Hunt County ALR Hearing Guide

Fifteen calendar days. That's the entire window Hunt County has to formally request an ALR hearing after a DWI arrest, and it's measured from the arrest date, not from when you get around to calling a lawyer. Miss it by even a few hours and DPS denies the request outright, with the suspension activating automatically on the 40th day after arrest.

What the officer hands you at the scene

Refuse a breath or blood test, or fail one on-site, and the officer confiscates your physical license and issues a DIC-25, the Notice of Suspension that doubles as a temporary driving permit. That's your license to drive for the time being, and the 15-day clock starts the moment that form is issued.

When a blood draw changes the timeline

Hunt County relies heavily on "No Refusal" blood warrants, and when a coercive blood draw is involved, DPS can't issue the suspension notice the night of the arrest because the BAC isn't known yet. Once the state crime lab returns a result over 0.08, DPS mails the notice, and the clock resets to 20 days from that mailing date, not the arrest. Keeping your address current with DPS matters more than it sounds like it should.

The hearing isn't at the courthouse

ALR hearings are run by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, a separate state agency, and the overwhelming majority now happen by Zoom or teleconference rather than in person.

Why that remote format works in the defense's favor

Because the hearing is remote and relatively low-stakes to request, defense attorneys use it as an early discovery tool: subpoenaing the arresting deputy or officer to testify under oath about the stop, the field sobriety tests, and the blood warrant locks their account into a sworn, transcribed record months before the criminal trial. That record becomes leverage in plea talks with the District Attorney's office long before a jury is ever seated.