Texas DWI laws and penalties

What counts as DWI in Texas?

Driving while intoxicated is operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated, under Penal Code § 49.04(a). Section 49.01(2) defines intoxicated two ways: an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, or a combination.

The word between those two definitions is “or”. The 0.08 figure is one route to a conviction; the other, usually called the normal-use prong, needs no specimen at all, so a refusal to give one does not end a DWI case. Section 49.01(1) fixes what the number means: grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath, 100 milliliters of blood, or 67 milliliters of urine.

Section 49.04 also carries three aggravators inside the offense itself, before any prior conviction is counted:

• An open container of alcohol in the driver’s immediate possession keeps the offense a Class B misdemeanor but raises the minimum confinement to six days (§ 49.04(c)).
• An analysis showing an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more makes it a Class A misdemeanor (§ 49.04(d)).
• Driving in a school crossing zone during the reduced speed limit makes it a state jail felony (§ 49.04(e)). That subsection is new: it was added by S.B. 826 and took effect on September 1, 2025.

A separate statute covers drivers under 21. DUI by a minor is Alcoholic Beverage Code § 106.041, it takes any detectable amount of alcohol rather than 0.08, and a first offense is a Class C misdemeanor. The two offenses order two different classes, which is worked through in the guide to DWI versus DUI in Texas.

Texas DWI penalties at a glance

The offense level comes from Penal Code chapter 49, the fine and jail ranges from chapter 12, and the suspension from Transportation Code § 521.344(a). Within each range the number is the court’s to set.

Two rows are easy to miss. Section 49.045 makes a first DWI a state jail felony the moment a passenger younger than 15 is in the vehicle, with no prior conviction involved. And a first offense at 0.15 or more is a Class A misdemeanor under § 49.04(d), which carries the same fine cap and the same year of jail exposure as a second offense.

What is the penalty for a first DWI in Texas?

A first DWI is a Class B misdemeanor: a fine of up to $2,000, confinement of 72 hours to 180 days, and a license suspension the court sets between 90 days and one year. Section 49.04(b) fixes the offense level and the 72-hour minimum; § 12.22 sets the caps.

The $2,000 is not the whole fine. Transportation Code § 709.001 adds $3,000 on a first conviction within a 36-month period, on top of the fine for the offense itself, and $6,000 instead where the analysis showed 0.15 or more. A court that finds the person indigent must waive all of it, and § 709.001(d) lists the documents that establish indigence, including a recent tax return or wage statement showing income at or below 125 percent of the applicable income level established by the federal poverty guidelines.

Where the sentence is probated, a class becomes part of it. Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42A.403(a) requires a judge placing someone on community supervision for an offense under §§ 49.04–49.08 to order a TDLR-regulated education program, completed before the 181st day after supervision is granted. That is the 12-hour DWI Education class.

Drivers under 21 get a fixed suspension rather than a range. Article 42A.407(f) requires a judge placing someone who was younger than 21 at the time of the offense on community supervision to suspend the license for 90 days from the date supervision starts, and art. 42A.408(e) makes an ignition interlock a condition of that supervision.

The full first-offense breakdown, including the fine structure and what the class costs, is in the guide to a first DWI in Texas.

What is the penalty for a second DWI in Texas?

A second DWI is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum of 30 days’ confinement, a fine of up to $4,000, and a suspension of 180 days to two years. Penal Code § 49.09(a) applies once one prior intoxication conviction is shown; § 12.21 and § 521.344(a)(2)(B) set the rest.

What counts as the prior is broader than a second DWI. Section 49.09(a) counts a previous conviction for operating a motor vehicle, an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride while intoxicated. Subsection (d) makes such a conviction final whether the sentence was imposed or probated, and subsection (g) counts deferred adjudication for driving or boating while intoxicated. Nothing in the section puts a time limit on how old the prior may be.

Probation on a second offense does not remove the jail. Article 42A.401(a) requires a judge granting community supervision to order at least 72 hours of continuous county jail where the defendant was punished under § 49.09(a), and at least five days where § 49.09(h) also applies.

Section 49.09(h) is the five-year rule, and it changes two things at once. Where the second offense was committed within five years of the previous one, the court must order an ignition interlock device on every vehicle the defendant owns or operates and keep it there until the first anniversary of the end of the suspension, at the defendant’s own cost. The suspension itself then runs one to two years rather than 180 days to two, under § 521.344(a)(2)(C).

The class changes too. Article 42A.404(a) requires a judge to order a defendant punished under § 49.09 into an educational program for repeat offenders, which is the 32-hour DWI Intervention class, not the 12-hour one.

The jail condition, the interlock and the 32-hour class are worked through in the guide to a second DWI in Texas.

What happens on a third or fourth DWI in Texas?

A third DWI is a third-degree felony: two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Section 49.09(b) applies once two prior intoxication convictions are shown, and § 12.34 sets the range. The suspension stays at 180 days to two years.

One prior can be enough on its own. Section 49.09(b)(1) makes the new offense a third-degree felony where the person has one previous conviction for intoxication manslaughter under § 49.08, or a substantially similar offense from another state, without waiting for a second.

The statute stops counting at two priors, so a fourth DWI is still a third-degree felony as § 49.09 writes it. The exposure moves elsewhere: § 49.09(g) lets a conviction be used to enhance under § 49.09 or under Subchapter D of chapter 12, the habitual-offender provisions, but not under both. Which route the State takes on a given case is a question for a defense lawyer.

If the sentence is probated, art. 42A.401(a)(3) requires at least 10 days of county jail as a condition of supervision, and art. 42A.404 still requires the repeat offender program. The guide to a third and fourth DWI in Texas works through the felony range and what a prior felony conviction does to it.

A crash moves the case out of the counting entirely. Intoxication assault under § 49.07 is a third-degree felony on a first offense where the intoxication caused serious bodily injury, and intoxication manslaughter under § 49.08 is a second-degree felony, which § 12.33 punishes by two to twenty years. Article 42A.401(a) sets the probation jail conditions higher to match: at least 30 days for intoxication assault and at least 120 days for intoxication manslaughter.

What does DWI probation require in Texas?

Two conditions attach to every DWI community supervision, and a third attaches to repeat cases. Article 42A.402 requires a drug or alcohol dependence evaluation. Article 42A.403 requires a TDLR-regulated education program on a deadline. Article 42A.401 adds county jail on a repeat offense.

The deadline: art. 42A.403(a) requires the education program to be completed before the 181st day after community supervision is granted. Subsection (c) lets a judge waive it or extend it on a written motion showing good cause, and an extension may run no later than the first anniversary of the date supervision began.

Which program depends on how the offense was punished, and the two are not interchangeable. Article 42A.403 sends a first intoxication offense to the 12-hour DWI Education class. Article 42A.404 sends anyone punished under § 49.09 to the 32-hour DWI Intervention class. Your order names one of them; taking the other does not satisfy it. Where the acronym on your own paperwork is neither, the guide to which class a court order means decodes the rest of them.

A drug charge alongside the DWI adds a third program on a separate track. Transportation Code § 521.372 suspends a license automatically on a final drug conviction, and § 521.374(b) keeps that suspension running until the earlier of the day the TDLR-approved program is completed or the second anniversary of the day it was imposed. That program is the 15-hour Drug Offender Education Program, and it clears a different suspension from the DWI one.

Missing the education deadline costs the license by itself, and it turns on what the department’s records show rather than on the certificate in your hand. Section 521.344(e) directs the director to revoke the license once the completion date has passed with no completion recorded, or to bar a resident who holds no license from getting one. Subsection (f) reaches the repeat offender program required by art. 42A.404 and directs the director to suspend rather than revoke. Article 42A.406(d) then charges $100 to reinstate a license revoked over an educational program requirement imposed under art. 42A.403. Subsection (b) of the same article puts the reporting duty on the instructor, who notifies the Department of Public Safety and the supervision department on completion.

Two more conditions turn on the same facts as the offense level. Article 42A.408(c) makes an ignition interlock mandatory rather than discretionary where the analysis showed 0.15 or more, where the defendant was punished under § 49.09(a) or (b), or where the court finds a previous conviction under §§ 49.04–49.08. And article 42A.403(d-1) requires a judge to waive the education requirement for someone who successfully completed education at a residential treatment facility under art. 42A.4045. The device arrives from three directions and each sets its own duration, which is worked out in the guide to Texas ignition interlock law.

What does a Texas DWI cost beyond the criminal sentence?

Three costs sit outside the sentence. The § 709.001 fine adds $3,000, $4,500 or $6,000 depending on the count and the alcohol concentration. Reinstating the license costs $100 under Transportation Code § 521.313(a). And the Department of Public Safety requires an SR-22 insurance certificate kept for two years from the date of conviction.

The license can also go before a court has decided anything. Administrative License Revocation is a separate civil case run by DPS on the arrest itself. Section 524.022 suspends an adult license for 90 days after a failed specimen, or one year where the driving record shows an alcohol-related or drug-related enforcement contact in the preceding 10 years. Section 724.035 suspends it for 180 days for refusing to give a specimen, or two years with a prior contact. Where a refusal suspension is followed by a conviction for the same offense, § 521.344(c) credits it toward the court-ordered suspension, though not for someone with a previous intoxication conviction.

Driving during the suspension is possible, on conditions. Article 42A.407(g) lets someone whose license is suspended for an offense under §§ 49.04–49.08 operate a vehicle during the suspension if they use an ignition interlock for the whole period and hold an occupational driver’s license with an interlock designation under Transportation Code § 521.2465.

The class requirement is written into the driving record separately from the conviction. Article 42A.406(a) requires the court clerk to report the requirement, any waiver and any extension to DPS for inclusion in that record, and art. 42A.406(b) requires the instructor to report the completion. DPS sets out the reinstatement conditions, including the $100 fee and the two-year SR-22, on its own alcohol-related offenses page. Those amounts, the consolidated court costs, the class prices and the interlock lease are itemized side by side in the guide to what a DWI costs in Texas.

The record outlasts all of it, and the two ways at it reach different cases. A conviction cannot be expunged; a first one placed on community supervision can be sealed from the public on the second or fifth anniversary of completing that supervision. Which of them a case can reach is the subject of the guide to DWI expungement in Texas.

The one thing this page cannot tell you is which program your own order names. Send us a photo of it, or have it in front of you when you call, and we will tell you which class it points at before you pay for anything.