If I refuse a chemical test or if I'm found to have an alcohol concentration of .08 or more at the time of vehicle operation, can anything be done to prevent my license from being suspended?

First of all, you have the right to what is called an Administrative License Revocation Hearing (we call them ALR hearings). After you are arrested for DWI and either refuse or fail chemical testing, a peace officer is required to give you written notice that your driver's license will be suspended. After the officer does that, you will have 15 days from that date to request, in writing, a hearing from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) headquarters in Austin. Alternatively, if you fail to request a hearing, you waive that right and your license will be suspended on the 40^th day after receiving notice.

If the officer fails to provide you with notice of your license suspension, the DPS will mail a notice to you, via certified mail, that your driver's license is subject to suspension. This is important because instead of the 15 days to file for a hearing from the date of your arrest, you now have15 days from the date you receive the DPS notice. Notice is presumed to have been received 5 days after it is mailed, triggering the 15 day time limit to request a hearing. Accordingly, do not rely on receiving notice from the Department to request a hearing or you might end up waiving that right. This is also a good time to confirm that the address on your driver's license is correct with DPS, because that is where the DPS will send the notice. For notice by mail purposes, your driver's license address is your mailing address, even if it is the incorrect address. This is because you have a duty to report address changes to the DPS within 30 days of moving. Accordingly, be sure to have your license address changed if you have moved since obtaining your license.

When you make your request for an ALR hearing, the suspension of your driver's license is stopped while you await the hearing. Furthermore, if you lose your hearing, you also have the right to appeal. To appeal, you must request the appeal within 30 days after the judgment becomes final. Otherwise, you waive the right to appeal and your driver's license will be suspended on the 40^th day after the judgment becomes final. Again, while you are waiting for the appeal to be heard, your driver's license suspension is stopped, but only for a period of 90 days. Your license will be suspended on the 91^st day, even if your appeal has not been ruled upon. Here, however, if you win your appeal, then your suspension is lifted. Whether your suspension can be prevented is, however, dependent upon whether you have been convicted of an alcohol related offense within the past 10 years, or whether your driver's license has been suspended in relation to a drug or alcohol related offense in the past 5 years. If you fit into one of these categories, your driver's license is suspended on the 40^th day after the final judgment during the pendancy of your appeal. Again, however, the suspension is vacated if you win your appeal. Lastly, if you ultimately lose your license to a suspension, you can still have it reinstated if you win your DWI case by being found "not guilty."