Montgomery County DWI Attorney - How likely is jail time for a first DWI in Texas?

Montgomery County DWI Attorney - Brian Foley - Board Certified in Criminal Law.

How likely is jail time for a first DWI in Texas? Texas has a minimum of 72 hours in jail for a first time DWI in Texas. If your case is dismissed or you take probation then no jail time needs to be served. However when you are arrested for DWI you are immediately taken to the jail for booking and processing and then released on a bail bond. So everyone goes to jail for a DWI on the first day or if it is a warrant case because the person was hospitalized on the day of the DWI on the day the warrant is executed. But this doesn't mean that you are going to stay there for very long or that jail time will be a formal part of your sentence.

The factors that prosecutors look at to determine what to offer you in a DWI case include the following:

1. The severity of the DWI. Was there a crash? Was anyone injured?

2. The history of the defendant. Has this person been arrested before? Any prior DWI arrests that didn't turn into convictions?

3. Political climate of the are where the DWI occurred. Is the area more conservative? More liberal? Has there been a series of recent fatality DWI crashes?

4. What was the attitude of the defendant when dealing with the Police? Was he compliant and polite? Was he verbally abusive or using profanity?

5. Is there a policy about offers at the office? Many district attorney offices have specific policies about what to offer someone on a DWI first. If so this could limit the options that you can receive from the prosecutor. Or it could just require you to ask a more senior prosecutor for a better deal.

6. Did the police do things correctly? If your attorney can find something that the police did wrong then you can leverage that against the offer that the District Attorney would usually give. If it was something major then the case could get dismissed. If it is something minor then it could result in a more favorable plea offer.

All of these things will contribute to what type of offer you get in a DWI first offense. You should seek the advice and assistance of an Attorney to see what factors may come into play in your DWI case.

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