Maverick County ALR Hearing Guide

A DWI arrest starts two separate clocks in Texas: the criminal case, and a civil license suspension that begins the moment an officer issues a DIC-25 form. That form works as a temporary permit, and the deadline attached to it is absolute — 15 calendar days from the date it's served to request a hearing, or the license suspends automatically on day 40 with no hearing at all.

Requests go to Texas DPS through the online portal, by mail to PO Box 4040, Austin, TX 78765, or by fax to (512) 424-2650. There's no fee to request it. The hearing itself is run by an Administrative Law Judge from the State Office of Administrative Hearings, and since 2020 most of these hearings happen remotely, by Zoom or phone, rather than in person.

Blood-draw cases carry a real trap. If blood was taken instead of a breath test, DPS has to wait on lab results before it can issue the Notice of Suspension, so that notice, and the 15-day clock attached to it, often doesn't go out for weeks or months after the arrest. Texas law presumes a mailed notice is received five days after it's sent, whether or not the envelope actually gets opened. Keeping the mailing address on file with DPS current is the only real defense against missing a deadline that hasn't even started by the time of the arrest.

Anyone who loses their license and needs an Occupational Driver's License or a standard reinstatement has to work through the local DPS office, and this is where Maverick County breaks from the rest of the state. The Eagle Pass Driver License office at 32 Foster-Maldonado Blvd. runs almost entirely by appointment, but new same-day slots open every morning between 7:30 and 8 a.m., a stark contrast to the four-month waits common in Austin, Dallas, or Houston. Out-of-county defendants regularly make the drive to Eagle Pass specifically to take advantage of it.

Texas law requires an ignition interlock device for anyone convicted of a subsequent DWI, or a first offense with a BAC of 0.15 or higher. Access is the real friction point in a county this rural: brick-and-mortar installers are limited, and a provider without a local technician can mean a roughly 100-mile round trip to San Antonio or Del Rio just for a routine data download. One provider has local affiliate mechanics operating in Eagle Pass; another's nearest service hubs sit in Del Rio and San Antonio. Choosing a provider that offers mobile calibration avoids the drive entirely.

Anyone whose suspension goes through has to carry an SR-22 for the reinstatement period. It's filed electronically by the insurer directly with DPS, so no local office visit is required. Most Maverick County defendants end up with a national non-standard carrier rather than a local agent, since few standard insurers write policies in an area with the state's higher uninsured rates.