Saving Your Dallas Driver’s License
There are two times after you have been charged with drunk driving when you have an opportunity to save your drivers' license.
- The first is at the Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing held by the Texas Department of Public Safety. You must request this hearing within 15 days of your arrest.
- The second opportunity is in criminal court when your drunk driving case is being heard by a judge.
In many ways, the ALR hearing is preparation for fighting the criminal case. Your defense lawyer can subpoena the arresting officers, requiring them to attend the ALR hearing. If they attend, your attorney has an opportunity to cross-examine the officer. This allows us to see whether there was a good reason (reasonable suspicion) for the traffic stop or probable cause for your arrest.
If the answer is no to either of these, we can use that testimony and other evidence from the ALR hearing as defense material for your later criminal case. Sometimes the case will be dismissed outright.
If you've been arrested for drunk driving — whether this is your first DWI or you have had several DWI convictions in the past — get an experienced defense attorney on your case at the earliest stage.
You have only 15 days to request an ALR hearing
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The defense attorneys at Crain ◊ Lewis, LLP can do that for you. We help clients at every stage of their case. We have helped countless people save their drivers' licenses. We can help you.
There are several reasons why it's important to hire an experienced DWI attorney to save your drivers' license and/or to help you get a temporary work permit license if your license is suspended.
We will prepare and present the strongest case possible for letting you continue to drive. As lawyers experienced in handling license revocation matters, we know what questions to ask and what strategies are most likely to succeed in challenging a license suspension (including what kind of evidence and circumstances the officer is likely to accept).
- If you failed a breathalyzer or blood test, your lawyer can still challenge the accuracy of the test and the stringency of the testing methods.
- At the ALR hearing, the hearing officer will listen to evidence regarding the cause for stopping you. Your attorney can ask to have evidence suppressed if the stop or seizure you were subjected to was illegal.
- If you refused your BAC or breathalyzer test at the scene, your attorney will raise questions about whether you were fully informed about the consequences of refusal and your rights under the law.
Because they are administrative, not judicial in nature, you do not have the protection against self-incrimination at an ALR hearing. A slip of the tongue or a misinterpreted answer can have lasting effects for you. So it's wise to let a lawyer speak for you.
Contact our Dallas law office to learn more about saving your driver's license from being suspended or revoked, and what to do if you have been charged with DWI.
Learn about Texas drunk driving charges. See our DWI Information Center.
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