Aggravated Reading
DWI With a BAC of 0.15 or Higher
A reading of 0.15 or higher raises a first DWI from a Class B to a Class A misdemeanor under section 49.04(d), doubling the fine and the jail range.
It also closes doors. A 0.15 conviction can never be sealed, and the interlock stops being discretionary. But the statute contains a timing detail that is worth understanding before anyone treats the number as settled.
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The words the statute actually uses
Section 49.04(d) applies where the analysis showed an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more at the time the analysis was performed. Not at the time of driving.
Those are different moments, often separated by an hour or more between a stop, transport, booking and a test. Alcohol concentration is not static across that gap, and which direction it moved depends on when the last drink was consumed relative to the driving.
This is where retrograde extrapolation enters a case: the attempt to reason backward from a later measurement to an earlier moment. It rests on assumptions about absorption and elimination rates that vary between people and within the same person on different days.
There is a second wrinkle worth knowing. The bar on deferred adjudication uses a different measure. Article 42A.102(b)(1)(B)(ii) is keyed to concentration at the time of the offense, a time of driving standard. So the charge level and the deferred bar can diverge in exactly the cases where extrapolation is contested, and the deferred bar is not an automatic consequence of a 49.04(d) finding.
The phrase at the time the analysis was performed makes the testing record central to a charge under Texas Penal Code section 49.04(d). In a breath case, the test record, sequential results, and operator and instrument timestamps identify the analysis the State relies on. In a blood case, the draw record, laboratory accession information, analytical run, and reported result establish the specimen timeline. Those records help separate the time of the stop, the time the specimen was obtained, and the analysis addressed by the statute.
What changes at 0.15
The charge level
Class A misdemeanor rather than Class B: up to one year rather than 180 days, and a fine to $4,000 rather than $2,000.
The state fine
Section 709.001 sets the state fine at $6,000 where the concentration was 0.15 or higher, the highest of the three tiers.
The interlock
Mandatory as a condition of probation under article 42A.408(c) where the reading was 0.15 or higher. Not discretionary.
Sealing, permanently closed
A conviction under section 49.04(d) is excluded from nondisclosure entirely. A first offense that would otherwise have been sealable is not.
Related pages
0.15 DWI questions
Is the reading taken at the roadside the one that counts?
No. Section 49.04(d) refers to the analysis, meaning the evidential test taken at the station or the blood sample sent to a lab, not a portable roadside device.
Can the gap between driving and testing be challenged?
It is one of the main contested areas in these cases. The statute measures at the time of analysis, and reasoning backward to the time of driving relies on assumptions that vary between individuals.
Can a 0.15 first offense be sealed later?
No. A conviction under section 49.04(d) is excluded from nondisclosure. See DWI nondisclosure.
Does 0.15 automatically block deferred adjudication?
Not automatically, and this is a subtle point. The deferred bar is keyed to concentration at the time of the offense, while the charge level is keyed to the time of analysis. The two measures can diverge.