, the stakes change again. A DWI conviction is not categorically a deportable offense under federal law, but specific aggravators can trigger immigration consequences, and any plea should be evaluated by counsel familiar with both Texas DWI law and federal immigration consequences before it is entered. This is not the place for a public-defender plea on the morning of arraignment.

What to do next: if you or a family member has been arrested for DWI anywhere in Starr, Hidalgo, or Cameron County, call the office at (956) 317-1167 or message the 24/7 WhatsApp at (956) 500-1371 the same day. The ALR clock is already running, and the firm files the ALR request the day we are retained. Use the contact form at /contact if you prefer to write.