Bexar County ALR Hearing Guide

Getting an occupational license in Bexar County costs more than almost anywhere else in Texas. The county filing fee alone is about $247, and it's non-refundable even if the judge says no. Add the SR-22 filing, a $22 driving record, the $125 reinstatement fee, and the $10-a-year issuance fee, and you're past $400 just to earn back a restricted right to drive.

Before any of that, though, there's a 15-day deadline. From the date of your DWI arrest you have 15 calendar days to ask for a hearing to stop the license suspension. Do nothing and the suspension starts automatically on the 41st day. A refusal to test suspends you for 180 days on a first offense, two years on a later one; blowing 0.08 or more suspends you for 90 days on a first offense.

The request goes to Austin only

The officer took your card and handed you a DIC-25. The hearing request has to reach the DPS ALR division in Austin. You cannot drop it off at the San Antonio Mega Center or the San Antonio SOAH office. File online for an instant confirmation, fax it to 512-424-2650 and keep the transmission sheet, or send it certified to P.O. Box 4040, Austin, TX 78765-4040. File on time and the suspension is stayed; the DIC-25 keeps you legal until a judge rules, often three to six months out. The DIC-25 is valid the moment you leave custody, by the way. The overnight hold is a sobering period, not a gap in the permit.

The hearing is at an office building, not the DMV

Bexar County hearings run through the State Office of Administrative Hearings at 10010 San Pedro Avenue, Suite 365. That's not where you renew a license, and staff there don't take renewals or fees. Almost every hearing is on Zoom now, with the link inside the mailed Notice of Hearing, so keep your address current with DPS. The state gives you the police report and the sworn warnings for free at least two business days out; there is no $50 packet fee. If you want the officer there to cross-examine, you subpoena them with a $10 witness fee plus round-trip mileage, and the check has to reach their agency within a business day of the hearing or the subpoena is void.

The occupational license

File the petition in a Justice of the Peace court or a County Court at Law for the precinct where you live or where you were arrested. You have to show an essential need: work, school, or running a household. Bexar County uses the logbook restriction rather than fixed hours, so you get up to 12 hours of driving in a day as long as you keep a logbook in the car recording every trip's date, start time, destination, reason, and end time, and hand it to any officer who stops you. Your packet needs the petition, an SR-22 from your insurer, and a certified driving record dated within 30 days.

Reinstatement

When the suspension ends, pay the $125 fee to DPS and keep the SR-22 on file. The Rolling Oaks Mega Center at 6909 North Loop 1604 East is appointment only and issues the license once the system shows you clear; it does not take the reinstatement payment at the counter.