Drinking and Driving in Texas: BAC Limits, Penalties, and License Rules

Drinking and driving in Texas is a criminal offense that starts at a Class B misdemeanor for a first offense and can escalate to a second-degree felony when someone is killed. A first conviction alone carries up to 180 days in jail, a $2,000 fine, and a license suspension of up to a year, and the total financial hit usually clears $10,000 once insurance, attorney fees, and the ignition interlock are added in.

The Legal BAC Limits

For drivers 21 and older, the limit is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08%.¹ You can still be arrested below that number if your driving shows visible impairment.

Commercial drivers face a stricter 0.04% limit while operating a commercial vehicle.² Drivers under 21 have no cushion at all. Texas applies a zero-tolerance rule, and any detectable amount of alcohol can lead to arrest and criminal charges for driving under the influence of alcohol by a minor.³

Criminal Penalties by Offense

First Offense

A first DWI is a Class B misdemeanor. There’s a mandatory minimum of 72 hours in jail.⁴ A judge can impose up to 180 days in county jail and a fine up to $2,000.⁵ The court will also suspend your license for 90 days to one year.⁶

Second Offense

A second DWI is a Class A misdemeanor with a 30-day minimum in jail.⁷ The fine ceiling doubles to $4,000, the maximum jail term stretches to one year,⁸ and the license suspension runs 180 days to two years.⁶

Third and Subsequent Offenses

A third DWI is a third-degree felony. That means state prison rather than county jail, with a sentence of 2 to 10 years and a fine up to $10,000.⁹ License suspension is 180 days to two years. The felony record itself is the lasting damage, showing up on employment, housing, and professional licensing background checks for life.⁶

When Penalties Get Worse

BAC of 0.15 or Higher

A blood or breath result at 0.15 or above bumps even a first-time DWI up to a Class A misdemeanor.⁴ The fine ceiling rises to $4,000 and the maximum jail time increases to one year, with no prior convictions required.⁸

Open Container in the Vehicle

An open container of alcohol within reach at the time of arrest keeps the charge at Class B misdemeanor but quadruples the mandatory minimum jail time from 72 hours to six days.⁴ A judge cannot waive those six days.

Child Passenger Under 15

Driving while intoxicated with a passenger under 15 is a state jail felony.¹⁰ Conviction brings 180 days to two years in a state jail facility and a fine up to $10,000.¹¹ The charge can also prompt a Child Protective Services investigation.

Injury or Death

When intoxicated driving causes serious bodily injury to another person, the charge becomes intoxication assault, a third-degree felony carrying 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.¹²⁹ If someone dies, the charge is intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony with a prison range of 2 to 20 years.¹³ Prosecutors do not need to prove intent to harm.

Chemical Testing and Refusal

Driving on a Texas road counts as implied consent to a breath or blood test if an officer arrests you on suspicion of DWI.¹⁴ You can still refuse, but refusal carries its own penalties, and in some situations an officer can get a warrant and compel a blood draw anyway.

Mandatory blood draws apply when the arrest involves a crash that caused serious injury or death, when a child passenger is in the vehicle, or when the driver has two or more prior DWI convictions.¹⁵ Refusing a test does not necessarily stop the state from getting your BAC.

A refusal on its own triggers an automatic administrative license suspension separate from the criminal case. A first refusal with no prior alcohol-related contacts brings a 180-day suspension. One prior alcohol-related contact in the previous 10 years pushes the suspension to two years.¹⁶ These suspensions apply even if you are later acquitted of the DWI itself.

The 15-Day Deadline to Save Your License

The administrative license revocation process begins at arrest, not at conviction. The officer takes your license, gives you a temporary permit, and serves a notice of suspension. You have 15 days from the date the notice is served to request a hearing challenging the suspension. Miss that window and the suspension takes effect automatically on the 40th day.¹⁷

The hearing looks only at whether the officer had reasonable grounds, whether the test was properly administered, and whether you were informed of the consequences. Winning the ALR hearing protects your license from administrative suspension but has no effect on the criminal case.

Ignition Interlock and Occupational Licenses

When a court suspends your license following a DWI conviction, the judge is required to restrict you to vehicles equipped with an ignition interlock device. That requirement applies across the DWI statutes, from standard DWI through intoxication manslaughter, and the interlock stays for the full suspension unless the court finds good cause to remove it.¹⁸ Installation runs around $85, with monthly monitoring of roughly $80 to $110.

If you need to drive during a suspension, you can petition the court for an occupational license. How soon it takes effect depends on your record. With no prior alcohol-related contacts in the past five years, it can start immediately. One prior contact means a wait of at least 91 days. A prior DWI conviction within five years pushes the wait to at least 181 days, and a second or subsequent conviction within five years forces a wait of at least one full year.¹⁹ Installing an interlock on every vehicle you own or operate can allow the court to issue the occupational license sooner, sometimes bypassing the waiting period entirely.

The Real Cost of a DWI

The court fine is a small piece of what a DWI actually costs.

SR-22 filing. Texas requires a Financial Responsibility Insurance Certificate (SR-22) for two years from the conviction date, proving you carry state-minimum liability coverage. The filing fee is small; the premium hit is not.²⁰
Insurance premiums. Auto insurers commonly double premiums after a DWI, and those elevated rates typically persist for three to five years. Some carriers drop DWI-convicted drivers entirely.
Defense attorney fees. Private attorneys for a first-offense misdemeanor DWI commonly charge between $2,500 and $7,500. Fees climb sharply for felony cases and trials.
Ignition interlock. Between installation and monthly monitoring, an interlock runs roughly $1,000 to $1,500 per year.

Texas repealed its Driver Responsibility Program surcharges effective September 1, 2019, so those annual surcharges no longer apply to any DWI conviction, past or future.²¹ Even so, the remaining costs still add up to $10,000 or more for a first offense once legal fees, insurance increases, interlock expenses, and lost wages from jail and court appearances are counted.

Consequences That Follow You Beyond the Courtroom

Commercial Driver’s Licenses

Federal rules disqualify a commercial driver from operating any commercial motor vehicle for one year after a first alcohol-related conviction or test refusal. A second offense is a lifetime disqualification.²² These disqualifications apply whether the DWI happened in a commercial vehicle or a personal car, and the 0.04% CDL threshold is half the standard limit.²

Immigration and Cross-Border Travel

Canada reclassified impaired driving as “serious criminality” in December 2018. A single DWI conviction can make you inadmissible, and Canadian border officers can turn you away even years after you’ve finished your sentence.²³ You can apply for criminal rehabilitation once five years have passed since you completed all parts of the sentence, including probation and license suspensions.

For non-citizens living in the U.S., a standard DWI is not automatically deportable, but it can become a problem in combination with other factors. Multiple convictions with aggregate sentences of five years or more can trigger inadmissibility, and even a single DWI arrest within the past five years can prompt a medical evaluation during an immigration application, where a finding of alcohol use disorder can independently block approval. Anyone without U.S. citizenship should consult an immigration attorney before entering any plea.

Professional Licenses

Texas licensing boards for professions such as nursing, teaching, law, and real estate generally require disclosure of any criminal conviction, including a misdemeanor DWI. A first misdemeanor won’t automatically revoke most licenses, but boards can impose conditions ranging from probation to mandatory substance abuse treatment. A felony DWI can produce outright revocation. Boards typically treat concealment of a conviction more harshly than the underlying offense, and many require self-reporting from the date of arrest rather than conviction. If you hold a professional license, check your board’s reporting rules immediately.

1
Texas Department of Transportation. Impaired Driving and Penalties – DUI/DWI
2
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Is a Driver Disqualified for Driving a CMV While Off-Duty with a Blood Alcohol Concentration Over 0.04 Percent
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Texas Department of Public Safety. Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License Division – DL-20
4
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.04 – Driving While Intoxicated
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.22 – Class B Misdemeanor
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State of Texas. Texas Transportation Code TRANSP 521.344
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State of Texas. Texas Code Penal 49.09 – Enhanced Offenses and Penalties
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.21 – Class A Misdemeanor
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.34 – Third Degree Felony Punishment
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.045 – Driving While Intoxicated with Child Passenger
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 12.35 – State Jail Felony Punishment
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.07 – Intoxication Assault
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.08 – Intoxication Manslaughter
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State of Texas. Texas Transportation Code TRANSP 724.011 – Consent to Taking of Specimen
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State of Texas. Texas Transportation Code TRANSP 724.012 – Taking of Specimen
16
Texas Public Law. Texas Transportation Code 724.035 – Suspension or Denial of License
17
Department of Public Safety. Administrative License Revocation (ALR) Program
18
State of Texas. Texas Transportation Code TRANSP 521.246
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State of Texas. Texas Transportation Code 521.251 – Effective Date
20
Texas Department of Public Safety. Financial Responsibility Insurance Certificate (SR-22)
21
Texas Department of Public Safety. Driver Responsibility Program Surcharge Repeal FAQs
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eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers
23
Canada.ca. Convicted of Driving While Impaired