Drug Offender Education Program

What is the DOEP class?

Fifteen hours of drug education, regulated by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and taught to one state-approved curriculum. TDLR names it Drug Offender Education. Courts, probation officers and search boxes call it DOEP, the drug offender education program, the 15 hour drug education class, or Texas DOEP. Those all mean this program.

TDLR describes it as designed to educate drug offenders on the dangers of drug abuse and the illegal activity that goes with it, to help them identify their own drug-use patterns, and to help them build a personal action plan that reduces the chance of suffering the consequences of future drug use. The topics are set by the state: the history of drug abuse, drug and DWI law, the dynamics of drug use, drugs of abuse and how drugs work, the cost of use and abuse, health issues including HIV, interpersonal relationships, deglamorization of drugs, values and behaviors, getting control of your life, resource options, and personal action planning.

One curriculum means one set of fifteen hours, whoever teaches them. Licensed providers differ on dates, on cost, and on whether you sit in a classroom or on live video, but not on the material itself. DOEP is also a separate program from DWI Education and DWI Intervention, which are tied to intoxication offenses; a drug charge does not put you in either of those.

Who needs the 15-hour drug offender education program?

Anyone whose drug conviction costs them a Texas driver's license, and anyone whose probation conditions name the program. Transportation Code section 521.372 suspends a license automatically on final conviction under the Controlled Substances Act, on a felony drug offense, and on a misdemeanor drug offense with a prior drug offense committed less than 36 months before it.

Two further routes lead to the same class. On any other misdemeanor drug offense the court may order the department to suspend a license if it makes a written determination that suspension is in the interest of public safety. And section 521.372(b) bars the department from issuing a license at all to somebody who held none on the date of conviction, which is a denial of issuance rather than a suspension; section 521.374 treats the two the same way.

Your paperwork decides this, not the name of the charge. If it says drug offender education, DOEP, or a 15-hour drug education program, this is the class it means. If it names an assessment or a treatment program, it is not. Send us a photo of the order and we will tell you which before you pay for anything.

How much does the DOEP class cost?

$90 at TruLynk, and that covers all fifteen hours. No separate registration fee, and no charge for the certificate. Published prices for the same 15-hour program ran from $110 to $239 in August 2026.

Those figures are the published prices of three other Texas providers of the 15-hour program, and prices change, so treat the range as a guide rather than a quote. Compare on the total and ask what sits outside it: one provider in that range prices a rush on the certificate separately from the class.

What the $90 buys is the fifteen hours themselves, taught live by an instructor, and the Certificate of Completion at the end. The fee is charged as you reserve a dated seat, so you leave with your dates rather than a receipt and a call still to make.

Does DOEP restore your driver's license?

Not on its own. Finishing the fifteen hours ends the suspension period, but the Department of Public Safety still wants a $100 reinstatement fee, any other fees you owe, and an SR-22 insurance certificate kept for two years from the date of conviction. The class stops the clock; it is not the whole reinstatement.

The clock is the part worth understanding. A drug suspension runs 90 days from final conviction under section 521.372(c), but section 521.374(b) keeps it running until the earlier of two dates: the day you successfully complete the TDLR-approved program, or the second anniversary of the day the suspension or prohibition was imposed. Not taking the class does not shorten anything. It turns 90 days into as much as two years.

DPS states the same rule on its own drug-offense page: the suspension holds until you provide proof of successfully completing the 15-hour class, or until the second anniversary of the date the suspension or denial of issuance was imposed. It runs on proof reaching the department, so the date that counts is the one your completion is recorded on.

One alternative exists in the statute. Section 521.374(a)(2) also counts equivalent education completed while you are a resident of a treatment facility, including a Texas Department of Criminal Justice substance abuse facility, a community corrections facility, or a chemical dependency treatment facility licensed under Chapter 464 of the Health and Safety Code. If that describes your situation, ask your officer before enrolling here.

Can you take DOEP online in Texas?

Yes. Section 521.374(a)(1) counts an online educational program approved by TDLR exactly as it counts an in-person one. Ours runs live over Zoom with an instructor rather than as self-paced video, and fifteen hours is several dated sessions booked in advance.

What the class has to look like comes from 16 TAC §90.48. A provider gives instructors equipment for virtual, real-time, interactive presentation of the course materials and internet service with enough bandwidth for uninterrupted instruction. The classroom camera stays clearly focused on the instructor, and participants stay on their own cameras for the whole class apart from breaks.

Admission is conditional, and the condition is checked before the session opens: a roster, then a working audio and video check on every participant, with no admission for equipment that fails it. Geography is not a condition. We teach all 254 Texas counties, so where you live has no bearing on which sessions you can book.

How the class runs

Sessions are instructor-led over Zoom, not self-paced video, and they run for the full scheduled time. You need a device with a camera and a quiet place to sit where you can be seen and heard. Arriving late, leaving early, or being away from the screen can mean a session does not count toward your hours.

What you get at the end

A state-issued Certificate of Completion once you finish the 15 hours and your balance is paid in full. We report your enrollment, attendance, and completion to the court or supervising authority named in your order, and to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation as required. Our privacy policy covers exactly what that reporting involves.

Before you enroll

Confirm with your court or probation officer that Drug Offender Education Program (DOEP) is the program your order requires. Only they can decide whether a certificate satisfies it, and taking the wrong class is the most expensive mistake in this process. Have your order, cause or case number, and county to hand when you register.