I am not a lawyer, a MADD advocate, or anyone else with an agenda. I make no moral judgment about drinking or driving. What follows is what you can expect if you are arrested for a DWI in Austin, Texas. You will get an inside look at what the entire process entails and how much a DWI arrest in Austin, Texas will cost you in time and money.
Jail
Upon arrest for DWI in Autsin, Texas you will be sent to Travis County Central Booking where your will be photographed, fingerprinted, and have your personal belongings taken from you including all jewelry. You will then spend a few hours sitting in a large room with the other criminals – women on one side and men on the other. There is nothing to do except watch a community television and soon the boredom sets in. Sleeping is not an option since an officer will promptly tell you to wake up and sit up. At some point you will be called to another room where you are told to take off your clothes. You are then searched and told to put on jail issued clothes (lovely shaded of gray) while your clothes are put in a paper bag labeled with your name. Then it’s off to the holding cells. Each incredibly tiny cell houses two inmates and comes with a toilet/sink combo. The claustrophobia sets in quickly. You are served a meal in a paper sack consisting of a mystery meat sandwich, a drink, and a piece of fruit. Once you settle in and think you might sleep on the hard metal bed underneath the rough blanket you are called into the hallway. You are handcuffed and leg chained to a cellmate and taken before a judge who explains that you have been arrested for a DWI, and tells you about your optionsYou get the chance to make a phone call (make sure it’s to a landline – calls from jail to cell phones will not go through) or post a personal bond. After countless hours (no clock so you don’t know what time it is) you get the word that you have been released on bond if you are lucky. Now the fun really begins.
The Aftermath
Your driver’s license has been suspended for 6 months. To continue driving you must obtain an occupational license for $145. You no longer have a picture ID so cashing a check, writing a check for groceries, or even getting a Blockbuster Video membership are all difficult if not impossible. You must carry SR-22 insurance (an extra auto insurance policy on top of the one you already carry – figure about $400 for that). You drive in fear that if you are off the beaten path (your occupational license only allows you to drive in certain parts of town) you will be arrested again. You consciously drive the speed limit at all times to avoid attracting attention to yourself. Your attorney costs you $500 to get you out of jail following your DWI arrest, plus about $1,500 more to handle your case. If you were released on a personal bond, you must pay a $20 personal bond fee. You have to report to TCCES for an alcohol evaluation. This costs you an hour of paperwork and $55.00. You will meet with a case officer who will ask you personal questions and then tell you to come back in a week. At the second visit you are told which classes you must take since in the interim your case has been evaluated by people you have never who have now recommended the services they feel you need. At a minimum you will take the TCADA 12 hour alcohol/drug education class (one 4-hour class a week for three consecutive weeks and $70.00) and the MADD panel (one 2-hour meeting with very gruesome photos and $10.00). You will likely have to take a second DWI class as well (another round of one 4-hour class a week for three consecutive weeks and another $70.00). Attendance at a recovery group such as AA may be required – typically attendance at eight 1-hour meetings (free, but time consuming and you must keep a journal, an attendance card and turn these in).
It’s best to get all of these classes and other requirements out of the way before you go to court. Your attorney will likely reach a plea agreement with the prosecutor on your DWI charge. For a first time offense, a typical plea arrangement is 18 months probation ($62 fee per month), 60 hours of community service, payment of court costs ($375), and payment of your DWI fine ($1000 on average).
Immediately after your appearance before the judge you must complete a probation intake form and meet with the folks at the intake office. You’ll spend some time there waiting in a room for them to call your number. Once you meet with them you learn you must attend a 1 ½ hour probation orientation meeting and watch a video and it must be done that day or the next morning at the latest. Next, it’s off to the collections office where you pay your court costs and your fine. If you can’t pay the total amount up front, you must fill out a four-page form and spend about an hour in an interview to set up payment arrangements. Your next stop is the pretrial services office where they confirm that you have paid your personal bond fee.
After you leave the courthouse your final stop for the day is the probation orientation class where you receive a folder with probation information and watch a film titled “Probation – a New Beginning.”
After 6 months you get your driver’s license back ($27), but now cannot drive outside of the county without the permission of your probation officer, with whom you have to meet once a month. Your auto insurance premium will almost certainly increase.
Your initial meeting with your probation officer includes a drug test, a determination of where you will perform your community service, more paperwork on your part, and payment of your first $62.00 (cashier’s check or money order only) monthly fee.
You must schedule your time to meet your community service obligation and continue to meet with your probation officer once a month and submit to random drug tests for the remainder of your time.
Just when you’ve settle into your probation routine and started to recover financially, you get a letter in the mail from DPS informing you that due to your DWI conviction, you must pay a $1,000 surcharge for the next three years to keep your driver’s license. The hits just keep on coming.
The Tally
After your probation time is served you are free again. For a typical first-time DWI arrest you will have paid the following in time and money:
Money:
Personal Bond – $20.00
Attorney – $2,000.00
Occupational License – $145.00
TCCES Fees – $190.00
MADD Panel – $10.00
SR-22 Insurance – 400.00
Court Costs – $375.00
Fine – $1000.00
Probation Fees – $1,116.00
DPS Surcharge – $3,000.00
Total Money $8,256.00
Time (in hours):
Jail – 24
Attorney Meetings – 4
TCCES Eval – 3
TCCES Classes – 24
AA Meetings – 8
MADD Panel – 2
Court – 2
Probation Intake, etc. – 3
Probation Orientation – 2
Community Service – 60
Probation Office Meetings – 20
Total Time 152 hours
You end up paying about $54 for each hour of misery you spend dealing with your DWI arrest and its aftermath.
Here is where I would write the “Big Finish” to make my point, but I don’t have an agenda, and I trust you to come to your own conclusion.
