Legal Question in DUI Law in Texas

Re: license suspension prior to DWI trial

the suspension you are talking about is a civil matter, and administrative in nature. Any person arrested for DWI, has 15 days from the date of their arrest to challenge the confiscation of their drivers license. Under Texas law, any person who receives a drivers license from the state of texas receives it with the provision that they will not drive on the roads of texas while intoxicated. If they are stopped and an officer has probable cause to believe the person is driving while intoxicated, the officer has a right to request a breath or blood test, and the individual has the right to refuse or give a sample, but if they give a sample and the results are above .o8 then Texas has the right to suspend the person's drivers license for 90 days first offense for providing specimen or 6 months for refusing the test. The individual also has the right to hearing and force the officer to prove to an administrative law judge that the officer did not have probable cause to stop and arrest him or her for DWI. If you lose the hearing you have the right to appeal, although the issues are very narrow and the person is highly unlikely able to win although it has happened. However, this law has nothing to do with criminal law, it is strictly administrative and civil in nature and has already been fought in the courts. BTW; this law is in place in a majority of states across the US, and was passed so that the states could get federal monies for roadways. If you are interested in stopping these kind of laws then you need to stop MADD, which is the largest political lobbying group in america and the major supporter for this kind of legislation. I hope I have answered your question.