You walked out of custody holding a pink piece of paper. That document, the DIC-25 Notice of Suspension, isn’t just paperwork to sort out later. It means two separate legal clocks started running the moment you were arrested, and missing either deadline costs you your driving privileges before your criminal case is anywhere near resolved.
The first clock is your criminal case in district or county court. The second is the Administrative License Revocation (ALR) process, a civil proceeding run entirely by the Department of Public Safety that has nothing to do with whether you’re convicted. Most people assume these are one fight. They aren’t. A jury can acquit you and DPS can still suspend your license.
Jay Granberry spent years as an Assistant District Attorney in Texas before founding The Law Office of Jay Granberry. That background means we understand how the state builds both tracks of a DWI arrest, and we can move on both of them at once from day one.
Two Separate Cases Start the Moment You’re Arrested
The ALR suspension process is a civil administrative action. It runs independently of your criminal case, operates under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 524 for test failures and Chapter 724 for refusals, and is governed by implied consent law. This is the rule that by driving on Texas roads you’ve already agreed to chemical testing if lawfully arrested for DWI.
When and how you receive the DIC-25 notice depends on what happened at the arrest. If you submitted to a breath test and failed, or if you refused testing entirely, the arresting officer typically serves the notice at the scene and your temporary driving permit begins immediately. If you submitted to a blood draw, the officer usually doesn’t serve the notice at arrest. DPS mails it after the lab returns results, which can take weeks. Your 15-day window to act doesn’t start at arrest. It starts from the date you’re presumed to have received that mailed notice. The DIC-25 serves as a 40-day temporary driving permit. If you do nothing within 15 days, the suspension takes effect on day 40.
The 15-Day Deadline to Request an ALR Hearing
Requesting a hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) does two things: it puts a DPS attorney on the record to prove the stop and arrest were lawful and the test was administered correctly, and it pauses your suspension while the hearing is pending. A timely request can keep your license valid for 60 days or more while the case is scheduled and heard.
Miss the 15-day window and both benefits disappear. The suspension locks in on day 40, the hearing request will be denied, and you lose the ability to challenge the DPS action on the merits. There are no extensions for forgetting, for not reading the notice, or for waiting to see how the criminal case goes.
This is one of the most common sources of confusion we see in Bryan and College Station cases, where blood draws are routine during no-refusal weekends. Brazos County runs periodic no-refusal enforcement periods during which officers obtain a blood draw warrant when a driver refuses. This means the refusal still triggers its own ALR suspension even though a blood sample was collected anyway. Two separate violations, two potential suspension tracks.
How Long a Suspension Can Last
The ALR suspension length depends on your age, whether you tested or refused, and your prior history. These are the civil suspension lengths before any criminal conviction enters the picture.
For drivers under 21, any detectable amount of alcohol triggers the process:
- First offense: 60-day suspension
- Second offense: 120-day suspension
- Third or subsequent offense: 180-day suspension
- Refusal, first offense: 180-day suspension
- Refusal, subsequent offense: 2-year suspension
For drivers 21 and older, the ALR suspension lengths are:
- Test failure, first offense: 90-day suspension
- Test failure, subsequent offense: 1-year suspension
- Refusal, first offense: 180-day suspension
- Refusal, subsequent offense: 2-year suspension
A criminal conviction adds a separate, court-ordered suspension on top of the ALR suspension. For a first DWI conviction, the court can impose a suspension of 90 days to one year. For enhanced offenses, the range runs from 180 days to two years. These don’t replace the ALR suspension. You can serve out an ALR suspension and still face a court-ordered suspension from the conviction afterward.
If You Lose the ALR Hearing: Appeals & Occupational Licenses in Brazos County
An unfavorable ruling at your SOAH hearing isn’t necessarily the end. Under Texas Transportation Code 524.041, a sustained suspension can be appealed by filing a petition no later than the 30th day after the administrative law judge’s decision becomes final. The petition must be filed in a county court at law in the county where the arrest occurred. For a Bryan or College Station arrest, that means one of Brazos County’s County Courts at Law, not a district court.
If a suspension takes effect and you need to drive for work, school, or medical appointments, an occupational driver’s license (ODL) may allow limited driving during the suspension period. An ODL isn’t automatic. It requires filing a verified petition in the county or justice of the peace court either where you reside or where the offense occurred.
In Brazos County, two Justice of the Peace courts that process these filings are:
- Precinct 4 at the Brazos County Courthouse, 300 E 26th St, Suite 460, Bryan
- Precinct 2 at the Brazos County Administration Building, 200 S Texas Ave, Suite 114, Bryan
An ODL will typically require an SR-22 insurance filing, proof of financial responsibility, and in some cases the installation of an ignition interlock device. This is a breath-test mechanism installed in the vehicle that must register a clean breath sample before the engine starts. Texas law also limits ODL issuances to no more than one within any 10-year period, so it’s not a resource that can be used indefinitely.
What to Do Right Now
Look at the DIC-25 notice. Find the date it was served or, for a blood test case, the date you’re deemed to have received the mailed notice. Count 15 days forward. That’s your ALR hearing request deadline. If the hearing is requested and you ultimately lose, count 30 days from the day the administrative law judge’s decision becomes final for the appeal window.
The license fight is the most time-sensitive piece of a DWI arrest, and it runs in a different court system than the criminal case. We handle both tracks together. Jay Granberry is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a credential fewer than ten percent of Texas attorneys hold, and his background as a former prosecutor means we understand how DPS and the district attorney’s office approach these cases from the inside. If you were arrested for DWI in Bryan or Brazos County and days remain in that 15-day window, contact The Law Office of Jay Granberry at (979) 378-5480 to get the hearing request filed and both cases moving in the right direction.