Frisco DWI Lawyer

It depends on where the arrest happened, not where you live. Frisco straddles the Collin and Denton county line. A Collin County arrest is heard at the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building in McKinney, and a Denton County arrest is heard at the Denton County Courts Building. Your charging paperwork and your notice of suspension name the county and the court, and we can confirm it in the county's records within a day.

Someone who appears in both Collin County and Denton County, because you may not know yet which one has your case. Ask how they handle a blood case, since both counties send blood to the DPS lab and run no-refusal periods, and whether they know which diversion program your county actually offers.

The evidence does not change, but what can be done with it does. Collin County has a stated policy against reducing a DWI to obstruction of a highway, and the two counties run different diversion programs. The prosecutor's office is different too. Start with the DWI defenses that actually work.

15 days from the notice of suspension to request an ALR hearing, or the suspension is automatic. That deadline is identical on both sides of the county line, and it does not pause while you work out which courthouse has your case. Past the window, an occupational license may keep you driving.

It can. Since September 1, 2019, Texas law lets a judge grant deferred adjudication on a first DWI when your alcohol concentration was under 0.15, you have no prior conviction under the intoxication statutes, and you did not hold a commercial license at the time. An ignition interlock is a required condition, and the decision is the judge's, not automatic. Deferred is not a dismissal, but the case ends without a final conviction. It is not available where a child was in the car, or on intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter. Our guide to deferred adjudication covers who qualifies and what it does to your record.

Deandra Grant Law has no Frisco office. Our Allen office covers the Collin County side and our Denton office covers the Denton County side, which is the proximity that matters: both are minutes from the courthouse that will hear your case. The first consultation works by phone or video, so you can get advice the same day.

It depends on the charge and whether the case is headed to trial, and we are direct about numbers at the first call. The consultation is free and we offer payment plans. Our fee guide explains what a DWI defense should and should not cost, and How Much Does a DWI Cost in Texas? covers the fines and fees a conviction adds.

Usually not the first time. A first DWI is a Class B misdemeanor, or Class A if your alcohol concentration was 0.15 or higher, and a second DWI is a Class A misdemeanor. It becomes a felony with a third offense (third-degree felony, two to ten years), any DWI with a passenger under 15 (state jail felony), intoxication assault (third-degree felony), or intoxication manslaughter (second-degree felony). Our felony DWI guide covers each level.

0.08 for most drivers, 0.04 for anyone holding a commercial driver license, and any detectable amount for a driver under 21. The number is not the whole story: Texas also defines intoxication as losing the normal use of your mental or physical faculties, so a driver under 0.08 can still be charged, and a 0.08 result can still be challenged on how the sample was taken and tested. See what 0.08 actually means.

The administrative suspension comes first. A failed breath or blood test brings 90 days for a first offense, and a refusal brings 180 days. A prior alcohol-related contact in the last ten years raises those to one year and two years. A conviction can add its own suspension of 90 days to a year. Requesting the ALR hearing within 15 days of the notice of suspension is the only way to contest the first one, and an occupational license can keep you driving in the meantime. See our license guide.

The statute allows it: a first-offense DWI carries 72 hours to 180 days in the county jail, and up to a year if the result was 0.15 or higher. In practice a first offense in Collin County more often ends in a dismissal, a reduction, deferred adjudication where you qualify, or probation, and the jail exposure is what the defense is built to remove. The time you already spent in the county jail after the arrest counts against any sentence.

Call us before you do anything else, because two clocks are already running. The 15-day window to request an ALR hearing starts when you receive the notice of suspension, and your bond conditions take effect the moment you are released. Write down everything you remember about the stop while it is fresh, keep the paperwork you were handed, and do not discuss the case with anyone but your lawyer. The consultation is free.