Leander DWI Defense
Leander DWI Attorney
Charged with DWI in Leander? Your license deadline starts fast.
I defend DWI cases in Leander. DWI is the only kind of case this office handles, and I have worked on more than 6,000 since 1998.
Leander sits at the far north end of the 183 corridor, which means a long drive to almost everything, including the courthouse.
15-Day License Deadline
Your license after a Leander DWI arrest
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
Leander DWI Defense Attorney
Ken Gibson
I handle every case in this office myself, 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 Leander, Texas
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.
Where a Leander DWI case is heard
Leander crosses the Williamson-Travis county line. A DWI allegation arising in Williamson County generally proceeds at the Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown; one arising in Travis County generally proceeds at the Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin.
Because Leander spans the county line, where the alleged offense occurred determines the courthouse. Confirming the precise stop location is more reliable than relying on the city name, home address, or drive time.
Once the stop location identifies whether the case proceeds through Williamson County or Travis County, the arresting agency determines where the evidence begins. Leander Police may hold a city-stop report and video, while a sheriff's deputy or DPS trooper maintains that agency's materials. Confirming the agency prevents a courthouse assumption from sending a record request, or the case analysis, down the wrong track.
Leander at a glance
Counties
Williamson County and Travis County
Courthouse
Depends on where the alleged offense occurred: Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown or Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin
License deadline
15 days from notice, or 20 days from mailing in a blood test case
Where Leander DWI stops happen
The 183A toll road and US 183 run the length of Leander and carry commuter traffic in both directions. Ronald W Reagan Boulevard takes the traffic heading north and west. These are higher speed roads with long gaps between exits, and a stop out there can mean a considerable distance traveled between the officer first noticing a vehicle and the stop itself.
That distance is usually recorded. Dash camera footage of a long following stretch either shows the driving the officer described in the report or it does not, and that is one of the first things I look at. North Bell Boulevard and East Whitestone Boulevard carry the slower local traffic where stops follow a shorter observation.
Leander DWI Defense
Call Ken today for Leander, TX DWI advice.
Tell Ken what happened and he will tell you what you are actually facing, where your case is likely headed, and what needs to happen before the 15-day license deadline passes.
Call 512-469-6056
Free Consultation
Texas DWI charge levels and what they carry
The charge level decides the exposure and which court hears the case. It 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.
| 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 |
Intoxication assault under Penal Code section 49.07 and intoxication manslaughter under section 49.08 are separate Chapter 49 intoxication offenses, rather than classifications of a basic DWI charge.
Since September 1, 2025 a DWI in an active school crossing zone is a state jail felony under section 49.04(e), with no injury and no child passenger required. Details of a first charge are on my first offense DWI page.
For the school-zone row, section 49.04(e) applies only when the alleged operation occurred in a school crossing zone during the time the reduced speed limit applied.
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.
The criminal fine shown in the table is only one part of the financial consequences. On a final DWI conviction, Transportation Code section 709.001 imposes a separate, single state fine: $3,000 for a first conviction within the applicable 36-month period, $4,500 for a second or later conviction within that period, or $6,000 when a specimen analysis showed an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more at the time the analysis was performed. Court costs and DPS/license requirements are separate. If the court makes the statute's indigency finding, it must waive the state fine in full.
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 under Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55A or an order of nondisclosure under Government Code Chapter 411, Subchapter E-1 may apply depends on the actual disposition and other eligibility requirements. An ALR record is separate from the criminal disposition.
15 days
to request your ALR hearing
The 15 day ALR deadline
Your license is a separate civil case run by the Department of Public Safety, and it does not wait for the criminal case. The request to contest it is due within 15 days of the notice given at arrest. Where a blood draw was taken there is often no notice at arrest, because DPS mails it when results return, and the deadline becomes 20 days from mailing.
I file it first in every case. Beyond protecting the license it puts the arresting officer under oath months before the criminal case reaches the same questions. More on my 15 day ALR deadline page.
Depending on the suspension and reinstatement path, DPS may require an insurer to file a Financial Responsibility Insurance Certificate (SR-22). An insurance card or policy is not the certificate, and filing it does not by itself restore driving privileges; DPS eligibility controls. The license reinstatement guide explains that handoff.
More on Texas DWI defense
Leander DWI questions
How far is the courthouse from Leander?
It depends on where the alleged offense occurred. A Williamson County charge generally proceeds at the Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown; a Travis County charge generally proceeds at the Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin. Travel time varies from different parts of Leander.
I was stopped near the county line. Which court hears it?
The county where the alleged offense occurred controls. Leander spans Williamson and Travis counties, so a Williamson County allegation generally proceeds in Georgetown and a Travis County allegation generally proceeds in Austin.
How long do I have to protect my license?
15 days from the notice of suspension handed to you at arrest, or 20 days from mailing where DPS sends notice after blood results return. The request goes to DPS and is separate from the criminal case.
What happens to the video from my stop?
Dash camera, body camera and booking video are the only record made at the time, and they either support the offense report or they do not. Obtaining and reviewing them is the first substantive work on a case.