What to know before popping the cork

A first-time DWI case in Tarrant County starts out costing more than $10,000 and that just includes obvious expenses such as fees, fines and bail bonds.

Add probation costs, previous convictions for other crimes or damage to property to the scenario and the costs can soar to more than $20,000. The indirect cost of a DWI piles on still more — it can mean the the loss of a job, for example.

Before you have “one for the road,” over the holiday weekend, here are some things to think about:

1. A DWI conviction is forever

There is no deferred adjudication probation and no ability to expunge your record once probation is completed. If you are convicted of DWI and you had a commercial drivers license — if you were a trucker, a bus driver or a cab driver — it’s gone, usually for at least a year.

“The record of your conviction will never be sealed or expunged short of a governor’s pardon,” said Anthony Simpson, Fort Worth attorney. “If you ever try to get a professional license, like a nurse or an attorney, it will come up.”

2. Costs can run $10,000 to more than $20,000

Most people cannot afford the fees, court costs, attorney bills and state surcharges. Law enforcement officials and insurance experts estimate that the total cost of a first-time DWI conviction can range between $10,000 and more than $20,000 — and that’s with no prior DWI convictions and no property damage or injury.

Those can increase the cash outlay dramatically. These figures are general and could change depending on variables. For example, a defendant who decides to handle his or her own case instead of hiring a lawyer would spend less.

If you have to pay two years of probation costs, cash outlays can increase to more than $25,000.

3. Automobile insurance premiums could increase as much as 100 percent

The highest increase for first-time DWI offenders who caused no property damage or injury was a 60 percent premium surcharge imposed by the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association, the state’s high-risk insurer of last resort, according to a rate expert at the Office of Public Insurance Counsel.

Non-standard insurers that market to lower income and youthful drivers imposed surcharges in a range of 40 to 50 percent depending on the company, said Deeia Beck, Office of Public Insurance Counsel executive director. Standard market insurers showed more variation because their rating systems tend to be complex, Beck said.

DWI surcharges can vary depending on the driving tier, Beck said. Tiers are based on variables such as time insured with the company, credit score, the presence of other policies such as homeowners or life, and the limits of coverage, Beck said.

“The standard market company plans we reviewed showed a range of increase for DWI of 25 to 50 percent, depending on the company and tier placement,” Beck said.

While their rate expert did not review the plans for every company, Beck said she believes the ones they looked at are fairly typical. There may be companies with higher surcharges.

Beck said premiums can increase more than 100 percent if a driver has a past history of at-fault accidents or other traffic violations plus a DWI.

4. You will go to jail

The law, Texas Penal Code, Chapter 49, requires a trip to jail for those who are arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. You will be allowed to make a phone call from jail, but the amount of time you will have to stay in jail before you are allowed to make the phone call can vary, depending on how busy the jail is and where the phone is located.

5. Bonding out of jail is not hard for most people

Getting out of jail with a bonding agent generally costs 15 to 20 percent of the bond amount for bonds of $1,000 or less. Some companies charge a flat fee for bonds of $1,000 or less.

How long you stay in jail largely depends on your ability to raise bail money. The money is paid to bonding agents so they can guarantee a suspect’s appearance in court. Money paid to a bonding agent is not returned, but if you pay the entire bond amount to the charging jurisdiction, that money is returned.

“Most people get out in a few hours,” said Lex Johnston, a Fort Worth attorney. “Some people are never able to post bond.”

6. But bond conditions can be costly

Bond conditions may require you to obtain an SR-22 form, which will cause your insurance premiums to significantly increase, and you may have to use alcohol detection devices, which will cost a monthly monitoring fee.

An SR-22 is a form notifying the state that you have complied with the minimum insurance requirements necessary to drive. If your insurance is canceled or lapses the company that provided the SR-22 is obligated to notify the state.

Once your standard automobile insurer is notified that you need an SR-22, they will typically drop your coverage and you will have to get what is generally a more expensive policy with another carrier, said Mary Russell, Higginbotham Insurance board member.

The fee for filing an SR-22 typically is $15 to $30.

The typical cost for an alcohol monitor is $10 a day, according to the Tarrant County Community Supervision and Corrections Department. The cost of an Interlock device for the car is about $60 a month, a CSCD official said.

7. Refuse arrest requests, risk license suspension

If you refuse to provide a breath or blood sample during a DWI arrest or if your blood-alcohol content results are above the legal limit of .08, your license can be suspended.

If your license is suspended you will have the right to contest it, but the request for a hearing has to be made within 15 days of the arrest. If you do not request a hearing, the license suspension is automatic within 41 days of the arrest.

8. Most cases settled without a trial

Most DWI cases are settled outside a courtroom without a trial. If you can’t afford an attorney, one is appointed.

More than 95 percent of all charges brought by the state, including DWI charges, never get to trial, said Phillip Hall, a Fort Worth attorney. The impetus is on the state to settle because trial courts only have the time and resources to hear a small fraction of the cases before them, Hall said.

9. Most first-time DWI offenders receive probation offers

The typical outcome for a DWI suspect is probation, attorneys said. The law provides a penalty for a first DWI offense of three to 180 days in jail, a $2,000 fine, the loss of a driver’s license for up to a year and an annual surcharge of $1,000 to $2,000 to retain a drivers license, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Only a small number of those charged with first-offense DWIs receive a sentence as harsh as the law allows, attorneys said.

“People rarely get jail sentences,” Hall said. “The worst jail sentence is usually 45 days. In Tarrant County that means you might go to jail between 15 and 23 days with a labor detail. You usually get a probation offer between a year and two years.”

Some offenders are better off going to jail, Hall said. Once you are sentenced to probation, you could successfully complete two-thirds of your term and then violate probation by testing positive for alcohol use, Hall said. At that point the violator would have to serve the entire jail sentence.

An offer of jail time can be 30 to 60 days and some people can serve their time on weekends, Hall said.

10. Indirect costs can pile up

The ability to get a commercial drivers license, get a professional license and obtain higher education funding can all be affected by a DWI conviction. An array of health licensing agencies consider health professionals with DWIs on their records a risk to the public and the same is true with commercial carriers. Also, many law enforcement agencies will not hire a person with a DWI on their record, attorneys said.

Finally, “You can’t get into Canada if you have a DWI,” said Anthony Simpson, a Fort Worth attorney.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 11:23 AM with the headline "What to know before popping the cork."