A drunk driving arrest starts two separate cases against you — a criminal case and a race to save your driver's license. One of them has a 15-day deadline. Sam R. Cammack III defends both.
Arrested in the last two weeks? Read the 15-day license warning first. Then see our case results or meet Sam Cammack III.
When you were arrested, the officer almost certainly took your license and handed you a paper notice (form DIC-25). That notice started a 15-day clock. If you do not request an Administrative License Revocation hearing within 15 days, your suspension takes effect automatically — even if your criminal case is later dismissed, and even if you are never convicted of anything.
The ALR case is a separate civil proceeding run by the Texas Department of Public Safety. It has its own deadline, its own hearing, and its own outcome. Missing the deadline forfeits it by default.
Requesting the hearing is also the best free discovery in a DWI case. It lets your lawyer subpoena and cross-examine the arresting officer under oath, months before the criminal trial — testimony that is then locked in and can be used to impeach the officer later.
If you were arrested within the last 15 days, call now. 713-224-4444 — we answer around the clock, and the consultation is free.
Under Texas Penal Code § 49.04, it is an offense to operate a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated — defined as either a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or not having the normal use of your mental or physical faculties because of alcohol, drugs, or any combination. That second definition matters: you can be convicted with no test at all, on nothing but an officer's opinion of how you performed on the roadside.
A first DWI is a Class B misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum of 72 hours in jail. At a BAC of 0.15 or more it becomes a Class A misdemeanor. A second is a Class A with a 30-day minimum, and a third is a third-degree felony carrying 2 to 10 years in prison. Texas has no look-back period — a DWI from decades ago still counts to enhance a new charge.
Who we are: Sam R. Cammack III is a Houston trial lawyer and former felony prosecutor with 20+ years in Texas courts and 3,000+ dismissals won.
People arrested for DWI tend to arrive at one of two wrong conclusions. Some treat it like a serious traffic matter and plead at the first setting to make it go away, not realizing a conviction is permanent, cannot be sealed, and follows them through every background check and insurance renewal for life. Others assume that because they blew over the limit, the case is unwinnable and there is nothing to do.
Both are wrong. DWI is one of the most technically defensible charges in Texas criminal law, because the State's case is built almost entirely on procedures that have to be performed correctly to mean anything: the reason for the stop, the administration and scoring of standardized field sobriety tests, the maintenance and operation of the breath test instrument, the drawing and storage of a blood sample, and the chain of custody that follows. Each of those is a documented procedure with published standards — and each is challengeable when it was not followed.
Sam R. Cammack III served as a felony prosecutor in Harrison County, Texas before two decades defending the accused, and has counseled State Troopers on felony prosecution procedure — which means he knows how these stops are supposed to be conducted. Public Texas court records identify 16 DWI matters among the 371 filings associated with his bar number. He is a member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and licensed in good standing with the State Bar of Texas (Bar No. 24014415). Learn more about the firm and team.
Most states use "DUI" for drunk driving. Texas does not. Here the two terms mean genuinely different things, and the difference is age.
The adult charge, and what nearly everyone actually means by "DUI." It requires intoxication — a BAC of 0.08 or more, or loss of the normal use of mental or physical faculties. It is a criminal offense starting at Class B misdemeanor and rising to a felony.
Applies only to drivers under 21, and operates on zero tolerance: any detectable amount of alcohol is enough. No 0.08 required, no proof of impairment required. Typically a Class C misdemeanor for a first offense — but with a license suspension attached.
Two consequences follow. First, if you are an adult searching for a "DUI lawyer in Houston," the charge on your paperwork is almost certainly DWI. Second — and this catches families off guard — a driver under 21 is not limited to the DUI charge. If a minor is actually intoxicated under the Penal Code definition, the State can and does file the adult DWI charge instead, with all of its criminal consequences.
Note also the commercial standard: a driver operating a commercial vehicle is over the limit at 0.04, half the ordinary threshold, and a CDL holder faces disqualification consequences that exist entirely apart from the criminal case.
Class B misdemeanor with a 72-hour minimum — and the offense most likely to be resolved without a conviction if it is handled properly from the start.
A Class A misdemeanor. This threshold also closes the door on deferred adjudication for a first offense, which makes challenging the test result unusually valuable.
A second offense is a Class A misdemeanor with a 30-day minimum. A third is a third-degree felony at 2 to 10 years. Texas has no washout period — old convictions still count.
A state jail felony where a passenger under 15 was in the vehicle — even on a first offense, and even with a BAC barely over the limit. Frequently triggers a CPS referral alongside the criminal case.
Causing serious bodily injury while intoxicated — a third-degree felony, charged even where the injury was entirely accidental.
Causing a death while intoxicated — a second-degree felony and a 3G offense: no judge-ordered probation, and parole only after half the sentence. Since September 2025, a first-degree felony where more than one person is killed.
A state jail felony for offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025 while reduced school-zone speed limits were in effect. See what changed in 2025.
Any detectable alcohol in a driver under 21. Class C for a first offense, with a license suspension — and a permanent record if not handled correctly.
The separate administrative case to save your driving privileges, with its own 15-day deadline. We handle it alongside the criminal case, not instead of it.
| Offense | Classification | Jail / Prison | Maximum Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| First DWI | Class B misdemeanor | 72 hours – 180 days | $2,000 |
| First DWI with an open container | Class B misdemeanor | 6 days – 180 days | $2,000 |
| First DWI, BAC 0.15 or more | Class A misdemeanor | Up to 1 year | $4,000 |
| Second DWI | Class A misdemeanor | 30 days – 1 year | $4,000 |
| Third or subsequent DWI | Third-degree felony | 2 – 10 years | $10,000 |
| DWI with a child passenger under 15 | State jail felony | 180 days – 2 years | $10,000 |
| DWI in a school crossing zone — offenses on or after Sept. 1, 2025 | State jail felony | 180 days – 2 years | $10,000 |
| Intoxication assault — serious bodily injury | Third-degree felony | 2 – 10 years | $10,000 |
| Intoxication manslaughter — death | Second-degree felony (3G) | 2 – 20 years | $10,000 |
| Intoxication manslaughter, multiple deaths — on or after Sept. 1, 2025 | First-degree felony | 5 – 99 years or life | $10,000 |
| Situation | Suspension |
|---|---|
| Adult refuses a breath or blood test — first refusal | 180 days |
| Adult refuses — with a prior | 2 years |
| Adult fails the test (0.08 or more) — first | 90 days |
| Adult fails the test — with a prior | 1 year |
| Minor with any detectable alcohol — first | 60 days |
| Minor refuses a test — first | 180 days |
| Deadline to request a hearing and contest all of the above | 15 days |
Penalty ranges reflect the Texas Penal Code as currently enacted; suspension periods reflect the Texas DPS Administrative License Revocation program. A court may order an ignition interlock as a condition of bond or probation, and must do so for repeat offenders. An occupational driver's license can often be obtained to permit driving for work, school, and essential household duties during a suspension. This is general information, not legal advice about your case.
Two new laws took effect September 1, 2025. A third, which would have made every first DWI a Class A misdemeanor, failed.
DWI committed in a school crossing zone while reduced speed limits are in effect is now a state jail felony under Penal Code § 49.04(e) — a first offense that would otherwise be a Class B misdemeanor becomes a felony purely because of where it happened.
Intoxication manslaughter is now a first-degree felony where more than one person is killed in the same criminal transaction, raising exposure from 2–20 years to 5–99 years or life.
SB 2320 would have made every first DWI a Class A misdemeanor and made a first high-BAC offense a state jail felony. It did not make it out of committee. A first DWI remains a Class B misdemeanor.
Both new provisions apply only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025 — which makes the date of your arrest legally significant. Bills increasing DWI penalties are re-filed most sessions; this page reflects the law as of August 2026.
The fine printed in the statute is a fraction of the real number — and the permanent consequences are the part nobody mentions at the first court setting.
Separate from and on top of the criminal fine, Texas imposes a one-time fine on conviction: $3,000 for a first conviction within 36 months, $4,500 for a second or subsequent within that window, and $6,000 where the BAC was 0.15 or more. Courts may waive it for indigent defendants.
A DWI conviction is permanent — no expunction, and no nondisclosure. Only a dismissal, acquittal, or successfully completed deferred adjudication leaves a path to clearing or sealing the record.
Rates commonly multiply for years, and some carriers decline to renew entirely. Over a three-to-five year horizon this is frequently the largest single financial consequence of the case.
Any job involving driving, and most professional licensing boards, treat a DWI as reportable. Nurses, teachers, pilots, and security-cleared employees can face separate proceedings triggered by the conviction alone.
A commercial driver is over the limit at 0.04, and disqualification consequences apply even for a DWI committed in a personal vehicle. For a career driver this is the whole case.
A DWI can affect visa and immigration proceedings, particularly with aggravating factors such as a child passenger or a prior. Entry to some countries — Canada notably — can be refused on a DWI record.
The strategic conclusion mirrors what we tell clients in every practice area: the objective is not the lightest sentence, it is no DWI conviction. Dismissal, acquittal, a reduction to a non-intoxication offense such as obstruction of a highway, or deferred adjudication all preserve options that a conviction destroys permanently.
An officer needs reasonable suspicion to stop you at all. Weaving within a lane, a brief touch of the fog line, or an anonymous tip without corroboration frequently will not support one. If the stop was unlawful, everything after it — the tests, the statements, the breath or blood result — is subject to suppression, and the case usually ends.
The three standardized tests have published administration and scoring procedures, and their claimed accuracy depends entirely on following them. Officers routinely deviate. They are also validated on a narrow population — age, weight, injuries, footwear, roadside conditions, and medical issues all affect performance in ways that have nothing to do with alcohol.
The instrument requires documented maintenance, calibration, and a properly observed waiting period. Mouth alcohol, GERD and acid reflux, dental work, diabetes and ketosis, and even certain workplace chemical exposures can distort a result. Maintenance records are obtainable, and they are not always clean.
A blood draw generally requires a warrant or valid consent. The affidavit supporting that warrant can be attacked, and so can the draw itself: who performed it, whether the correct tubes and preservatives were used, how the sample was stored, whether fermentation or clotting occurred, and whether the chain of custody is complete.
The legal question is your alcohol concentration at the time of driving, not at the time of testing an hour or more later. If you were still absorbing, your BAC at the wheel may have been below the limit. The State's extrapolation requires assumptions about drinking pattern, food, and elimination rate that are frequently unsupported by any actual evidence.
The State must prove you operated the vehicle while intoxicated. Cases involving someone found parked, asleep in a vehicle, or at the scene after the fact often have real proof problems on both the operation element and the timing of intoxication.
Dashcam and bodycam footage frequently contradicts the offense report. Clear speech, steady walking, and normal responses on video are powerful against a narrative of slurred speech and unsteady balance — which is why obtaining and reviewing every second of footage matters.
Where the State alleges priors to make a case a Class A or a felony, those judgments must be properly proved and linked to you. Defective prior judgments, uncounseled pleas, and identity problems are real, and defeating an enhancement can move a case from a felony back to a misdemeanor.
For the first time in decades, Texas allows deferred adjudication for a first DWI — but only within narrow limits, and the 0.15 line decides everything.
Available since September 2019 for a first-offense Class B DWI — meaning a BAC under 0.15 or no test at all, no prior DWI, no prior DWI deferred, and no commercial driver's license. On successful completion there is no conviction. A BAC of 0.15 or more makes the offense a Class A and takes this option off the table entirely — which is precisely why challenging a result just over that line can change the whole shape of a case.
After completing deferred adjudication you may petition for an order of nondisclosure. The waiting period is generally two years if an ignition interlock was installed and operating for at least six months, and five years otherwise. Cases involving an accident with another person are not eligible, and the court must find that sealing is in the interest of justice.
An important limit that catches people out: even after a DWI deferred adjudication is completed and sealed, it still counts as a prior if you are ever arrested for DWI again. Sealed is not erased.
The best outcomes remain dismissal and acquittal, which generally make you eligible for an expunction — actual destruction of the record. A negotiated reduction to a non-DWI offense such as obstruction of a highway also avoids the intoxication conviction and its licensing and insurance consequences.
Do not plead guilty at your first setting. A DWI conviction can never be sealed, and pleading forecloses deferred adjudication, expunction, and nondisclosure permanently. Call 713-224-4444 first — the consultation is free.
DWI cases are frequently won before trial — at the ALR hearing, on a motion to suppress, or by attacking the test. For the firm's complete record, see our full case results page.
Brazoria County, August 28, 2014. A drunk driver crashed into David Barajas and his two young sons, killing both boys. Barajas was later charged with the driver's murder — a first-degree felony carrying up to life. Sam Cammack III tried the case to verdict, establishing that no weapon was ever recovered, that there were no eyewitnesses, and that gunshot-residue testing came back negative. The jury returned in roughly three hours.
Not Guilty — All ChargesThe case began as a drunk driving tragedy, and trying it required exactly what a contested DWI requires: refusing to accept the State's forensic conclusions at face value. Covered by NBC News and ABC13 Houston. See all case results →
Public court-record data compiled from Texas county filings identifies 371 criminal matters associated with Sam R. Cammack III (Texas Bar No. 24014415), including 16 DWI matters — and a practice spread across both the misdemeanor and felony courts where intoxication cases are heard.
Misdemeanor DWI cases are heard in the Harris County Criminal Courts at Law at 1201 Franklin Street; felony DWI is heard in the District Courts in the same building. See our Harris County practice page, or look up a case through our inmate search and court records resources.
Outcomes reported by clients across the firm's criminal defense practice, as published on our case results page. Client identities and cause numbers are withheld. Independent reviews are available on the firm's Avvo profile.
Note on results: Each case is decided on its own facts and law. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter. Caseload figures are compiled from publicly available Texas court records and may be incomplete.
Blood-warrant practice, "no refusal" enforcement, and plea posture in intoxication cases differ meaningfully from county to county.
Houston, Pasadena, Baytown, Katy, Humble, Cypress, Tomball, Spring Branch, Bellaire, Deer Park, La Porte
Criminal Courts at Law for misdemeanor DWI and District Courts for felony DWI, both at 1201 Franklin St. Heavy enforcement along I-10, I-45, US-59, and the 610 Loop.
Conroe, The Woodlands, Spring, Magnolia, Willis, Montgomery, New Caney, Porter
Montgomery County Courthouse, Conroe — historically among the most aggressive DWI-enforcement counties in the region, with active blood-warrant practice.
Richmond, Sugar Land, Katy, Rosenberg, Missouri City, Stafford, Fulshear, Needville
Fort Bend County Justice Center, Richmond — County Courts at Law and District Courts.
Galveston, League City, Texas City, Friendswood, Dickinson, La Marque, Santa Fe
Galveston County Justice Center — with seasonal enforcement surges along the Seawall and I-45 South.
Angleton, Pearland, Lake Jackson, Alvin, Freeport, Clute, Manvel
Brazoria County Courthouse, Angleton — site of the firm's State v. Barajas acquittal.
Texas Department of Public Safety · State Office of Administrative Hearings
The license case is administrative and is handled separately from the criminal court — with its own 15-day deadline.
Not sure which court your case is in? Use our inmate search and court records tools, or send us the cause number and we will look it up for you.
Age. DWI under Penal Code § 49.04 is the adult charge and requires intoxication — a BAC of 0.08 or more, or loss of the normal use of mental or physical faculties. DUI under Alcoholic Beverage Code § 106.041 applies only to drivers under 21 and is a zero-tolerance offense: any detectable alcohol is enough, with no 0.08 requirement and no proof of impairment. Most states use "DUI" for what Texas calls DWI, so if you are an adult searching for a DUI lawyer, your charge is almost certainly a DWI. A minor who is actually intoxicated can still be charged with the adult DWI.
Only if you let it happen by default. You have 15 days from the date of arrest to request an Administrative License Revocation hearing. Miss it and the suspension takes effect automatically — 180 days for refusing a test, 90 days for failing one, and longer with a prior — even if your criminal case is later dismissed. Request the hearing and the suspension is put on hold while it is contested, and your lawyer gets to cross-examine the arresting officer under oath months before trial. An occupational driver's license is also often available to permit driving for work, school, and essential needs.
Often, yes. Options include dismissal, acquittal, a negotiated reduction to a non-intoxication offense such as obstruction of a highway, or deferred adjudication — available since September 2019 for a first-offense Class B DWI where the BAC was under 0.15 (or there was no test), with no prior DWI and no CDL. Completing deferred adjudication means no conviction, and the record can later be sealed. What cannot be undone is a conviction: a DWI conviction in Texas can never be expunged or sealed. That is why pleading guilty at the first setting is almost always the wrong move.
There is no answer that is right for everyone, and the tradeoff is real. Refusing means a longer license suspension — 180 days rather than 90 on a first arrest — and the refusal itself can be mentioned at trial. Consenting produces a number that becomes the centerpiece of the State's case, and a reading of 0.15 or more raises the charge to a Class A and eliminates deferred adjudication. Note also that refusal does not necessarily prevent testing: officers routinely obtain a search warrant for blood. What is always true is that you have the right to speak with a lawyer, and that field sobriety tests are voluntary.
Yes. Texas defines intoxication two ways, and the State only needs one: a BAC of 0.08 or more, or not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties due to alcohol, a drug, or any combination. That means you can be convicted with a low reading, or with no test at all, on an officer's opinion of your performance. It also means prescription medication and legal substances can support a DWI charge. The flip side is that these cases rest on subjective observations — which is exactly what video evidence and proper cross-examination are for.
A conviction is permanent — Texas has no expunction or nondisclosure for a DWI conviction. Texas also has no look-back or washout period for enhancement purposes: a DWI from twenty or thirty years ago still counts to make a new arrest a second or third offense. A dismissal or acquittal is generally expungeable, and a completed deferred adjudication can be sealed after a waiting period of two years with a qualifying ignition interlock, or five years otherwise.
More than the statute suggests. The criminal fine is up to $2,000 for a Class B first offense, $4,000 for a Class A, and $10,000 for a felony. On top of that, Texas imposes a separate state traffic fine on conviction: $3,000 for a first conviction within 36 months, $4,500 for a second or subsequent within that window, and $6,000 where the BAC was 0.15 or more. Courts may waive it for indigent defendants. Add court costs, ignition interlock, DWI education, increased insurance, and lost income, and a "first offense" routinely runs into five figures.
Fees depend on whether the charge is a misdemeanor or felony, whether there is a breath or blood test to challenge, whether an ALR hearing is contested, and whether the case is headed to trial. Our office quotes a flat fee after reviewing the specific allegation, so you know your cost before you commit. The initial case review is free and confidential. Call 713-224-4444 — we take calls 24 hours a day.
A DWI conviction can never be sealed — but a DWI charge is one of the most defensible cases in Texas criminal law. Sam R. Cammack III has won 3,000+ dismissals in Texas courts. Tell him what happened — the call is free, confidential, and answered around the clock.
Sam R. Cammack III · 1001 West Loop South, Suite 700, Houston, TX 77027 · Available 24/7 · View case results
The information on this page is provided for general educational purposes and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Texas intoxication law changes regularly — two provisions described here took effect September 1, 2025 and apply only to offenses committed on or after that date — and this page reflects the law as of August 2026. Deadlines, suspension periods, and eligibility rules summarized here are subject to exceptions; the 15-day ALR deadline in particular is strict, and nothing on this page should be relied on in place of prompt advice about your specific case. Prior results, including the verdict described on this page, do not guarantee or predict the outcome of any future matter. Caseload statistics are compiled from publicly available Texas court records and may be incomplete. If you have been arrested, speak with a licensed Texas criminal defense attorney immediately.
