Hopkins County ALR Hearing Guide
How to request your Administrative License Revocation (ALR) Hearing and protect your driving privileges after a DWI arrest.
Last verified: September 19, 2026
15-Day Deadline
You have exactly 15 days from your arrest to request a hearing. Miss this deadline and your license is automatically suspended. No exceptions.
Enter your arrest date to see your deadline:
If You Request in Time
- • Temporary permit until hearing
- • Chance to keep your license
- • Gather evidence for defense
If You Miss the Deadline
- • Automatic 90-180 day suspension
- • No hearing, no appeal
- • Starts after waiting period
How to Request Your Hearing
Online Request
Fee: Typically $50-$125
Available: 24/7
Instant confirmation
Phone Request
Fee: Same as online
Hours: Business hours only
Expect hold times
Information You'll Need
From Your Notice:
- • Driver License Number
- • Date of Arrest
- • Arresting Agency
- • Arresting Officer Name
Personal Information:
- • Full Legal Name
- • Current Address
- • Date of Birth
- • Phone Number & Email
After You Request
Temporary Permit
ImmediateDrive legally until your hearing
Hearing Notice
20-40 daysDate, time, and format mailed to you
Prepare Defense
Before hearingGather evidence, hire attorney
Attend Hearing
Scheduled dateUsually phone or video
Decision
Same dayWin: keep license. Lose: suspension starts
Temporary Permit
Immediate
Drive until hearing
Hearing Notice
20-40 days
Date mailed to you
Prepare
Before hearing
Gather evidence
Attend Hearing
Scheduled
Phone or video
Decision
Same day
Win or suspension
What to Expect at the Hearing
Most hearings are by phone or video
You usually don't need to travel. When you receive your hearing notice, it will specify whether it's phone, video, or in-person.
Duration
30-60 minutes typically
Who's There
You, your attorney (optional), state attorney, hearing officer
What They Review
Probable cause for stop, proper arrest procedure, test validity
Evidence That Can Help
- Dashcam or bodycam footage showing procedural errors
- Breathalyzer calibration records (if not current)
- Witness statements about your sobriety
- Medical conditions affecting field sobriety tests
Should You Hire an Attorney?
With an Attorney
- Can subpoena arresting officer
- Knows how to challenge evidence
- Uses hearing to strengthen criminal defense
- Higher success rate at hearings
Without an Attorney
- State has experienced attorney present
- May not know proper objections
- Can't effectively cross-examine officers
- Lower win rate statistically
If You Lose Your Hearing
Losing the hearing isn't the end. You still have options to maintain limited driving privileges:
Ignition Interlock
Drive with device installed
Occupational License
Limited driving for work/essentials
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Guides
Miss the deadline and a Hopkins County driver's license suspension happens automatically on day 40 after the arrest. No hearing, no notice, no second chance to contest it.
That deadline is 15 calendar days, not business days, from the date a driver is served the Notice of Suspension, form DIC-25. DPS issues that notice, and the officer confiscates the physical license, whenever a driver either refuses a breath or blood test after a lawful DWI arrest or provides a sample that comes back at 0.08 percent blood alcohol or higher. This is a separate civil track from the criminal case, running under Texas's implied consent law, and winning the criminal case doesn't automatically undo the license suspension.
The hearing itself isn't held by any Hopkins County judge. It's run by an administrative law judge employed by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, and most of these hearings now happen over Zoom or by phone rather than in a courtroom.
Why Request the Hearing Even If You Expect to Lose
Filing for the hearing does more than fight for the license. It lets a defense attorney subpoena the arresting officer and cross-examine them, under oath, about the traffic stop and the field sobriety tests, months before the criminal trial ever starts. That locks the officer's account in early and can hand the defense real leverage for a suppression motion later, regardless of how the ALR hearing itself turns out.
Requests can go in through the DPS online portal, by mail, or by fax. Anyone mailing a request should use certified mail with a return receipt. A postmark inside the 15-day window isn't enough on its own; DPS has to actually receive and log the request in time. The submission needs the driver's full name, date of birth, license number, the date and county of arrest, the arresting agency, and whether the test was refused or failed.
Local Office and SR-22
The regional DPS office is at 1528 East Shannon Road in Sulphur Springs, though there's no confirmed direct phone line for it; hearing requests and scheduling questions route through the state's online systems instead. Vehicle registration and property tax matters, by contrast, stay with the county's own Tax Assessor-Collector.
There's no local SR-22 office in Hopkins County. An SR-22 is simply a certificate a driver's existing auto insurance company files with the state after a DWI conviction or suspension, and any standard insurer operating in Texas can handle it.
Last updated: September 19, 2026
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