In Texas, a person arrested for Driving While Intoxicated will normally have his driver’s license taken away from him by the arresting officer. This will normally happen because he either refused to provide a breath or blood specimen, or because he consented to give the specimen, and the test determined that he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. In place of his normal driver’s license, the arrested person will get a piece of paper (probably yellow in color) that will say “Notice of Suspension Temporary Driving Permit”. (DIC-25) This notice will tell him that his license will be suspended or denied effective 40 days after the date he received the DIC-25 (normally the day he was arrested). At the bottom of the DIC -25, it will tell him that he can request a hearing (known as an “Administrative License Revocation Hearing” –“ALR hearing”) to contest the suspension, and will give him an 800 number, a fax number, and a PO BOX address to send the request for hearing. (Currently, the fax number is 512-424-2650, but consult the DIC-25 or call DPS to make sure this information is still correct.) Normally, it is best to send a fax, then follow up with a phone call to make sure they got it. If you don’t have a fax machine, go to a Kinkos or a UPS store and have them send a fax, which will give you a successful transmission receipt to prove that you sent it. The bottom of the DIC-25 will also set forth what information needs to be included in the fax requesting the hearing. (This includes: Full name, date of birth, driver’s license number and state, current mailing address, home and daytime phone number, date and county of arrest, arresting agency, arresting officer, and whether test was failed or refused or not requested. If you want a live hearing, explicitly request it. You can also request a telephone hearing. (See Tex. Transp. Code § 524.034 and Tex. Transp. Code § 724.041). The request for hearing must be received by the Texas DPS no later than 15 days after receiving the notice (which normally means 15 days after being arrested for DUI). The request for a live ALR hearing might look something like this:
Texas Department of Public Safety, Driver Improvement Bureau
FAX: 512-424-2650
{date}
RE: Notice of Request for Live (in person) ALR Hearing
This is my notice of request for a live, in person, ALR hearing regarding the suspension of my driver’s license. Here is the relevant information:
Full Name: {put down your full name}
Date of Birth: {put down your date of birth}
Driver’s License Number and State: {put down your driver’s license number –see DIC-25}
Current Mailing Address: {put down your mailing address}
Home and daytime Telephone numbers: {put down your home and daytime telephone number}
Date of Arrest: {date of arrest –see DIC-25}
County of Arrest: {put down county of arrest –see DIC-25}
Arresting Agency: {agency that arresting officer worked for –see DIC-25}
Arresting Officer: {officer’s name and badge number on DIC-25}
Test Failure or Refusal: {put down: “purported refusal” or “purported failure”}
{your signature}
After sending the notice, DPS will mail you notice of the hearing date. The DIC-25 also says that if a hearing is requested, the temporary permit to drive will remain in effect until the administrative law judge makes a final decision in the case at the requested ALR hearing. (Keep in mind that the administrative license revocation process is a completely separate matter from the underlying criminal case for driving while intoxicated, which has its own procedures and hearings.)
Most of what has been said so far can be understood simply by reading the DIC-25 carefully. Another fairly easy step that should normally be taken is to request pre-hearing discovery. The Texas Administrative Code sets forth the right to pre-hearing discovery. (See 1 Texas Admin. Code § 159.13. However, unlike the request for ALR hearing, which should be done as soon as possible after you are arrested, you should wait a little while before filing the request for pre-hearing discovery. 1 Texas Administrative Code § 159.13(1) says: “…The request for discovery may not be filed with the department sooner than the date of the request for hearing, and may not be filed sooner than five days from the date of the notice of suspension…” This means that since notice of suspension (the DIC-25) is normally received on the date of arrest, you must normally wait until 5 days after the date of arrest to request pre-hearing discovery. Furthermore, you must not send the notice of pre-hearing discovery before the DPS has received your notice of hearing. Where should the request for pre-hearing discovery be sent? 1 Texas Administrative Code § 159.13(1) also says: “…All requests for discovery must be in writing and shall be served upon the department as prescribed in 37 TAC § 17.16 …”. 37 Texas Administrative Code Sec. 17.16 currently says that the fax number is: (512) 424-7171, and that the fax should be “…to the attention of the Director of Hearings, ALR Program…”. The fax for pre-hearing discovery, in a “refusal” case, could look something like this, in some instances:
Director of Hearings,
ALR Program
PO BOX 15327
Austin, Texas 78761-5327
Fax No: 512-424-7171
ATTENTION: DIRECTOR OF HEARINGS, ALR PROGRAM
Re: Discovery Request for "Refusal" Hearing
{your driver’s license number}; {your full name}
{SOAH Docket No. – put “Unassigned” if you haven’t received a notice of ALR hearing date yet}
{date you send request}
I hereby request all of the following items to be furnished to me forthwith pursuant to 1 Tex. Admin. Code § 159.13(a), Tex. Gov't Code § 2001.091, and the Texas Open Records Act, Tex. Gov't Code § 552:
1) a copy of the form DIC-23;
2) a copy of the Form DIC-24;
3) a copy of the DIC-25; and
4) a copy of my driving record, if it is to be offered for enhancement purposes.
If there are copying charges associated with this request, please notify me promptly so that payment arrangements can be made.
Sincerely,
{your signature}
You probably already have a copy of the DIC-24 and DIC-25, but you should ask for them again. The DIC-23 is the peace officer's sworn report or probable cause affidavit. (See 37 Tex. Admin. Code § 17.4(1)(B).
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