Austin DWI Defense
Austin DWI Defense Attorney
Charged with DWI in Austin? Your license deadline starts fast.
The Law Office of Ken Gibson defends people charged with driving while intoxicated in Travis, Williamson and Hays counties. Ken Gibson has worked on more than 6,000 DWI cases since 1998, and DWI defense is the only kind of case this office takes.
A Texas DWI arrest starts two separate cases on the same night. One is the criminal charge. The other is an administrative action against your driver license, and it carries a 15 day deadline that runs whether or not you have hired anyone.
15-Day License Deadline
Austin DWI ALR Hearing
The clock starts on the date of the notice of suspension you were handed at arrest, not on your first court date. Nobody at the jail files the request, the court does not file it, and it does not happen automatically. It is a written demand to the Department of Public Safety.
Miss it and the suspension takes effect with nobody reviewing whether the stop was lawful.
Free Consultation
Call 512-469-6056
Austin DWI Defense Attorney
Ken Gibson
Handles every DWI case in this office personally, from the license hearing through trial.
6,000+
DWI Cases Handled
Since 1998
Practicing DWI Defense
DWI Only
Defense Focus
How The Process Works
How Ken handles a DWI case in Austin, TX
The order matters, because the license deadline arrives long before the criminal case does anything.
Step 1
Free Consultation
You describe what happened. Ken tells you what you are charged with, what the exposure is, and what the immediate deadlines are.
Step 2
The ALR Filing
The hearing request goes to the Department of Public Safety inside the 15 day window, which protects your license and opens an early route to the officer's testimony.
Step 3
Evidence Review
Dash camera, body camera and booking video, the offense report, breath test records or the blood lab packet, and the warrant affidavit if one was used.
Step 4
The License Hearing
The officer can be questioned under oath. Whatever comes out of that is on the record before the criminal case reaches the same issues.
Step 5
Motions and Negotiation
Contested issues get raised in writing. What the case can resolve to depends on what the evidence review actually turned up.
Step 6
Resolution or Trial
Most cases resolve before trial. The ones that do not are tried on the same record that was built from the first week.
What Is At Stake
What a DWI charge actually puts at risk
The jail range is the part everyone reads first. In practice the consequences that reshape someone's life are usually the ones attached to licenses, records and conditions that start before any finding of guilt.
Your Driver License
The license case is administrative and runs on its own clock. Request the ALR hearing within 15 days or the suspension takes effect on its own. A conviction carries its own suspension on top of that, 90 days to a year on a first offense and longer on a repeat, under Transportation Code section 521.344.
Jail and Fines
A first DWI carries a mandatory minimum of 72 hours, and six days if an open container was within reach. The criminal fine runs to $2,000, and section 709.001 adds a separate state fine, $3,000 on a first conviction within 36 months.
A Record that is Hard to Clear
A DWI has been eligible for nondisclosure since 2017, but only for someone with no prior conviction or deferred adjudication for anything beyond a fine only traffic offense. An old unrelated case disqualifies you, and a 0.15 conviction is excluded entirely.
Ignition Interlock
For a charged subsequent offense, or any charge involving a child passenger, intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter, an interlock is a mandatory bond condition under article 17.441 and must be installed within 30 days. That is a condition of release, not a sentence.
Commercial License
A first conviction disqualifies a CDL for one year, in any vehicle, and three years if hazmat placarded. A second is a lifetime disqualification under section 522.081(d)(1). No occupational license ever covers a commercial vehicle.
Your License to Carry
A Class B DWI conviction makes you ineligible for a license to carry for five years, and a pending Class A or B charge suspends eligibility while it is open. Two qualifying convictions in ten years triggers a statutory disqualification under Government Code section 411.172.
Not Sure What Applies?
Call Ken today for Austin, TX DWI advice.
Tell Ken what happened and he will tell you what you are actually facing, including the parts that do not show up in a penalty chart.
Call 512-469-6056
Free Consultation
Texas DWI Charge Levels
What you have actually been charged with
Two people arrested on the same block on the same night can face charges that differ by several years of exposure. The charge level turns on the alcohol concentration reported, whether anyone under 15 was in the vehicle, whether an open container was within reach, and what is already on your record.
Texas recognizes two independent ways to allege intoxication under Penal Code section 49.01(2): not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties because of alcohol, drugs, a combination of substances, or another substance; or having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. A DWI allegation can therefore be filed below 0.08 under the loss-of-faculties theory.
For the longer explanation of both statutory theories, including allegations below 0.08, see what counts as intoxicated in Texas.
| Charge | Classification | Jail Exposure | Criminal Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| First DWI, Penal Code 49.04 | Class B misdemeanor | 72 hours minimum, up to 180 days | Up to $2,000 |
| First DWI with an open container | Class B misdemeanor | 6 days minimum, up to 180 days | Up to $2,000 |
| Alcohol concentration 0.15 or higher, 49.04(d) | Class A misdemeanor | Up to 1 year | Up to $4,000 |
| Second DWI, 49.09(a) | Class A misdemeanor | 30 days minimum, up to 1 year | Up to $4,000 |
| Third DWI, 49.09(b)(2) | Third degree felony | 2 to 10 years | Up to $10,000 |
| Passenger younger than 15, 49.045 | State jail felony | 180 days to 2 years | Up to $10,000 |
| DWI in an active school crossing zone, 49.04(e) | State jail felony | 180 days to 2 years | Up to $10,000 |
| Intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury, 49.07 | Ordinarily third degree felony | 2 to 10 years | Up to $10,000 |
| Intoxication manslaughter causing death, 49.08 | Ordinarily second degree felony | 2 to 20 years | Up to $10,000 |
Two items in that table are recent enough that most Texas DWI websites have not caught up with them. DWI in a school crossing zone while the reduced speed limit applies became a state jail felony under Senate Bill 826, effective September 1, 2025, which means a first offense with no injury and no child passenger can now be a felony. And the 0.15 threshold in section 49.04(d) is written as the concentration shown at the time the analysis was performed, not at the time of driving. Those are different moments, and the gap between them is where retrograde extrapolation gets contested.
The school-crossing-zone guide explains why the provision applies only in a designated school crossing zone while the reduced speed limit is in effect, along with the classification and proof issues behind that row.
Texas DWI Costs
The surcharge program that no longer exists
Search for Texas DWI costs and you will still find pages describing annual DPS surcharges of $1,000 to $2,000 a year for three years. That was the Driver Responsibility Program, and the Texas Legislature repealed it with House Bill 2048, effective September 1, 2019. Chapter 708 is gone. Those surcharges have not existed for seven years, and some of the firms publishing them rank on the first page for Austin DWI searches.
What replaced it is one fine, not a payment plan. Transportation Code section 709.001 imposes a single state fine on final conviction, in addition to the criminal fine in the table above:
| Conviction | State Fine Under 709.001 |
|---|---|
| First conviction within 36 months | $3,000 |
| Second or later conviction within 36 months | $4,500 |
| Alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher | $6,000 |
The 36 month window is part of how the tier is defined, not a separate deadline. And section 709.001(c) and (d) say the court shall waive the fine in full on a finding of indigency, proven by income at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or by participation in SNAP, Medicaid, WIC, CHIP or free school lunch. That waiver is mandatory, not something the court decides case by case.
Knowing which version of the law applies to you is not a detail. It is the difference between planning around a debt that was repealed and planning around the fine that actually attaches.
Texas does not use a general ten-year washout that makes a qualifying prior intoxication conviction disappear for enhancement under Penal Code section 49.09. Administrative license rules can use their own lookback periods, so the criminal and license histories must be examined separately.
What happens to the record
A DWI conviction does not automatically disappear after seven or ten years, and a dismissal does not automatically erase every criminal, DPS, or private record. Whether expunction or nondisclosure may apply depends on the actual disposition. An ALR record is separate from the criminal disposition.
Focused DWI Practice
What Our Austin DWI Attorney Office Handles
DWI defense is the whole practice, which means the work is organized around the specific situation you are in rather than a general criminal docket.
First DWI
A Class B misdemeanor in most cases, with a 72 hour minimum and a first look at whether the stop and the testing hold up.
Second and third DWI
A second is a Class A with a 30 day minimum. A third is a third degree felony carrying two to ten years, and prior intoxication offenses of any kind can count.
Felony DWI
Child passenger, intoxication assault, intoxication manslaughter, and since September 2025 a DWI in an active school crossing zone.
ALR license hearings
The 15 day filing, the hearing itself, and the early chance to question the officer under oath before the criminal case gets there.
Occupational license
Limited driving after a suspension. The waiting periods that used to apply were repealed effective September 1, 2023.
Breath and blood testing
Intoxilyzer 9000 records, operator certification, the observation period, blood draw protocol and the lab packet.
Nondisclosure and expunction
Sealing an eligible DWI, and the separate expunction route under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 55A.
Underage DUI
Under 21 carries a zero tolerance standard for any detectable amount, with its own ALR tiers of 60, 120 and 180 days.
Travis, Williamson and Hays
Three counties, three sets of courts and programs, and city courts that handle some cases differently.
Where DWI Cases Break Down
Where DWI cases actually break
A DWI case is a sequence of procedures, each with rules the state has to follow. Most of that sequence is on video. These are the places where the record and the requirement tend to diverge.
The Reason for the Stop
Whether you were intoxicated is separate from whether the officer had a lawful reason to stop you. Downtown stops often begin with only a short period of observed driving, and that record matters.
How the Roadside Tests Were Given
Horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk-and-turn, and one-leg stand tests require specific instructions and conditions. Surface, footwear, age, weight, and injuries can all affect performance.
Breath Test Operation
The Intoxilyzer 9000 measures breath, not blood, and converts one to the other using a fixed average ratio rather than a measurement of you. DPS certifies both the operator and the analysis under section 724.016.
Blood Draw and Chain of Custody
Who drew the blood, whether they were qualified, how it was stored, and every hand it passed through before the lab result.
The Warrant Affidavit
Since 2021 a blood draw over your refusal needs a warrant. That puts the affidavit and its timing squarely into the record.
Retrograde Extrapolation
Section 49.04(d) is written as the concentration at the time the analysis was performed, not at the time of driving. Where those two moments diverge, the difference is contestable.
Video Against the Report
The offense report is a summary written afterward. The dash camera, body camera, and booking video are the actual record, and they do not always agree.
Medical and Physical Conditions
Injuries, inner ear problems, neurological conditions, diabetes, and acid reflux can each affect either test performance or a breath result.
Before You Assume
Have the evidence looked at before you assume the state has a clean case
The consultation is free. If you were arrested in the last two weeks, start with the license deadline.
Call 512-469-6056
Free Consultation
Protect Your License
The 15 day license deadline
Texas suspends your driver license through a civil process called Administrative License Revocation, which runs separately from the criminal charge and on its own schedule. If the arresting officer took your license, the paper you were given is a temporary permit and a notice of suspension at the same time.
You have 15 days from the date of that notice to request an ALR hearing. In a blood test case there is often no notice at arrest, because DPS mails it when the results come back, and the deadline is 20 days from the date of mailing. Miss it and the suspension takes effect automatically, without anyone reviewing whether the stop was lawful. Request it in time and the hearing becomes the one early proceeding where the officer can be questioned under oath, months before the criminal case reaches the same issues.
Refusing a breath or blood specimen carries its own suspension under Transportation Code section 724.035: 180 days for a first refusal, and two years if you have had an alcohol related or drug related enforcement contact in the previous 10 years. A prior ALR suspension counts as a contact even when there was no conviction.
Depending on the suspension and reinstatement path, DPS may require an insurer to file a Financial Responsibility Insurance Certificate (SR-22). An insurance card, policy, or receipt is not the certificate, and filing it does not by itself restore driving privileges; DPS eligibility controls. The license reinstatement guide explains that handoff.
The breath-or-blood refusal guide explains the DIC-24 warning, warrants, specimen rules, and the separate license consequences.
What the 15 Days Covers
The request is a written demand filed with the Department of Public Safety. It is not automatic, it is not filed by the court, and no one at the jail files it for you.
If the Deadline has Passed
The suspension is not the end of driving. An occupational license can restore limited driving, and the waiting periods that used to apply were repealed effective September 1, 2023.
Austin DWI Process
How an Austin DWI case moves
A Travis County DWI arrest generally routes through Central Booking at 500 West 10th Street for magistration, where bond conditions are set. Longer holds go to the Travis County Correctional Complex in Del Valle. Misdemeanor DWI cases are then heard at the Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center at 509 West 11th Street.
From there the case becomes a sequence of settings rather than a single court date. Early settings are for discovery, which in a DWI case means the dash and body camera video, the breath test records or the blood lab packet, and the officer's reports. Contested issues get raised by written motion. Most cases resolve before trial, but what they resolve to depends almost entirely on what the evidence review turned up months earlier.
Two conditions can attach long before any finding of guilt. An ignition interlock is a mandatory bond condition under Code of Criminal Procedure article 17.441 for a charged subsequent offense and for any charge involving a child passenger, intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter, and it must be installed within 30 days unless the court finds it is not in the best interest of justice.
What Austin No Refusal means
Austin Police describes No Refusal as a recurring DWI-enforcement initiative. During an announced initiative, APD says that when a suspected DWI driver refuses to provide a breath or blood specimen, officers may seek a judge's blood-search warrant. The applicable dates and hours are set by APD's announcement.
Travis County
Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center, 509 West 11th Street, Austin. Travis County operates a DWI court program.
Williamson County
County Courts at Law 2, 3, and 5 in Georgetown hear misdemeanor DWI cases. Williamson County operates a DWI court program.
Hays County
The Hays County Government Center in San Marcos, alongside the historic courthouse on the square. Hays County operates a DWI court program.
Austin DWI Defense Guidance
Where you were stopped matters. Who you hire matters too.
The location of the stop can shape the evidence and procedure. The attorney you choose determines how closely those details are examined.
Enforcement Patterns
Where Austin DWI stops happen
1 · Downtown & Entertainment Districts
DWI enforcement in the Austin area concentrates in predictable places, and which one you were stopped in shapes the case. Downtown stops cluster around the entertainment districts, West Sixth Street and Rainey Street in particular, where officers are often on foot and the driving observed before the stop is measured in a block or two. That matters, because the reason for the stop is a separate legal question from whether you were intoxicated.
2 · Highways & Major Corridors
Highway stops look different. Interstate 35 runs the length of the county and produces stops at all hours, along with the jurisdictional question of which agency made it. Mopac and the Capital of Texas Highway generate stops based on driving behavior over a longer distance. South Lamar, East Riverside and East Cesar Chavez sit between the two patterns, with bar density on the corridor itself.
3 · Outside Austin
Outside Austin the pattern shifts again. The county location of an alleged Round Rock DWI determines whether it proceeds in the Williamson County courts in Georgetown or the Travis County courts in Austin. A separate Class C citation or city-level matter may appear in Round Rock Municipal Court, but municipal court does not hear the DWI charge. Cedar Park stops concentrate on the 183A toll road and around Lakeline. Parts of Williamson County are patrolled by constables rather than city police. In Hays County, San Marcos enforcement is shaped by a large student population and by Interstate 35 running through the middle of it.
Choosing Your Attorney
Deciding who should handle your case
Most people hiring a DWI attorney are doing it for the first time and have no way to compare one office to another. A few questions separate them quickly.
1
Ask how much of the practice is DWI. A general criminal defense office may handle a few DWI cases a year alongside everything else. This office takes DWI cases and nothing else, which is why Ken Gibson has worked on more than 6,000 of them since 1998.
2
Ask who will actually appear for you. In some offices the attorney you meet is not the attorney who handles the license hearing or stands next to you at the courthouse. Ken Gibson handles the cases in this office personally.
3
Ask whether the office files the ALR request. It is a separate filing with the Department of Public Safety, it is not part of the criminal case, and the window is 15 days.
4
Ask when the video gets reviewed. The dash camera, body camera and booking video are the record of what actually happened, and a case built on them looks different from a case built on the offense report alone.
The three counties this office covers
Travis, Williamson and Hays share the same Penal Code and the same 15 day ALR deadline, and very little else about how a DWI case is handled day to day.
Travis County DWI defense
Austin, Del Valle, Pflugerville, Manor, Lakeway, Bee Cave and West Lake Hills. The highest case volume of the three, and the most varied enforcement, from downtown foot patrol to interstate stops.
Williamson County DWI defense
The Williamson County portions of Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander, along with Georgetown, Hutto, Taylor and Liberty Hill. Misdemeanor DWI allegations arising in Williamson County run through County Courts at Law 2, 3, and 5 in Georgetown. A separate Class C citation or city-level matter may appear in municipal court, but municipal court does not hear the DWI charge.
Hays County DWI defense
The Hays County portions of San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Dripping Springs and Wimberley. DWI allegations arising in Hays County route through the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos, with Interstate 35 and a large university population driving much of the volume.
Common questions after an Austin DWI arrest
How long do I have to request an ALR hearing?
15 days from the date of the notice of suspension you were given at arrest. The request goes to the Department of Public Safety and is separate from the criminal case. If it is not filed in time the suspension takes effect automatically.
Can a DWI be removed from my record in Texas?
It depends on how the case ends. A DWI has been eligible for an order of nondisclosure since 2017, but only for someone who has never been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication for any offense other than a fine only traffic offense. Any prior non traffic conviction disqualifies, not just a prior DWI. Convictions with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher under section 49.04(d) are excluded entirely, and nondisclosure is denied if the State proves the offense involved a collision with another person. Expunction is a different remedy under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 55A and has its own requirements.
Are the DPS surcharges still in effect?
No. The Driver Responsibility Program was repealed by House Bill 2048 effective September 1, 2019. In its place, Transportation Code section 709.001 imposes a single state fine on final conviction: $3,000, $4,500 for a second or later conviction within 36 months, or $6,000 where the alcohol concentration was 0.15 or higher. The court must waive it in full on a finding of indigency.
Can I still drive while my license is suspended?
Often yes, through an occupational license that permits limited driving. The waiting periods that used to apply before you could get one were repealed by House Bill 291 effective September 1, 2023, and drivers under an interlock restriction are exempt from the time, route and purpose limits. A commercial license is never covered, though a CDL holder can obtain one for a personal vehicle.
Are DWI checkpoints legal in Texas?
No. Texas does not run sobriety checkpoints. Texas courts have held them unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, because no politically accountable statewide body has ever authorized a checkpoint scheme and the Legislature has never passed a statute allowing one. The basis is federal, not the Texas Constitution. What you may encounter instead is a No Refusal period, which is not a checkpoint but an arrangement for obtaining blood warrants quickly.
What happens if I refused the breath or blood test?
Refusal triggers a license suspension of 180 days, or two years if you have had an alcohol or drug related enforcement contact in the previous 10 years, under Transportation Code section 724.035. A prior ALR suspension counts as a contact even without a conviction. Refusal does not end the case, and since 2021 police need a warrant to draw blood over your refusal.
Is a first DWI always a misdemeanor?
No, and this changed recently. A first DWI is normally a Class B misdemeanor, but since September 1, 2025 a DWI committed in a school crossing zone while the reduced speed limit applies is a state jail felony under section 49.04(e), with no injury or child passenger required. A first offense with a passenger under 15 is also a state jail felony under section 49.045.