DWI Attorney in San Antonio: Bexar County DWI & Intoxication Defense

A DWI arrest in San Antonio starts two separate cases at once. The first is the criminal case, which the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office files in a county court at law or, for felony-level charges, in a district court. The second is a civil license case with the Texas Department of Public Safety, and it runs on a clock the arrest itself starts. The 15-day ALR deadline for requesting a hearing applies whether or not any charge is ever filed, and missing it can cost you your driving privileges before your criminal case has had its first setting.

Barton & Associates defends DWI and intoxication charges throughout Bexar County, from a first-offense misdemeanor to intoxication manslaughter. We read the video, question the traffic stop, test the breath or blood evidence and protect the license while the criminal case is built. If your charge is not DWI, our main San Antonio criminal defense attorney page lists the other offenses we defend. If it is a DWI, the sections below explain how these cases move through Bexar County and what we look at first.

What Happens After a DWI Arrest in San Antonio and Bexar County

Most San Antonio DWI arrests are made by the San Antonio Police Department, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office or the Texas Department of Public Safety. The sequence that follows is similar in every case, and each step creates a decision point or a deadline.

1. The stop and the investigation. The officer must have a lawful reason to stop the vehicle and a lawful basis to detain and then arrest you. The officer’s video, the field sobriety tests and the questions asked at roadside become the foundation of the State’s case.
2. The test request. You will be asked for a breath or blood specimen. If you refuse, the officer may seek a warrant for blood. Your answer affects both the evidence and your license.
3. Booking and magistration. After the arrest you are taken before a magistrate, who sets bond and its conditions. For DWI, conditions can include an ignition interlock device or alcohol monitoring.
4. The notice of suspension. The officer typically takes your license and gives you paperwork that serves as notice of an administrative suspension. The deadline to request a hearing runs from your receipt of that notice.
5. Charging and court settings. A misdemeanor DWI is filed in a Bexar County court at law. A felony DWI must first go to a grand jury for indictment and is then assigned to a district court. Early settings are used to exchange evidence, review video and negotiate or set motions.
6. Resolution. The case ends by dismissal, a negotiated plea, a motion that changes what evidence the State can use, or a trial.

Many clients arrive with the same practical questions about bond, court dates and what to say to anyone who calls. We collected the most frequent ones in common questions after a DWI arrest, which is a good place to start if you were arrested in the last few days.

Protecting Your License: The 15-Day Administrative Deadline

The Texas Department of Public Safety can suspend your license through an administrative process that is separate from the criminal court. The process starts when you either fail a chemical test or refuse one. You may request a hearing in writing within 15 days of receiving the notice. If you do not ask, the suspension takes effect automatically, and it does not matter that you have not been convicted of anything.

The length of the suspension depends on the facts. For an adult whose driving record shows no alcohol-related enforcement contacts in the prior ten years, a test failure carries a 90-day suspension, and a record with one or more such contacts carries a suspension of one year. A refusal carries a suspension of at least 180 days under the statutory warning an officer must give before asking for a specimen. For drivers under 21, any detectable amount of alcohol can bring a separate suspension.

A hearing matters for two reasons. It can keep the suspension from starting while the case is pending, and it gives the defense an early opportunity to question the arresting officer under oath about why you were stopped, why you were arrested and how the test was handled. That testimony is often useful later in the criminal case. Whether a hearing is the right move in your situation, or whether an occupational license is the better route, depends on your work, your record and the strength of the stop. Our ALR process guide walks through the steps, and our page on license reinstatement and occupational licenses covers what happens when you need to keep driving to work or to reinstate after a suspension.

Breath Tests, Blood Tests and Bexar County’s No-Refusal Practice

Texas defines intoxication two ways. A person is intoxicated if, because of alcohol, a drug or another substance, they do not have the normal use of their mental or physical faculties. A person is also intoxicated if their alcohol concentration is 0.08 or more. The State may prove either, and many cases are built on both: officer observations to prove the first and a chemical test to prove the second.

Bexar County has operated under a no-refusal policy since 2011, and the policy is not limited to holiday weekends despite its common name. When a driver declines a breath or blood test, officers can seek a warrant from a magistrate and have blood drawn. That makes the legality of the warrant, the information in the affidavit and the way the draw was performed central issues in many Bexar County cases. Since Missouri v. McNeely, the natural dissipation of alcohol in the blood does not by itself excuse the police from getting a warrant. If you refused a test, the consequences are not simple, and we explain the tradeoffs in our article on refusing a breath test.

When we review chemical evidence we look at the points that most often decide whether it can be trusted:

• Breath tests: the maintenance and calibration records for the instrument, the operator’s certification, whether the required observation period was followed, and whether anything in your medical history or in what you had recently eaten, used or worked around could affect the reading.
• Blood tests: how the sample was collected and by whom, how it was labeled and stored, the chain of custody, the laboratory’s methods and records, and the way a result at the time of testing is translated to your alcohol level while driving. Blood specimens must be retained and preserved under Article 38.50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which can allow independent retesting.
• Field sobriety tests: the standardized tests are scored against set criteria and are not a measurement of alcohol concentration. Footwear, the road surface, lighting, injuries, age, weight, nerves and fatigue can all affect performance, and the video often shows more than the officer’s report does.
• The stop itself: if the officer lacked reasonable suspicion for the stop or probable cause for the arrest, the evidence that followed can be challenged under Article 38.23 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Texas DWI Penalties, From a First Offense to Intoxication Manslaughter

The punishment for a DWI depends on the facts of the arrest and on your history. The levels below describe the range the law provides; the sentence in a particular case turns on the evidence, the court and the plea or verdict. Our Texas Penal Code guide explains how offense classes and punishment ranges fit together.

• First-offense DWI is a Class B misdemeanor with a minimum of 72 hours in jail, up to 180 days and a fine of up to $2,000. If a test shows an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more, it is a Class A misdemeanor.
• DWI with an open container remains a Class B misdemeanor, but the minimum jail term rises to six days if the State proves an open container of alcohol was within your immediate reach.
• Second-offense DWI is a Class A misdemeanor with a 30-day minimum and up to a year in jail. There is no ten-year limit on the use of an older conviction, and a conviction counts as final even if the sentence was probated.
• Third-offense DWI is a third-degree felony, punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. A prior conviction for intoxication manslaughter also makes a new DWI a felony.
• DWI with a child passenger is a state jail felony when the passenger is younger than 15, even on a first arrest.
• Intoxication assault is a third-degree felony when the intoxicated driver causes serious bodily injury, and the grade increases when the injured person is a firefighter, emergency medical worker, peace officer or judge on duty.
• Intoxication manslaughter is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to twenty years in prison, and a first-degree felony when the person who died was one of those on-duty personnel.

Felony DWI cases are prosecuted in the district courts after a grand jury indictment, and they bring different stakes, procedures and plea considerations than misdemeanor cases. Our page on felony DWI charges covers how those cases are built and defended, and the broader felony process is the work of a San Antonio felony attorney. A conviction also has consequences outside the sentence: a license suspension that can run from 90 days to two years depending on the offense, costs that attach to probation, an ignition interlock requirement in some cases, and a record that can affect work and housing.

Other Intoxication-Related Charges

Not every case is a standard alcohol DWI. The State can charge intoxication from drugs or prescription medication, and the defense is different because there is usually no breath or blood alcohol number to argue about. Drug-related DUI cases turn on the officer’s training, the drug recognition evaluation and any toxicology result, and a DUID arrest may also open a separate possession problem handled by a San Antonio drug crimes lawyer.

Texas also has a zero-tolerance rule for drivers under 21, who can be charged and have their licenses suspended for any detectable alcohol. Our page on underage DUI explains how that charge differs from an adult DWI. Service members stationed at Joint Base San Antonio can face consequences in both the civilian court and the military system, and a military defense lawyer in San Antonio addresses the career side of the case. Commercial drivers face a separate set of rules that can end a career even when the criminal case is resolved favorably.

How We Defend a DWI Case in Bexar County

A strong defense starts with the facts that cannot be changed later: the dash and body camera video, the dispatch records, the 911 call, the booking video and the test records. We request them early because the video often tells a different story than the offense report, and because some of it is kept for a limited time. From there the defense focuses on the questions that decide the case.

• Was the stop lawful? An officer needs a specific, articulable reason to stop a vehicle. A weaving allegation, a registration problem or an equipment violation must be supported by what the video shows.
• Was there probable cause to arrest? The signs an officer describes, such as odor, red eyes or slurred speech, have many explanations unrelated to alcohol.
• Was the chemical evidence collected, stored and analyzed correctly? A result is only as reliable as the process that produced it.
• Was the warrant, if there was one, valid? The affidavit must support probable cause on its face, and the blood draw must be performed by an authorized person in a reasonable manner.
• Can the State prove driving, intoxication and the time of each? In a crash case or a parked-car case, who was driving and when are often contested.

When a motion to suppress succeeds, the State may lose the evidence it needs to proceed. Bexar County’s standard misdemeanor pretrial diversion program does not accept DWI cases, so a dismissal usually comes from weaknesses in the State’s proof rather than from a diversion agreement. We discuss this in more detail in our article on getting a DWI dismissed. Where the evidence is strong, our role shifts to protecting your license, keeping the outcome out of the felony range where possible and negotiating terms that can be completed.

Bexar County Courts, Probation and the DWI Court

Misdemeanor DWI cases in Bexar County are heard in the county courts at law, and felony DWI cases are heard in the district courts. The criminal courts are downtown at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center on Dolorosa Street. Most of the early work happens before trial: discovery, motions and negotiations with the assistant district attorney assigned to the court.

A probated sentence is a common result in DWI cases, and the terms are demanding. Typical conditions include reporting, fines and costs, an alcohol education program, community service and, in many cases, an ignition interlock device on any vehicle you drive. When a court orders an interlock as a condition of probation, it generally applies for at least half of the supervision period, and for a second offense within five years the court must order a device for a period that extends past the end of the license suspension. Our overview of ignition interlock requirements explains when each rule applies.

Probation can also go wrong. A missed report date, a failed alcohol test or a new arrest can lead the State to file a motion to revoke. We explain how that process works and how to respond in our page on probation violations for DWI.

Bexar County also operates TRAC-D, its DWI Court, for people who are on probation for a repeat DWI. It is a post-conviction program and not a way to have a case dismissed. To qualify, a participant must live in Bexar County, be on probation for a subsequent DWI offense, be assessed as high risk and high need, and have a moderate or severe alcohol use disorder, and people with a pending violent offense or felony charge are excluded. Participants appear before the judge on a regular docket and receive treatment, close supervision and incentives for progress. For some repeat offenders it is a better outcome than traditional probation, and we raise it when the facts fit.

After the Case: Your Record, Your License and Your Future

The end of the case is not always the end of the consequences. A DWI conviction stays on your Texas record, and the question of how long it follows you is one of the most common we hear. Our article on how long a DWI stays on your record explains the options for each outcome.

Whether a DWI can be sealed or erased depends on how the case ended. A dismissal or an acquittal may qualify for expunction, and certain convictions may qualify for an order of nondisclosure after a waiting period. See our guides on Texas expunction and the nondisclosure guide, and our page on DWI expungement and record sealing for how those tools apply to a DWI in particular. These are not automatic, and the eligibility rules are detailed enough that you should have them reviewed before you file.

More About DWI & Intoxication in San Antonio

These articles cover specific situations in more depth. Each one is written for San Antonio and Bexar County.

• ALR hearing or occupational license: how to choose between contesting the suspension and seeking limited driving privileges.
• No-refusal weekends and blood warrants: what to look for when police draw blood under a warrant.
• Out-of-state DWI arrests: what to do if you were arrested in San Antonio but live elsewhere.
• Military DWI consequences: the civilian and military exposure for JBSA personnel.
• Veteran DWI charges: options that may be available to veterans in Bexar County.
• CDL holders and DWI: what is at stake for commercial drivers.

Why San Antonio Drivers Hire Barton & Associates for DWI Defense

Choosing a DWI defense attorney in San Antonio is a decision you usually have to make within days, and the early choices matter. We built our DWI practice around the realities of the Bexar County courts: we handle the license deadline from the first call, and our criminal defense trial attorneys prepare cases as if they will be tried. Our founder, Gary J. Barton, is a former Capital Murder prosecutor who is Board Certified in Criminal Law, and he practices alongside a team of trial attorneys who defend DWI cases in Bexar County.

We do not promise a result, because no honest lawyer can. What we offer is a careful review of the stop, the arrest and the evidence, a clear explanation of your options, and a decision about the license made before the deadline passes. The first consultation is free.

If you are able to, bring or send the following when you call:

• The citation or arrest paperwork and any bond documents
• The notice of suspension or temporary driving permit you were given
• The date, time and location of your first court setting
• Your driver license number and a record of any prior arrests or convictions
• Any commercial driver’s license, security clearance or professional license you hold
• Notes about what happened, written down while you still remember it

Frequently Asked Questions About DWI in San Antonio and Bexar County

What should I do first after a DWI arrest in San Antonio?

Write down the date and time you received your notice of suspension, because the deadline to request an ALR hearing runs from that notice. Then call a defense attorney before you speak with anyone about the facts, and keep a record of everything you remember about the stop, the tests and the booking. Do not post about the arrest, and do not contact the officer or the District Attorney’s Office on your own.

Is a DUI the same as a DWI in Texas?

Not exactly. In Texas, DWI is the general offense of driving while intoxicated, and it applies to adults and minors alike. DUI refers to the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol by a person under 21, which carries its own penalties under the state’s zero-tolerance law. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but the charge on your paperwork determines the punishment and the defenses available.

How long do I have to request an ALR hearing?

You must request the hearing in writing so that the Department of Public Safety receives your request within 15 days of the date you received the notice of suspension. If the request is late, the suspension generally takes effect without a hearing. Because the deadline is short and counted from receipt, you should not wait to see how the criminal case develops.

Will I lose my license after a DWI arrest?

Possibly, in two different ways. An administrative suspension can follow a failed or refused test unless you obtain a hearing and prevail, and a court can suspend your license after a conviction. A suspension on conviction can run from 90 days up to two years for most DWI offenses, depending on the offense. You may be eligible for an occupational license that allows limited driving for work and essential needs, and we can evaluate that when we review your case.

Should I take the breath or blood test?

This is a decision you make at roadside, usually without legal advice, and either choice has consequences. A result at or above the legal limit becomes evidence and carries a 90-day administrative suspension for an adult with a clean record. A refusal can be used as evidence in the prosecution and carries a suspension of at least 180 days, and in Bexar County police can seek a warrant and take blood anyway. If you have already made the choice, what matters now is how the evidence was collected, and we can examine it.

What does a no-refusal policy mean in Bexar County?

It means that when a driver suspected of DWI declines a breath or blood test, the officer can ask a magistrate for a warrant to draw blood. Bexar County has applied the policy since 2011, and it is not limited to holidays or weekends. The warrant must be supported by an affidavit showing probable cause, and the draw must be done properly, so a no-refusal arrest still leaves room for a defense.

Can a DWI charge be dismissed in Bexar County?

Yes, though not through the District Attorney’s standard misdemeanor pretrial diversion program, which does not accept DWI cases. Dismissals and reduced charges come from problems with the State’s case, such as an unlawful stop, a weak arrest basis, flawed chemical evidence or a witness who cannot prove who was driving. Each case turns on its own video and records, and no lawyer can promise a dismissal.

Will I go to jail for a first DWI?

A first-offense DWI is a Class B misdemeanor with a 72-hour minimum jail term, and a court has discretion to place a defendant on probation instead of sending the sentence into effect. Aggravating facts change the exposure: a test of 0.15 or more makes the offense a Class A misdemeanor, an open container raises the minimum to six days, and a child passenger under 15 makes it a state jail felony. What happens in practice depends on the evidence, the court and the terms of any agreement.

What happens if I have a prior DWI?

A second DWI is a Class A misdemeanor with a 30-day minimum jail term. A third intoxication-related offense is a third-degree felony punishable by two to ten years in prison. Texas no longer has a ten-year limit on counting an older conviction, and a probated sentence counts as a conviction, so priors from many years ago can still raise the charge. The State must prove each prior, and that proof is sometimes incomplete or flawed.

What is an ignition interlock device and when is it required?

An ignition interlock is a breath-testing device installed in a vehicle that prevents it from starting if it detects alcohol. A judge can require one as a condition of bond or probation, and for a second offense within five years the court must order one. You generally pay for installation and monitoring.

What is TRAC-D, and can I qualify?

TRAC-D is Bexar County’s DWI Court. It serves people already on probation for a repeat DWI who are high risk and high need and have a moderate or severe alcohol use disorder. It is a treatment-focused program with regular court appearances and close supervision, and it does not dismiss the underlying case. A defense attorney, prosecutor, probation officer or the participant can start a referral, but the judge in the original case must sign the order.

What if someone was hurt or killed in the crash?

If another person suffered serious bodily injury, the charge is intoxication assault, a third-degree felony. If a person died, it is intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony. Both are tried in a district court after a grand jury indictment, and the State will use crash reconstruction, blood evidence and medical records. These cases need immediate legal help, and you should not discuss the facts with investigators or insurers until you have spoken with an attorney.

Can a DWI be removed from my record?

Sometimes. If the case ended in a dismissal or an acquittal, you may be eligible for an expunction after the required waiting period. If it ended in a conviction, you may be able to seal it through an order of nondisclosure, but not every DWI qualifies and there is a waiting period. A DWI that is not eligible for either remedy stays on your record, so the outcome of the case is the most important factor.

How do I choose a DWI lawyer in San Antonio?

Look for a lawyer who handles DWI cases regularly in the Bexar County courts, who will address the license deadline in the first conversation and who will explain how the specific stop and test in your case could be challenged. Ask who will actually appear in court and whether the lawyer is prepared to take a case to trial if the evidence is weak. A lawyer who promises a particular outcome before reviewing the video and the records is not being straight with you.

Talk With a San Antonio DWI Lawyer About Your Case

The deadlines in a DWI case start running the day of the arrest, and the video and test records that can help you are easier to secure early. Call 210-500-0000 to schedule a free consultation, or contact our office and tell us what happened. You can also reach a criminal defense attorney in San Antonio at our main office, 115 Camaron Street, San Antonio, Texas 78205.

Main Category: Criminal Defense
Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law
115 Camaron St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Office: 210-500-0000