Facing driving while intoxicated criminal charges has significant ramifications. If you are a business owner, the implications can be more severe. The Texas Department of Public Safety could withdraw your driving privileges, and your professional licensing board could take disciplinary action, including revocation. Without the necessary professional license, you could lose your job, career, professional practice, and future ability to find employment and deliver client services. Most people and companies conduct background checks and do not offer employment to people with a criminal record. This article will define DWI and cover the effect of a DWI conviction/charge on your professional license.
Everything You Need to Know about DWI
Under Penal Code Section 49.04, driving while intoxicated (DWI) is a crime if a car is in operation in public. A person is considered drunk if alcohol, dangerous drug abuse, or a controlled substance has impaired their physical or mental abilities. A blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more also proves intoxication.
Per Se DWI
A person is lawfully intoxicated if their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08 percent or above. For a person driving a commercial motor vehicle, the legal BAC is at least 0.04 percent. The legal limit is called a per se law, meaning “by itself.” If the chemical tests, like breath or blood tests, show that your blood content level is at least 0.08 percent, you can face DWI charges.
The per se law applies even when you drive well and do not seem intoxicated. Evidence of your blood alcohol content at or exceeding the lawful limit is what the prosecution team requires to file drunk driving charges against you.
Implied Consent Law
When the police reasonably believe that you are driving while intoxicated, they will request to subject you to some tests. Usually, these tests include field sobriety tests, breath tests, and preliminary breathalyzers.
Per implied consent law, a person has permitted chemical testing if they drive within Texas. They could decline to comply with the preliminary breath tests without attracting additional repercussions.
However, this does not apply to chemical tests. Although you are within your legal right to refuse chemical testing, the law enforcement agents will explain the immediate penalties you face. The DPS will suspend your driver’s license for six months after your first refusal. For a second refusal, you will lose your driving privileges for two (2) years.
Potential Penalties and Consequences
Criminal penalties in Texas increase depending mainly on the charge.
A first-time defendant with a blood alcohol content below 0.15 percent will face a Class B Texas misdemeanor. It is punishable by:
- Fines not exceeding $2,000
- Six (6) days in county jail if there was an open container in the car
- Mandatory 72 days county jail, with a possible 180 days
- Community service
- Completion of a DWI education program
- Potential DWI probation
A subsequent offense becomes a Class A Texas misdemeanor that has the following potential penalties:
- Fines not exceeding $4,000
- A prison sentence of one month to 12 months in county jail
- Completion of a DWI intervention program
- A two-year license suspension
- Ignition interlock device (IID) installation
A third DWI offense becomes a Texas felony, carrying a ten-thousand-dollar fine and a maximum of ten years of incarceration.
Administrative Driver’s License Revocation
On top of criminal penalties, there are also administrative implications for your driver’s license. The DPS will withdraw your driving privilege based on the alleged crime. Administrative driver’s license revocation differs from criminal charges.
If you are a first-time DWI defendant without any drug or alcohol-related criminal record, the Texas Department of Public Safety suspends the license for ninety days.
A subsequent DWI offense will attract a one-year license suspension. The court will also require you to install an IID for a year.
Revocation starts 40 days following the arrest. If you contest the suspension of your license, you must request an administrative hearing within 15 days.
How DWI Affects Nursing Professional Licenses
As a nurse, you are not legally required to report your drunk driving charge to the Texas Board of Nursing unless you are convicted. If the court finds you guilty, you should report it to the BoN immediately. Otherwise, you risk facing brutal decisions and verdicts on licensure.
Next, the board will investigate the DWI case to determine whether your alleged criminal activity involved moral turpitude or cast doubts on your capability to perform the nursing obligations with integrity. The board will also consider your criminal history to determine your license’s eligibility and decide whether to revoke, renew, or suspend your license.
In worst-case scenarios, a conviction can result in suspension or revocation. If you keep it, a DWI can have other consequences and implications, including the following:
- Disciplinary action
- Compulsory drug or alcohol treatment
- Limitations on your practice
Can You Benefit from Deferred Adjudication?
While driving while intoxicated charges, dismissal would be the most favorable outcome, you can take advantage of deferred adjudication if it is your first drunk driving-related offense. A deferred adjudication will permit you to serve probation instead of a conviction.
The Effect of a DWI Conviction on Security Clearance
Depending on the facts of the case, a drunk driving conviction can affect your security clearance. DWI charges are security concerns. And as a security concern, you, too, could be a security concern. Whether you are an intelligence analyst or a clerk, your career and livelihood could be at stake if security concerns hang over you.
It is a privilege for the federal government to grant security clearance. With the clearance, you can work with or access confidential details. The government issues the clearance after conducting thorough background checks to ensure you are not a threat.
When considering whether to revoke or grant a security clearance, the government will use the adjudicative process to decide whether the criminal conduct was a security threat. There are 13 guidelines, but the section below discusses those associated with DWI convictions.
Personal Conduct — Guideline E
You might think your conduct outside your workplace should or would not affect your qualification for security clearance. Unfortunately, it does. An act that involves one of the behaviors below can raise concerns that you are a security threat:
- Unreliability
- Untrustworthiness
- Dishonesty
- Questionable judgment
- Being hesitant to adhere to rules and regulations
These actions might mean you do not protect classified details, and DWI could mean you cannot evaluate particular circumstances effectively.
Alcohol Consumption — Guideline G
After applying for security clearance, the government will consider your alcohol consumption to determine whether it fails to regulate impulses, unreliability, and questionable judgment.
Under this guideline, drinking alcoholic beverages is not an issue unless it increases the possibility of illegal disclosure of classified details due to carelessness.
Criminal Conduct — Guideline J
Guideline J alludes to criminal conduct as a pattern or history of criminal activity.
Criminal conduct is a security concern because it casts doubts about the following:
- Your trustworthiness, reliability, and judgment
- Your dedication to abide by regulations, laws, and rules
The Relationship Between a DWI Conviction and Your Teaching Professional License
Texas holds educators to a high standard, and the Texas Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators guide their conduct. The code of ethics outlines different actions a teacher should avoid, including operating a motor vehicle while drunk.
The State Board of Educator Certification is tasked with disciplining and certifying teachers. The agency grants professional licenses to good-character educators who do not threaten the well-being of the juveniles they are responsible for. Breaking your Code of Ethics can result in disciplinary action and the loss of your teaching certification.
The SBEC pays attention to teachers with at least two DWI allegations within one year. However, the board has broad discretion and can impose disciplinary action after one DWI conviction. A skilled DWI attorney can aggressively fight your charges and prevent a conviction.
Some of the disciplinary actions the SBEC can take include the following:
- Requiring you to withdraw from the educator preparation program
- Placing limitations on the ability to renew or acquire a certificate
- Issuing a written reprimand
- Suspending your certificate for some time
- Canceling or revoking the teaching certification
Failing to report your conviction or arrest is also grounds for disciplinary action. Otherwise, the SBEC could revoke or suspend your teaching professional license.
Keeping Your Real Estate License After Your DWI Conviction
A lot goes into selling and purchasing real estate, and sometimes the process can be complex. Huge sums of money are involved in the transactions, and even minor mistakes can be expensive. That is why the Texas Real Estate Commission regulates eligible real estate agents.
To acquire your real estate license, you should:
- Satisfy qualification requirements like being a U.S citizen, Texas resident, and above 18
- Complete the required education
- Pass your examination
- Be honest, trustworthy, and have integrity
Whether the drunk driving charges will cost you your license depends on the circumstances surrounding your conviction and arrest.
Typically, TREC will revoke or suspend your license after a conviction of a felony DWI that is associated with your responsibilities and duties as a real estate agent. The commission will also discipline you in cases where your conviction shows the inability to represent another person’s interests with integrity, trustworthiness, and honesty.
A DWI misdemeanor conviction might not cost you your license. However, the commission can still decide to take disciplinary action against you after considering the following factors:
- The severity and nature of the alleged crime
- The degree to which the professional license might provide a chance to engage in further criminal activity of the same kind
Except in severe criminal cases, the commission is lenient. If you violate the rules but do not dispute your mistake, you can have your license suspension probated.
The Risk of Drunk Driving Charges to Your Pharmacy Professional License
The Texas State Board of Pharmacy acknowledges that a healthcare professional’s unfitness can jeopardize the lives and health of patients. Consequently, the board investigates DWI criminal charges for signs of unfitness, including addictions, carelessness, and substance abuse.
Texas Occupations Code 565.051 allows the board to do the following:
- Revoke, restrict, or suspend a pharmacist’s professional license
- Deny or refuse to renew the license
- Reprimand the professional
- Impose administrative penalties
- Impose probation
While not all DWI charges lead to license discipline, a felony conviction is a disciplinary ground. Examples of felonies include DW with a minor passenger, a third DWI offense, intoxicated manslaughter, and intoxication assault.
If not taken seriously, board-imposed disciplinary action could lead to the loss of employment and livelihood. Your defense lawyer can present evidence of mitigating factors while minimizing or avoiding aggravating factors.
Potential Professional Repercussions of DWI Charges to a Lawyer
As a lawyer, you should have an active professional license to practice. Under Penal Code Section 38.122, the illegal practice of law without a license is a felony. If your license is revoked or suspended, you will lose your employment, income, and standing as a practicing attorney. You can also face collateral consequences if you fail to handle the matter appropriately.
The Texas Disciplinary Rules of Conduct offer that an attorney should not commit a serious offense or commit a crime that reflects negatively on the counsel’s fitness, trustworthiness, or honesty as an attorney in other respects. A DWI is a serious crime, mainly if it is a felony involving the following:
- Minor passenger
- Injuries to somebody else
- A third or subsequent crime
Any disciplinary action, including public censure, could have life-altering collateral consequences. You could lose clients, and corporate counsel and law firms that hire attorneys may not want to employ you.
You must also report your felony DWI conviction to the chief disciplinary counsel within thirty days from the judgment or order date. First-time and second-time crimes without injuries are misdemeanors and not reportable.
How A DWI Conviction Affects Your Dental Professional License Application
As a dentist, you are also held to high standards of conduct. A DWI conviction can call into question your fitness to practice.
During an initial license application or renewal, if you have a conviction for driving while intoxicated, you must reveal your criminal history. The only exception is for a conviction that was ultimately dismissed, and the dismissal did not get an expungement. If your conviction does not apply to this exception, you must be open about your criminal conviction.
Professional licensing boards have extensive information, and they indeed unearth your previous conviction. You will be penalized for not revealing a conviction to a licensing board. The failure could also lead to the board declining your license application or renewal and revocation of any existing license you might have. If your conviction happens while possessing a professional license, you should also report the conviction to the Texas Dental Licensing Board.
How DWI Can Affect Your Psychologist's Professional License
A psychologist can significantly improve a patient’s life through mental health treatment and counseling. They are a lifeline for patients and should be highly skilled.
Consequently, the Texas Occupational Code has set out qualifications you should satisfy for licensure. Two qualifications related to DWI include the following:
- You have not been sentenced for a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude
- You do not use alcohol or drugs to a degree that impacts your professional competency
In other words, DWI could implicate your qualifications in either of the following ways:
Drunk driving criminal charges could be a felony when Code 501.2525 disqualifies you for a felony conviction. Typically, most DWI offenses are misdemeanors, mainly if a first or second crime is committed without causing injuries to others or children passengers.
The criminal charges could also implicate your qualifications if they indicate that you are unfit to practice competently and safely due to reckless disregard for patient safety, substance addiction, and substance impairment. For instance, reckless driving or exceedingly legal BAC could indicate a flagrant disregard for public safety and health.
DWI License Sanctions Against Psychologists
The Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists has a schedule of standard sanctions outlining when it plans to do the following:
- Suspend or revoke a professional license
- Issue a reprimand
- Place you on probation
- Impose administrative penalties
If your case facts suggest drug or alcohol addiction or abuse, your license could be suspended. A license suspension could affect your practice and result in losing employment or patients.
Find a Skilled DWI Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me
The consequences of a drunk driving conviction can be inconvenient due to a conviction on the criminal record and the withdrawal of your driving privileges. Losing a security clearance or a professional license can hurt your future employment opportunities and cause you to lose your income and job.
At Fort Worth DWI Defense Lawyer, we understand the emotional and financial turmoil of the loss following many years of going to school and hard work. We can work with you through licensure policies and the facts of your case to obtain the most favorable case outcome. Please contact us at 817-470-2128 to learn how we can help you.