San Marcos DWI Defense
San Marcos DWI Attorney
Charged with DWI in San Marcos? Your license deadline starts fast.
I defend DWI cases in San Marcos, and DWI is the only kind of case this office handles. More than 6,000 since 1998.
San Marcos has a large student population and an interstate running through the middle of it, and both show up in how DWI cases arise here.
15-Day License Deadline
Your license after a San Marcos 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
San Marcos 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 San Marcos, 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 San Marcos DWI case is heard
San Marcos extends into Hays, Caldwell and Guadalupe counties. A DWI allegation arising in Hays County generally proceeds at the Hays County Government Center on South Stagecoach Trail in San Marcos; an allegation arising in Caldwell or Guadalupe County follows that county's court and booking process.
For a Hays County allegation, its three County Courts at Law handle Class A and B misdemeanor criminal cases, while Hays County District Courts have original jurisdiction over felony criminal cases. The court handling a particular case depends on the charge and current assignment. The Hays County Criminal District Attorney's Office represents the State in both misdemeanor and felony offenses committed in Hays County.
San Marcos Police ordinarily holds city-stop reports and available video, while Texas State University Police can be the source for a campus-area investigation. A Hays County deputy or DPS trooper maintains that agency's own materials from a county road or Interstate 35 stop. When the offense location is in Hays County, the case can still proceed in the San Marcos courts, but the evidence inventory must distinguish the university, city, sheriff and state files.
San Marcos at a glance
Counties
Hays County, Caldwell County and Guadalupe County
Courthouse
Depends on where the alleged offense occurred: Hays County in San Marcos, Caldwell County in Lockhart or Guadalupe County in Seguin
License deadline
15 days from notice, or 20 days from mailing in a blood test case
Where San Marcos DWI stops happen
Interstate 35 runs through the center of San Marcos and carries traffic between Austin and San Antonio, which produces stops at all hours and from more than one agency depending on where the stop occurred. North LBJ Drive and North Guadalupe Street carry the traffic around the university and the square, where the bars are concentrated.
With Texas State University in town, a meaningful share of cases involve drivers under 21, and the law for them is different rather than lighter. Alcohol Beverage Code section 106.041 makes operating with any detectable amount an offense, license suspension runs on its own tiers of 60, 120 and 180 days, and because it is not a lesser included offense of DWI a full charge under section 49.04 stays available where intoxication is alleged.
San Marcos DWI Defense
Call Ken today for San Marcos, 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
San Marcos DWI questions
I am a Texas State student. What is different about my case?
If you are under 21, the 0.08 standard does not apply to you. Operating with any detectable amount of alcohol is a Class C offense under Alcohol Beverage Code section 106.041, with suspension tiers of 60, 120 and 180 days. It is not a lesser included offense of DWI, so a full DWI charge remains possible. See underage DWI.
Is my San Marcos case heard locally?
It depends on where the alleged offense occurred. A Hays County allegation generally proceeds at the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos. Allegations arising in the Caldwell or Guadalupe County portions follow those counties' court and booking processes.
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 can preserve important parts of the stop and booking process, but they are not the only records that may exist. Dispatch or CAD entries, 911 calls, offense and arrest reports, breath-test records, blood-draw and laboratory records, and third-party video may also be available. Reviewing the available sources together can show where the written report is supported or contradicted.