ALR Hearings

Administrative License Revocation (ALR) Hearings in Texas

Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearings in Texas are civil administrative hearings that are unrelated to the criminal court proceedings of a DWI or BWI (but they do tend to work together as you will see!)
Administrative License Revocation hearings are for people who are arrested for either Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or Boating While Intoxicated (BWI) and refuse to take a blood or breath test, or fail a blood or breath test. Those individuals who fail or refuse to take a blood or breath test after they are arrested for either DWI or BWI are subject to having their drivers license suspended (from 90 days to 2 years). If you refuse, that is also an automatic disqualification for those individuals who have a CDL (commercial drivers license).

What is the ALR Process?

• When you get pulled over, if the officer thinks you are impaired, they will usually do standard field sobriety tests (SFSTs). If you are intoxicated in the opinion of the officer, after they evaluate the totality of the circumstances, you are going to be arrested.
• Once you are arrested they will take you to jail and ask you to provide a breath test (of they may ask if you consent to blood at which point they will take you to a hospital or a facility with a nurse)
• Before they ask for your consent, they will read you a piece of paper explaining your rights, and explaining what can happen to your license if you refuse to provide a sample, and also explaining the consequences if your test comes back over .08
• After you either refuse to provide a sample (or provide one), you will be booked in jail and you should be given a temporary driving permit that will serve as your license for the time being. It will also explain to you the time frame you have to request a hearing.
• You will see that you have 15 days from the date of your arrest to request a hearing. If you do not request a Administrative License Revocation hearing in those 15 days then you automatically will lose your drivers license for a specific amount of time starting on the 40^th day after your arrest.
• Officers typically take your drivers license away from you when they give you the temporary permit (which makes no sense, and I typically advice my clients to go to DPS and purchase a new license because at this point your license is NOT suspended)
• If you happen to lose your hearing, and your license is suspended, then you will have to pay a $125 reinstatement fee to get your license back once your suspension is over

The ALR Hearing

• The Administrative License Revocation hearing  will be held in front of an Administrative Law Judge in the area where you were arrested.
• Prior to the Administrative License Revocation hearing I will hire a process server to find the officers associated with your case and serve them with a subpoena where they agree to appear in person.
• We will typically serve the officers responsible for the initial traffic stop (or initial contact), and the officer who preformed the SFSTs and filled out all of the paperwork in the jail. Many times this is the same officer, but in certain cases it is not unusual to see 2 different officers do the 2 different parts of the investigation.
• If on the day of the hearing the officer (if only one), or one of the officers (if two) do not show up, then the attorney for DPS will not be able to use any of that officers Evidence and we will win the case. If we win the case, it will be dismissed and they will not be able to suspend your license.
• If the officer (or officers) show up, then we will be allowed to have a hearing. The issue in the hearing will be, was their reasonable suspicion to pull you over in the first place.  And after that, was their probable cause to believe you were intoxicated and arrest you.
• Typically if the officer shows up, we will not win. And that is because it is a very low burden for the cop.  All they have to do is state a reason for the stop (or contact), and a reason to believe you had been drinking.  It is very hard to win these cases when the cop shows (but not impossible).
• While it may seem like a bad thing for the officer to show up, it can actually be a good thing. The Administrative License Revocation hearing is a free chance at questioning the officer before your criminal trial.  You can get them on the record, recorded, and ask them whatever questions you want to ask about the case.  If the officer slips up and says something that helps you, you have that in your back pocket for trial.
• After the hearing the Administrative Law Judge will consider all the evidence they heard, and issue a decision. The decision of the judge is appealable if we feel like the decision was wrong.  If the judge feels like DPS proved their case, they will authorize DPS to issue a suspension of that person’s license.  If the judge feels like DPS did not prove the case, then that person’s license will not be suspended.
• If you lose your case, and your license is suspended, you might be eligible for an occupational license. For more information on that, just call me directly and we can talk about it.

Periods of Potential Suspensions for Adults

• If you refused to provide a breath or blood sample the suspension will be 180 days on a 1^st DWI
• The suspension will be 2 years if your license was previously suspended or failing or refusing a test, or if this is your 2^nd DWI, Intoxication Assault, or Intoxication Manslaughter during the 10 years preceding the date of your arrest
• If you provided a breath or blood sample, and the results were .08 or higher then your license will be suspended 90 days if this is your first offense
• The suspension will be 1 year if your license was preciously suspended for failing or refusing to give a breath or blood test OR your license was previously suspended for another DWI, Intoxication Assault, or Intoxication Manslaughter conviction during the preceding 10 years.

Periods of Potential Suspension for Minors (Under 21 Years Old)

• If you refused to provide a blood or breath sample after being arrested, the suspension will be 180 days on a first offense
• The suspension will be 2 years if your license was previously suspended for failing or refusing a test OR if this is your 2^nd DWI, Intoxication Assault, or Intoxication Manslaughter in the previous 10 years.
• If you provided a sample of your breath or blood your license will be suspended for 60 days for offenses involving alcohol.
• The suspension will be 120 days if you have been previously convicted of an offense of DWI or BWI
• The suspension will be 180 days if you have previously been convicted 2 or more times for DWI or BWI
• If a sample was not requested of the minor because the presence of alcohol was detected or measured by other means, the suspension will be 60 days for a 1^st offense involving alcohol
• The suspension will be 120 days if you have been previously convicted of an offense of DWI or BWI
• The suspension will be 180 days if you have previously been convicted 2 or more times for DWI or BWI

Periods of Suspension for Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) in Texas

A CDL will be suspended for 1 year if:

• The individual refused to provide a sample of blood or breath
• The individual provided a sample of blood and breath if the result was higher than .08 (or .04 if driving a commercial vehicle)

A CDL will be suspended for 3 years from transporting hazardous material if:

• The individual refused to provide a sample of blood or breath after being stopped while operating a commercial vehicle that is transporting hazardous material
• While transporting hazardous material, the individual provides a sample, and that sample is .08 or higher OR .04 or more if they are driving a commercial vehicle.

Can I Request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) Hearing on my own?

If you cannot afford to hire me in the first 15 days it is VERY IMPORTANT that you request your own Administrative License Revocation hearing.

You can do that by going to this website:

• https://www.dps.texas.gov/DriverLicense/customer_service/alr.aspx
• Make sure to request an “IN PERSON”

You can also request the Administrative License Revocation by calling:  1-800-394-9913

• Again, make sure to request an “IN PERSON” hearing!
• Once you hire me, I will send a notice of representation to DPS letting them know that I am your attorney, and I will have them send all of the evidence to my office.
• As long as everything is done correctly this will not be a problem and I can still handle the hearing
• You will not have to attend the Administrative License Revocation hearing with me

Related: See my video regarding ALR hearings.