Roberts County DWI Guide

Roberts County is one of only three counties left in Texas — along with Borden and Kent — where alcohol sales are completely illegal. No bars, no restaurants serving beer or wine, no liquor stores anywhere inside the county line. That single fact reshapes the whole nature of a DWI arrest here: with a population of 827, the eighth-least populous county in the state, DPS logged exactly one DWI arrest in 2023. Most of the people who do get charged picked up a drink in a neighboring "wet" county, like Hemphill, and got caught passing through on the way home.

Vehicle recovery. There's no commercial impound lot inside Roberts County big enough to handle law enforcement tows, so vehicles go to Bob Douthit Auto in Pampa — Gray County, about 806-669-3481, open 24/7. Texas's statutory caps apply regardless of where the car ends up: $272 for a light-duty tow, $22.85 a day storage. If you return to the vehicle while it's still hooked up but before the truck leaves, you can get it back for a capped $135 drop fee, no proof of ownership required on the spot.

Jail and bail. The Roberts County Jail in Miami rarely holds more than a handful of inmates at any given time, and there's no public-facing roster or dedicated phone line for it. County Judge Mitchell Locke handles magistration personally, which means delays are common on weekends, holidays, or whenever he's unavailable. If the local holding facility can't accommodate someone, transfers to Gray or Hutchinson County jails are possible, complicating things further for anyone trying to post bond.

Court. Misdemeanor DWIs go to the Roberts County Constitutional Court — the same County Judge Locke, wearing a different hat, since Texas county judges handle both administrative and judicial duties in rural counties. Felonies move to the 31st Judicial District Court. Both sit at the courthouse on E Commercial St. There's no online case lookup; everything runs through a phone call to the court clerks.

License suspension. The 15-day ALR deadline is the same as anywhere in Texas. Roberts County has no local DPS office — the nearest options are in Pampa or Amarillo.

IID desert. No installers operate inside county limits. The closest certified centers sit in Amarillo, and that distance applies equally to SCRAM monitoring, which is coordinated through regional probation offices rather than any local provider.

Because the county is dry, there's no local AA chapter meeting in Miami either — the closest fellowship meets daily in Pampa, with online and hybrid options available through the regional intergroup for anyone who can't make the drive.

Sources

• Texas DPS DWI Report by Agency
• Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation — Towing Fee Schedule
• Texas DPS — Administrative License Revocation Program