Principal Office
15110 Dallas Pkwy #400
Dallas, TX 75248
(972) 233-5700
15110 Dallas Pkwy #400
Dallas, TX 75248
(972) 233-5700
Years Defending Texans
Cases Dismissed
Criminal Cases Handled
Counties Served Across Texas
Available | Serving All of Texas
Dallas DWI defense lawyers represent people charged with Driving While Intoxicated in Dallas County Criminal Courts at Law and Criminal District Courts, challenging breath test results, blood draw warrants, field sobriety procedures, and the legality of the traffic stop before trial.
From the moment of a DWI arrest in Dallas County, two separate legal timelines begin running simultaneously. The criminal case opens in one of the Dallas County Criminal Courts at Law, where a prosecutor from the Dallas County District Attorney’s DWI unit begins building the file.
The administrative case opens at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which moves to suspend your driver’s license automatically unless you request an ALR (Administrative License Revocation) hearing within 15 days of your arrest date.
At the Law Offices of Richard C. McConathy, we have defended DWI cases in Dallas County for over 35 years, with more than 1,000 dismissals across over 6,000 criminal cases handled throughout North Texas.
Call 972-233-5700 now. The ALR deadline does not wait.
Dallas County misdemeanor DWI cases are heard in the Dallas County Criminal Courts at Law, Nos. 1 through 13, located at the George Allen Sr. Courts Building at 600 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas.
Each court has an elected judge and an assigned prosecutor from the Dallas County District Attorney’s office. Felony DWI cases, including a third DWI offense, intoxication assault, and intoxication manslaughter, are transferred to one of the seven Criminal District Courts at the Frank Crowley Courts Building, 133 N. Riverfront Blvd.
Dallas County processes a high volume of DWI arrests annually, and the DA’s office maintains a dedicated DWI prosecution unit. Those prosecutors handle DWI cases exclusively, which means they know the evidence patterns, the testing protocols, and the legal arguments better than a general crimes prosecutor would.
Dallas County implemented a blood draw warrant program that distinguishes it from many surrounding counties. When a driver refuses a breath test at the scene, Dallas County law enforcement officers contact an on-call magistrate by phone, obtain a blood draw warrant in under 30 minutes in many cases, and transport the driver to a hospital or use a certified phlebotomist at the jail to collect a blood sample.
This means refusal of the breath test in Dallas County does not prevent the state from obtaining a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reading. It also means the blood evidence in Dallas County DWI cases carries a longer evidentiary chain than a breath test result, from the warrant affidavit through the draw procedure to the lab analysis at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences (SWIFS) at Parkland Hospital. Each link in that chain creates a potential challenge point for the defense.
The ALR hearing is an administrative proceeding before the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) where you contest the automatic suspension of your Texas driver’s license following a DWI arrest.
Under Texas Transportation Code Section 724.032, you have 15 days from the date of arrest to request this hearing. Miss the deadline and the DPS suspends your license automatically, independent of how your criminal case resolves.
Requesting the ALR hearing does more than delay the suspension. In Dallas County, it triggers an early opportunity that most defendants do not realize exists. The arresting officer must appear at the ALR hearing to testify. Your attorney cross-examines that officer under oath, on the record, before the criminal case has any trial date set.
The officer’s ALR testimony locks in their version of the stop, the field sobriety tests, the basis for the arrest, and any inconsistency between that testimony and later testimony in the criminal case becomes a defense tool.
The license suspension consequences following a Dallas County DWI arrest depend on whether you submitted to a breath or blood test and your prior DWI history:
| Violation | Penalty |
| Breath or blood test failure with a BAC of 0.08% or higher | First offense: 90-day license suspension. Second or subsequent offense: 1-year license suspension |
| Refusal to submit to a breath or blood test | First refusal: 180-day license suspension. Second or subsequent refusal: 2-year license suspension |
| Commercial driver’s license (CDL) DWI conviction | First conviction: 1-year CDL disqualification. Second conviction: Lifetime CDL disqualification under Texas Transportation Code Section 522.081 |
An occupational driver’s license (ODL) is available during the suspension period, allowing driving for work, school, and essential household activities. An attorney petitions the county court that has jurisdiction over your criminal case to obtain the ODL order.
A Dallas County DWI case rests on a specific set of evidence types; our attorneys review every piece of that evidence before any court date. The charge as filed and the provable evidence are not always the same thing.
Dallas County’s reliance on blood draw warrants means a significant portion of DWI cases here involve blood evidence analyzed at SWIFS. That lab has documented its methodology, its calibration records, and its analyst qualifications in thousands of cases across North Texas courts.
Common areas of challenge include:
At McConathy Law, we defend the full range of DWI and DWI-related charges filed in Dallas County Criminal Courts at Law and Criminal District Courts, from first-offense misdemeanors through felony DWI cases carrying state prison exposure.
Dallas County files more DWI cases annually than most Texas counties outside of Harris County. Volume creates prosecutorial patterns and also creates documentation gaps.
Our firm defends Dallas County clients charged with the following:
| Offense | Classification | Potential Penalties |
| First-offense DWI | Class B misdemeanor | 72 hours to 180 days in county jail, fines up to $2,000, and license suspension ranging from 90 days to 1 year. |
| DWI with a BAC over 0.15% | Class A misdemeanor | Enhanced penalties, including up to 1 year in county jail, fines up to $4,000, and a mandatory ignition interlock device as a condition of bond. |
| Second DWI offense | Class A misdemeanor | 30 days to 1 year in county jail, fines up to $4,000, and enhanced driver’s license suspension. |
| Third DWI offense | Third-degree felony | 2 to 10 years in state prison, fines up to $10,000, and prosecution in the Dallas County Criminal District Courts. |
| DWI with a child passenger under age 15 | State jail felony | 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility, regardless of prior DWI history. |
| Intoxication assault | Third-degree felony | Charged when a person causes serious bodily injury to another person while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. |
| Intoxication manslaughter | Second-degree felony | Charged when a person causes the death of another person while operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated; punishable by 2 to 20 years in state prison. |
A first-offense DWI misdemeanor in Dallas County takes four to nine months from arrest to resolution, depending on the assigned court's docket and how the defense proceeds. Cases with active pre-trial motions challenging blood evidence or the traffic stop take longer but produce better outcomes in many instances. Felony DWI cases in the Criminal District Courts take twelve to twenty-four months for cases approaching trial.
Yes. BAC above the legal limit does not guarantee conviction, because the admissibility of that result depends entirely on how the evidence was obtained and handled. A blood draw warrant with a defective probable cause affidavit, a chain of custody gap at SWIFS, or a deviation from NHTSA field sobriety test protocols each create grounds to challenge the evidence regardless of the BAC reading. Cases with a 0.14 BAC reading have been dismissed in Dallas County when the blood evidence was suppressed.
Your first court appearance in a Dallas County misdemeanor DWI case is an arraignment in the assigned Criminal Court at Law at the George Allen Sr. Courts Building. The judge formally reads the charge, you enter a plea, and bond conditions are addressed. No trial happens at this hearing. Your attorney receives the initial discovery packet from the DA's office, which includes the arrest report and, in most Dallas County cases, a notation of whether blood was drawn and sent to SWIFS for analysis. The defense work begins after this hearing, not at it.
Yes. Pleading guilty without an attorney in a Dallas County DWI means accepting the DA's proposed sentence with no review of whether the evidence was properly obtained, no challenge to BAC testing procedures, and no negotiation on the conditions of probation, interlock requirements, or DWI education program terms. A conviction also activates the permanent record consequence and the federal firearms implication for subsequent offenses. An attorney who reviews the evidence first determines whether the charge has weaknesses that change the calculus entirely before any plea is entered.
SWIFS is the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, the Dallas County facility located near Parkland Hospital that analyzes blood evidence in Dallas County DWI cases. When Dallas County law enforcement obtains a blood draw warrant and collects a blood sample following a DWI arrest, that sample is submitted to SWIFS for BAC analysis. The SWIFS analyst's report, their methodology, their calibration records, and their qualifications are all subject to discovery in your DWI case and all subject to challenge by defense counsel.
Yes, in some cases. A Dallas County DWI gets reduced to an offense like obstruction of a highway under Texas Transportation Code Section 545.157 or reckless driving through negotiation when the evidence has documented weaknesses and the defense presents a strong pre-trial file. Dallas County prosecutors consider reductions most seriously in first-offense cases with borderline BAC readings, credible suppression arguments, or blood evidence that has procedural problems. A reduction eliminates the DWI label on your permanent record and the consequences that attach specifically to DWI convictions, including the federal firearms enhancement that applies to subsequent offenses.
A DWI conviction in Dallas County triggers mandatory reporting obligations for holders of many Texas professional licenses, including licenses issued by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, the Texas Medical Board, the Texas Board of Nursing, the State Bar of Texas, and real estate licenses issued by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC). Each licensing board has its own reporting timeline and disciplinary process.
The Dallas County District Attorney’s DWI unit begins building the case file from the moment the arrest report is submitted. By the time your arraignment date arrives, the prosecutor has the body camera footage, the blood draw warrant, the SWIFS analysis, and the arresting officer’s documented observations. The defense starts after you make the call.
Call 972-233-5700 now or fill out our contact form. The case evaluation is free, the conversation is confidential, and the 15-day ALR window is already running.
Whether you're facing a felony charge or fighting a traffic ticket, every case deserves serious attention. Get an experienced defense team in your corner now.
