ALR Hearing Attorney In Houston
Most people arrested for DWI in Texas walk out of the booking process thinking they only have one fight ahead of them: the criminal case. They’re wrong. The moment you are arrested for DWI in Texas, two separate battles begin. And if you don’t act within 15 days of your arrest, you will automatically lose one of them before it even starts.
The first fight is the Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing: a civil proceeding entirely separate from your criminal DWI case, governed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, and decided by an administrative law judge who has no connection to your criminal court.
The outcome of your ALR hearing determines whether you get to keep your driver’s license while your case plays out, and in some circumstances, what happens in that hearing room can ripple directly into your second battle (your criminal case).
The Houston ALR hearing attorneys at Thiessen Law Firm fight both battles — and win them. Mark Thiessen is a quadruple board certified DWI specialist who has won 140+ Not Guilty verdicts, 1000s of dismissals at trial, and who wins 90–95% of ALR hearings for our clients. Don’t let the 15-day window close on you. Call (713) 864-9000 or contact us online for a free consultation
What is an ALR hearing in Texas?
The administrative license suspension process was created by the Texas Legislature because Texas law treats the privilege of driving as a civil matter, entirely separate from the question of criminal guilt. This means the Department of Public Safety (DPS) can pursue the suspension of your driver’s license on its own timeline, independent of what happens in criminal court.
An ALR hearing is triggered when you are arrested for DWI and you either refuse to submit to a breath or blood test, or you submit and test at or above the legal limit of 0.08% BAC.
When either of those things happens, the arresting officer confiscates your Texas driver’s license and issues a temporary driving permit. That permit is your ticket, and the clock starts immediately.
The ALR hearing itself is essentially a mini-trial, presided over by an administrative law judge. Both sides (your attorney and a DPS attorney) present arguments and evidence, and the officer who arrested you may appear to testify. The judge’s job is to determine one thing: whether DPS has proven its case well enough to suspend your license. It is not about guilt or innocence; it’s purely a civil proceeding about your driving privileges.
Even if your criminal DWI case is dismissed or you are found not guilty at trial, your license can still be suspended if you never properly contested your ALR. The reverse is also true: winning your ALR hearing doesn’t mean your criminal case disappears. These two tracks run parallel, and you need an attorney fighting on both.
You have 15 days; here’s why you can’t ignore it
Fifteen days. That is all the time you have from the date of your DWI arrest to request an ALR hearing with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Miss that window, and your license is automatically suspended on the 40th day after your arrest.
While the ALR hearing request can feel like a bureaucratic afterthought, it is anything but. Once you hire Thiessen Law Firm, we handle the ALR hearing request immediately, so you never have to worry about whether the deadline was met.
Here is what the ALR timeline looks like after a DWI arrest in Texas:
| Milestone | Timeframe |
| Request ALR hearing | Within 15 days of arrest |
| License suspension kicks in (if no request) | Day 40 after arrest |
| ALR hearing is typically scheduled | 60–120 days after request |
| Judge issues ruling | Shortly after hearing |
| Appeal window (if you lose) | 30 days after ruling |
The window for requesting a hearing is strict, but the time between your request and the actual hearing date gives your attorney room to subpoena the arresting officer, request the evidence, and build the arguments that give you the best chance of keeping your license.
What happens during an ALR hearing?
You should know that ALR hearings are not a casual proceeding, and the judge assigned to your case is an experienced attorney in their own right. Here is what to expect during the Texas ALR hearing process:
- Evidence presentation. Prior to the hearing, your attorney should formally request all evidence related to your arrest. This discovery process is one of the underrated advantages of requesting an ALR hearing in the first place.
- Officer testimony. The arresting officer may be present at your ALR hearing. If they appear, your attorney has the opportunity to cross-examine them under oath. What officers say at an ALR hearing is sworn testimony, and if their story changes by the time your criminal trial rolls around, that inconsistency can be used to impeach them in front of a jury.
- Legal arguments. Both your attorney and the DPS attorney present arguments to the administrative law judge. Your attorney’s job is to create reasonable doubt about whether DPS has met its burden, and unlike a criminal trial, the burden of proof in an ALR hearing is lower, which means the quality of your attorney’s preparation can make even more of a difference.
- The ruling. After hearing both sides, the administrative law judge will issue a decision. If DPS fails to prove its case or the officer doesn’t show, the suspension is dismissed, and your license stays intact. If the judge rules in DPS’s favor, your license suspension takes effect.
If the arresting officer fails to appear at the ALR hearing, DPS typically cannot meet its burden of proof, and the suspension is dismissed. This happens more often than you might expect, and an experienced ALR attorney knows how to position your case to take advantage of it.
Why an ALR hearing request is an opportunity for your defense
Most people who request an ALR hearing do so because they want to keep their license. That’s important, but the hearing serves another purpose that many people (and frankly many attorneys) overlook: it is one of the most powerful discovery tools available in your DWI defense.
When you request an ALR hearing, you force DPS to show its hand. Your attorney can subpoena the arresting officer to testify under oath well before any criminal proceedings begin. If that officer’s testimony at the ALR hearing contradicts what they later say at trial, you have documented evidence of the inconsistency. Transcripts from ALR hearings have been used to impeach officers at criminal trials, create reasonable doubt, and, in some cases, lead directly to the dismissal of the underlying DWI charge.
That is why Thiessen Law Firm takes every ALR hearing seriously, regardless of the circumstances of the arrest. Never waive your right to a hearing. Every ALR hearing is an opportunity to learn, to fight, and to win.
ALR license suspension: what you face if you lose
If you lose or never request your ALR hearing, the Texas Department of Public Safety will suspend your driver’s license. The length of the suspension depends on the specifics of your arrest. Here is what ALR suspension looks like under Texas law:
| Situation | Typical suspension length |
| First offense; failed breath/blood test | 90 days |
| First offense; refused chemical testing | 180 days |
| Second or subsequent offense; failed test | 1 year |
| Second or subsequent offense; refusal | 2 years |
Beyond the suspension itself, losing your ALR case has a secondary consequence that most people don’t know about: even if your criminal DWI case is later dismissed or you are found not guilty, you cannot expunge your DWI arrest if your license was suspended. The suspension on your driving record survives the criminal outcome. That alone is reason enough to fight your ALR hearing.
How to win an ALR hearing in Texas
There is no magic formula, but there is a method, and it starts with hiring an attorney who actually knows how to win an ALR hearing in Texas. Thiessen Law Firm winning 90–95% of our ALR hearings isn’t luck; it’s the product of meticulous preparation and attorneys who understand both the law and the science behind DWI arrests.
Here are the most common avenues for winning an ALR hearing in Texas:
| The officer lacked reasonable suspicion for the stop. |
| Before any DWI arrest can occur, a law enforcement officer must have had a legitimate legal reason to pull you over. If the stop was unjustified (no traffic violation, no observed impairment, no legal basis) the evidence gathered as a result may be inadmissible. This is one of the first things we examine in every case. |
| The officer lacked probable cause for arrest. |
| Even if the stop was legal, the officer must have had probable cause to believe you were intoxicated before placing you under arrest. If the facts don’t support that probable cause determination, the arrest, and everything that followed, may be compromised. |
| Chemical tests were improperly administered or invalid. |
| Breath tests are notoriously unreliable, and blood tests are vulnerable to mishandling, contamination, and chain-of-custody failures. As an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, Mark Thiessen has the scientific credentials and courtroom experience to challenge test results that other attorneys can’t touch. If the evidence of intoxication is flawed, we will find out, and we will make sure the judge knows it. |
| The officer fails to appear. |
| When the arresting officer or the officer who administered the breath or blood test does not appear at the ALR hearing, DPS generally cannot meet its burden of proof. If that happens, your suspension is generally dismissed. |
The strength of your case depends on the facts of your arrest, but every arrest has weaknesses, and a skilled ALR attorney’s job is to find them and exploit them before the DPS attorney can shore them up.
