It was a team dinner at Legacy West after a long week. You had a couple of drinks with the meal and felt fine. You pulled out onto Headquarters Drive, merged onto the Dallas North Tollway, and a mile later a marked patrol car lit up behind you.
The trooper says you were weaving, or that your speed changed. He asks if you’ve been drinking. You say “two drinks,” because it’s the truth, and that answer changes the rest of the night. Now you’re standing on the shoulder of the Tollway, with traffic passing close at highway speed, trying to follow instructions for tests you’ve never done before.
Two hours later you’re being booked, and by Monday you’re wondering how to tell your employer. A DWI arrest in Plano is serious, but it is not a conviction, and the next 15 days shape much of what follows.
Plano is crossed by three major highways, and the agency that pulled you over depends on where it happened.
The difference shows up in the evidence. Different agencies use different video systems, keep records in different places, and follow their own policies for blood draws and breath testing. Your lawyer has to know where to request every recording and record, and how quickly each agency deletes them.
Whoever made the arrest, the case is prosecuted the same way: by the Collin County District Attorney’s Office in McKinney, or in Denton County if the stop was in the small part of Plano that lies there.
A first DWI in Texas (Penal Code § 49.04) is a Class B misdemeanor: 72 hours to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. The stakes rise quickly from there:
Deferred adjudication is available for many first-time DWI charges, but not when the alcohol concentration was 0.15 or more or the driver held a commercial license.
For many people arrested in Plano, the court penalties aren’t the biggest fear. It’s what comes after:
These consequences are why the goal is usually to avoid a conviction, not just to minimize the sentence.
Al Rowland reviews a Plano DWI from every side of the case.
As a former police officer certified to administer Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, he looks at the roadside: Was the stop justified by what the video shows? Were the eye, walk-and-turn, and one-leg-stand tests given on safe, level ground with correct instructions, or on a sloped Tollway shoulder in passing traffic? Were the “clues” scored the way the training requires?
As a former prosecutor in Colorado, he looks at the case the way the State will: Which facts will a prosecutor rely on, where are the gaps, and what would make the State reconsider? That view helps decide when to negotiate and when a case should go to trial.
As a defense attorney, he tests the science and the procedure: the breath test observation period and instrument records, the blood warrant and chain of custody, and whether your statements were taken properly.
The charge and the court are the same, but the evidence comes from DPS rather than Plano Police. Your lawyer needs to request the trooper’s video and records from the right agency quickly.
It depends on your job, your employer’s policies, and any professional license you hold. Talk to a lawyer before you disclose anything, so you understand what’s required and what isn’t.
A driver under 21 can be charged with DWI, or with driving with any detectable amount of alcohol under the Alcoholic Beverage Code (§ 106.041), which is a lesser offense but still carries a license suspension.
A DWI conviction, even in your personal car, generally disqualifies a CDL for at least one year. Deferred adjudication isn’t available to CDL holders for DWI, which makes the defense of the underlying charge especially important.
Usually, yes. Texas reports suspensions to your home state, which may suspend your license as well.
Texas allows an order of nondisclosure for some first-time DWI cases that meet strict conditions, including an alcohol concentration under 0.15. A dismissal or acquittal may qualify for a full expunction.
The 15-day ALR deadline is already running, and video from the stop can be overwritten. Al Rowland, a former police officer certified in field sobriety testing and a former Colorado prosecutor, has defended clients in Collin County courts since 2015. He is a member of the DUI Defense Lawyers Association and the National College for DUI Defense.
Call (469) 895-6555 or request a free, confidential DWI case review. Law Office of Al Rowland, PLLC, 6160 Warren Pkwy, Suite 100, Frisco, TX 75034, just north of Plano off the Dallas North Tollway.
This page provides general information, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts.
