Wise 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 12, 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
A blood draw during one of Wise County's "No Refusal" weekends can quietly cost a driver their license months after they've stopped thinking about the arrest. Because toxicology takes time, the officer doesn't hand over a DIC-25 suspension notice at the scene. Instead, DPS mails it once the lab results come back, and the mailed notice is legally presumed received on the fifth day after mailing, whether or not the driver actually got it. If that driver moved and never updated their address with DPS, the notice goes to the old one, marked "do not forward," and the 15-day clock to request a hearing expires without anyone knowing it started.
The deadline that doesn't bend
Outside the blood-draw scenario, the countdown starts at arrest: 15 days, no exceptions, to request an ALR hearing contesting the suspension. Miss it and the suspension takes effect automatically on day 40. The fix that actually protects a driver is simple and often skipped: update the address with DPS immediately after any arrest, and file the hearing request electronically through the DPS portal or by fax to the ALR Division at 512-424-2650, keeping the transmission confirmation as proof.
What the hearing is worth, win or lose
ALR hearings are run by an administrative law judge with the State Office of Administrative Hearings, not at the local DPS office, and the great majority now happen over Zoom or by phone. DPS only has to prove its case by a preponderance of the evidence, a lower bar than a criminal trial, but the hearing gives defense counsel a chance to subpoena the arresting officer and force them to testify under oath before the criminal case is ever tried. If the officer doesn't log into the hearing, the judge generally rules for the driver by default, a real and recurring way these cases get won outright.
Getting the license back
Reinstatement costs $125, paid to DPS once a suspension has run its course or been resolved.
Last updated: September 12, 2026
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