A DWI arrest in Conroe can put your license, job, and freedom at risk. You need a defense built around the evidence, not an assumption that the officer’s report or a test result tells the whole story. The Napier Law Firm represents people facing misdemeanor and felony DWI charges in Conroe and Montgomery County.
Call (713) 470-4097 to discuss your case. Have your charge paperwork, next court setting, and any driver’s license suspension notice available. The criminal case and the license proceeding have different deadlines; don’t wait for a court date to have a DPS notice reviewed.
Who handles your DWI defense?
George A. Napier is the firm’s primary DWI attorney. He served in the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office from 2012 to 2018, serving as a chief and felony prosecutor. That background informs his assessment of the State’s evidence and how the prosecution may approach a case.
Monica Cooper Napier also handles DWI cases, including felony DWI. Her DWI work is not limited to felonies. Ask who would be responsible for your case and which proceedings the proposed representation covers. Hiring the firm does not mean both attorneys will handle every matter.
Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Punishments
Under Texas Penal Code §§ 49.01 and 49.04, the State must prove intoxication while operating a motor vehicle in a public place. Intoxication means an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or loss of the normal use of mental or physical faculties because of alcohol, drugs, or another substance. A result below 0.08 does not rule out a DWI charge. Whether someone was operating the vehicle requires its own factual review.
The usual offense ranges are:
- Ordinary first DWI: Class B misdemeanor, with a 72-hour minimum confinement term, up to 180 days in jail, and a fine up to $2,000.
- DWI with a qualifying specimen analysis of 0.15 or more: Class A misdemeanor, with up to one year in jail and a fine up to $4,000.
- DWI with one qualifying prior intoxication conviction: generally a Class A misdemeanor, with a 30-day minimum confinement term, up to one year in jail, and a fine up to $4,000.
- DWI with two qualifying prior intoxication convictions: generally a third-degree felony, with two to ten years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
These are general ranges under Penal Code Chapters 12 and 49, not a prediction of the sentence. An open container in the driver’s immediate possession can increase the Class B minimum confinement term to six days. Prior convictions, including qualifying out-of-state convictions, require careful review; the list above does not cover every enhancement.
A first charge can be a felony. DWI with a passenger younger than 15 is a separate state jail felony under § 49.045. Section 49.04(e), effective September 1, 2025, also makes DWI in a school crossing zone a state jail felony when committed while the zone’s reduced speed limit applies. The offense date matters. The ordinary state-jail range is 180 days to two years, with a fine up to $10,000. Intoxication causing serious bodily injury or death can involve separate, more serious charges.
Base criminal fines are not the total financial exposure. Transportation Code § 709.001 provides additional fines and requires waiver of the fines and costs imposed under that section when the court finds the person indigent. License consequences are separate from these punishment ranges.
Drivers under 21 can also face a separate detectable-alcohol offense under Alcoholic Beverage Code § 106.041. Commercial-license disqualification is another distinct issue: the 0.04 threshold applies to operating a commercial motor vehicle, not a different criminal DWI definition for every CDL holder. A personal-vehicle incident can still affect a CDL.
Occupational Driver’s License Information
An Administrative License Revocation (ALR) proceeding concerns your driving privileges and is separate from the criminal DWI case. The hearing-request clock depends on the suspension notice, not automatically the arrest or refusal date. DPS explains that a hearing must be requested within 15 days after service of notice. For a mailed notice following a consensual blood test, DPS describes 20 days from mailing. Chapter 524 uses presumed receipt on the fifth day after mailing and a request received within 15 days after that presumed receipt.
Bring the notice and envelope to your lawyer promptly. A timely hearing request stays the proposed ALR suspension pending the administrative decision, but does not erase another suspension or disqualification. Winning an ALR hearing is not a guarantee of unrestricted driving.
An occupational driver license may allow eligible noncommercial driving for work, school, or essential household duties. It is not available in every case and cannot authorize commercial driving during disqualification. A signed court order is not the DPS-issued occupational license; the required order, documentation, insurance, and fees must be submitted to DPS. The pretrial fee includes pursuing an occupational driver’s license if needed.
Possible Defenses an Experienced DWI Attorney Can Evaluate
The useful question is not whether a defense appears on a list. It is whether the records support it in your case. The stop, detention, arrest, officer observations, video, and testing all deserve separate attention.
Field-sobriety performance should be compared with the instructions, conditions, and any documented physical limitations. A breath or blood result should be evaluated with the underlying testing records and timing, not treated as unchallengeable or automatically unreliable. A medical diagnosis alone does not establish that a test was wrong.
Refusing a blood or breath specimen can carry license consequences and may be used in a prosecution; an officer may seek a warrant. This page is not an instruction to refuse testing or a promise that a test request must wait for counsel. See the statutory warnings in Transportation Code § 724.015.
Steps Our Conroe DWI Lawyer Can Take to Defend You
An accusation is not a conviction. The steps below explain the work your case may need, depending on the evidence and the representation we agree to provide.
Step 1: Examining the Circumstances of the Arrest
Compare the report with available dashcam and bodycam footage. What prompted the stop? When did the investigation become a DWI investigation? What facts supported the arrest? A legal challenge needs a specific basis; an inconsistency does not automatically suppress evidence or dismiss a case.
Step 2: Challenging the Evidence
Examine field-test administration, breath-instrument maintenance and calibration records, or blood collection, storage, and laboratory records as relevant. Compare the driving timeline with the specimen collection time. Discuss whether a toxicology expert would add value; an expert is not promised in every case. Expert and investigator costs are separate from the pretrial fee. We confirm those costs with you before incurring them. Payment plans are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Step 3: Evaluating Negotiation and Sentencing Options
Assess the evidence before deciding whether to pursue a negotiated resolution. Prior history, the alleged offense, and eligibility restrictions matter. No first-offense label guarantees probation, deferred adjudication, reduction, or dismissal. Any offer should be evaluated alongside the risks and available defenses.
Step 4: Addressing Your Driver’s License
Review every DPS notice separately from the criminal-court paperwork. Confirm the applicable hearing deadline. The pretrial fee includes ALR representation. If a suspension is possible, discuss occupational-license eligibility rather than assuming you will be able to keep driving.
Step 5: Preparing for Trial When Necessary
Trial preparation means identifying disputed facts, evaluating witnesses, organizing records, and assessing what testimony the defense needs. It should inform the evaluation of the case, not depend on a promise that negotiations will succeed. Our DWI fee is typically divided into a pretrial fee and a separate jury-trial fee. The pretrial fee covers representation leading up to a jury trial, including the ALR hearing and pursuing an occupational driver’s license if needed. You pay the separate trial fee only if your case needs to proceed to a jury trial.
Step 6: Addressing Any Related Charges
A collision, alleged injury, child passenger, or separate criminal allegation can change the work required. Review the actual charging documents instead of assuming every allegation is covered by a standard DWI engagement. Serious bodily injury and death require particular attention to the statutory elements and causation.
Step 7: Keeping the Defense Focused at Each Stage
Understand the charge, the evidence still needed, the next setting, and the decisions ahead. The goal is a defense tailored to the case—not a prediction based on awards, reviews, or someone else’s result.
Contact Us After a Montgomery County DWI Arrest
Call (713) 470-4097 to discuss hiring The Napier Law Firm. Bring the charging documents, release or bond conditions, next court setting, and every DPS notice. Ask who will handle the case and whether the quote includes trial, ALR, occupational-license proceedings, and expert expenses. Get those terms clear before deciding on representation.
For a broader explanation of Texas law, see our Texas DWI defense page.
This page provides general information, not legal advice. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. No outcome is guaranteed.