Saving Your Texas Drivers License

DWI Prosecution in Angleton & Pearland are Fierce!

Police officers in Angleton & Pearland, TX don’t take driving while intoxicated (DWI) related cases lightly. A person aged 21 or older can be charged with DWI if they have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or greater.

Allow Blood Alcohol Content Legal in Texas

The allowable BAC is even more strict when the driver is a commercial driver (0.04 %) or younger than the legal drinking age of 21 (any amount of alcohol that can be detected). The exact amount of alcohol one may consume to remain below these levels varies greatly from person to person. Each human being will metabolize alcohol at a different rate. Factors such a age, weight even gender play a key role in the amount of alcohol it takes to reach the legal limits. For this reason, law enforcement personnel stress that any amount of alcohol will impair one’s ability to operate a vehicle.

Brazoria County DWI Enforcement

Brazoria County Sheriff’s Patrol Pearland, Alvin, and Angleton

Brazoria County DWI issues have become serious over the years. It’s gotten so bad that police will often request a blood test or a breath test to determine a suspect’s BAC. Driving any vehicle in Texas means the driver has given implied consent to such testing. A refusal to submit to such testing carries penalties in addition to the DWI charges. These additional penalties are referred to as Administrative License Revocation (ALR).

Losing Your Texas Driver License

Administrative License Revocation

Refusal to consent to testing carries a 180 day license suspension for the first offense, and a 2 year license suspension for the second offense. Again, this is in addition to the penalties of DWI. The second offense here can be either a prior failure of a chemical test or a prior refusal to submit to testing. Both would equate to a second offense for ALR.

ALR has a few basic steps:

  1. Driver refuses or fails the test
  2. Office takes the driver’s license and issues a temporary driving permit
  3. The driver has 15 days to request a hearing with the State Office of Administrative Hearings. After the 15 days have passed, a hearing request will be denied.
  4. If no hearing is requested, the license suspension will commence 40 days after arrest
  5. The driver will pay a $125 fee to get his or her license back after the suspension period.

It can take up to 120 days for the State Office of Administrative Hearings to assign a date, time and location for a hearing. A hearing can be requested online through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website. Or by reaching out to an experienced DWI lawyer in Brazoria or Angleton, TX.

A guilty verdict at the hearing can be appealed by sending a time-stamped, certified copy of the verdict to the Department of Public Safety, Enforcement and Compliance Service at P.O. Box 4087, Austin, TX 78773-0320. This appeal must be done within 30 days of the suspension to be considered by the court.

If the appeal is accepted by the court, the Department of Public Safety will temporarily lift the suspension, pending results of the hearing, for 90 days. Should not reversal be reached by the 91st day, the suspension goes back into effect.

If the court reverses the guilty verdict the suspension will be lifted once the Department of Public Safety receives the updated judgment. If the guilty verdict stands, a new letter will be issued detailing the suspension.

The Law Offices of Tad Nelson & Associates is among the best DWI defense law firms in the region if you were accused of DWI in Angleton, Alvin, Pearland, or anywhere else in Brazoria County, TX, and you’re looking for competent legal representation.

There is a possibility that an occupational license would be issued during the time of suspension. If issued, the occupational license would allow the driver to drive to work, school or, at times, to handle household responsibilities. Requests for an occupational license can be made to the Justice of the Peace in the driver’s home county or district court.

The rules for commercial drivers are far more stringent. A commercial driver with a BAC of 0.04% or higher in his or her commercial vehicle, 0.08% or higher in any vehicle, or one who refuses a chemical test will automatically be subject to a one year suspension of his or her commercial driver’s license (CDL). Should the commercial vehicle be one that handles hazardous materials the penalty is an even stiffer 3 years.

Brazoria County DWI Enforcement is Fierce

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