Texas Test Refusal
Refusing a Breath or Blood Test in Texas
In a motor-vehicle DWI case, a person may refuse an officer's request for a breath or blood specimen, but refusal has consequences. It may be admitted in the criminal case, it starts a separate driver's-license process, and it does not prevent a judge from signing a blood search warrant. A warrant request and a specimen request are different legal events.
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Implied consent begins with an arrest
Texas Transportation Code section 724.011 provides that a person arrested for an offense arising from acts allegedly committed while operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated is deemed to have consented to a specimen. That implied consent does not mean an officer may physically compel a warrantless draw whenever a person says no.
Section 724.013 generally requires the officer to honor the refusal unless a valid warrant or another lawful basis authorizes the specimen. Section 724.012(e) states that even a mandatory-specimen category does not permit a compelled specimen without a warrant or exigent-circumstances probable cause. Consent, refusal, a warrant, and exigent circumstances therefore must be analyzed separately.
What the DIC-24 statutory warning covers
Before requesting a specimen, the officer gives the section 724.015 warning orally and in writing. The form is commonly identified as the DIC-24 statutory warning.
Refusal can be used as evidence
The warning explains that a refusal may be admissible in a later prosecution. Section 724.061 separately authorizes evidence of refusal at trial. The video, the words used, any language issue, and whether the person had a meaningful opportunity to respond can be part of the review.
Refusal can trigger a longer civil suspension
For an adult, a first refusal ordinarily supports a 180-day suspension. A qualifying alcohol-related or drug-related enforcement contact within the preceding 10 years ordinarily raises it to two years. Those are ALR consequences, not criminal punishment.
A warrant may still be requested
The warning states that the officer may apply for a warrant authorizing a specimen. A refusal is not advance consent to that warrant. A magistrate must decide whether the affidavit establishes probable cause.
A requested specimen and a judge-signed warrant are not the same
The record should identify which route produced the specimen. A typical warrant sequence may include these distinct stages.
Step 1: The officer requests a specimen
After the DIC-24 warning, the officer identifies the requested specimen and records the response. The exact request and response may appear on video, in the forms, and in the report.
Step 2: A refusal is documented
The officer may serve notice of the proposed suspension and prepare an affidavit for a blood search warrant. Refusal alone does not establish probable cause for every statement in the affidavit.
Step 3: A magistrate reviews the affidavit
The magistrate decides whether the submitted facts establish probable cause and, if so, signs a warrant describing the authorized search. The affidavit, warrant, signatures, timing, and scope should be reviewed together.
Step 4: The draw and laboratory record are created
Section 724.017 governs qualified personnel and a sanitary place. The draw kit, collection documents, transport, laboratory accession, analytical data, and retention record address what happened after the warrant issued.
Mandatory-specimen categories still require lawful authority
Section 724.012 identifies circumstances in which an officer must require a specimen, including specified injury or fatality cases, a DWI with a passenger younger than 15, and certain known prior intoxication offenses. In defined fatality or serious-injury situations involving a refusal, the statute directs that the required specimen be blood.
The word mandatory describes the officer's statutory duty to seek a specimen. It does not erase section 724.012(e). A compelled draw still requires a judge-signed warrant or probable cause plus exigent circumstances. The basis asserted in the report should match the facts known to the officer at the time.
The additional independent blood-draw right
Under section 724.019, a person who submits to the officer's specimen may, within two hours after arrest, arrange for a physician, qualified technician, chemist, or registered professional nurse of the person's choosing to take an additional blood specimen. This is an additional independent draw, not a retest of the State's sample.
The officer is not required to transport the person for the additional draw, and an unsuccessful effort does not automatically suppress the State's result. The timing of the request, access to a telephone, the response, and any attempt to arrange the draw should be preserved. Separate rights to full analytical information and retained blood evidence are addressed on the blood-test page.
The license case has its own deadline
A refusal suspension is civil and separate from the criminal DWI case. The hearing request is generally due within 15 days after notice, and a timely request stays the suspension until the administrative law judge issues a decision. This page does not repeat the hearing issues, service rules, or scheduling process.
See the ALR hearing page for that procedure. An acquittal in the criminal case requires DPS to rescind a refusal-based suspension under section 724.048(c), but other criminal outcomes do not automatically resolve the civil case.
Breath and blood refusal questions
Does refusing prevent a blood test?
No. Refusal ends the requested-specimen-without-a-warrant route, but an officer may apply for a blood search warrant. A compelled draw must rest on a valid warrant or another constitutionally sufficient basis.
Is refusal a separate DWI conviction?
No. Refusal is evidence that may be used in the criminal case and a basis for a separate civil license suspension. The State must still prove the charged criminal offense.
Does everyone have a right to an additional independent draw?
Section 724.019 gives that right to a person who submits to the officer's test. It requires arranging an additional draw within two hours of arrest and does not require police transportation.