How does a DWI Affect My Professional License in Texas?

An arrest or conviction for DWI in Texas can complicate your life in more ways than you might imagine. In addition to the potential criminal penalties, fines, and added insurance costs, a DWI conviction in Texas could put your career at risk, especially if you hold a professional license. The boards and governing bodies that regulate licensed professionals in Texas are responsible for maintaining public trust in those professions.

As part of that effort, they expect licensees to uphold the highest possible standards, and they have their own disciplinary process for licensees convicted of DWI. It does not matter if the DWI happened during or outside work hours. The board could still sanction your license. If you are in this situation, consider consulting a Houston criminal defense lawyer who can defend you against DWI charges.

How do DWI Charges Affect Professional Licenses?

Anyone arrested for DWI while holding a commercial driver’s license (CDL) or commercial driver’s license learner’s permit can have their license suspended or revoked by the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) through Administrative License Revocation (ALR) process. However, the list of professional licensees who can be sanctioned for DWI convictions extends well beyond CDL holders. 

Texas has regulatory agencies or boards governing every licensed profession, and these agencies oversee the conduct of its licensees. They have the power to suspend or otherwise sanction licensees for conduct that is detrimental to the public trust, and criminal convictions can be grounds for discipline. Examples of professional licenses that can be sanctioned for DWI convictions include, but are not limited to:

• Real estate licenses
• Pharmacist licenses
• Medical licenses
• Teaching licenses
• Pilot licenses
• Veterinary licenses
• Law licenses

What You Have to Disclose, and When

Two things get repeated about this that aren’t accurate: that Texas gives you 30 days to notify your board of a DWI, and that the duty is the same from one board to the next. Neither holds up. What is true is that a DWI often reaches your agency without you (DPS operates a criminal history clearinghouse and subscription service that pushes record updates to agencies subscribed to a person’s record under Texas Government Code §411.0845) and that disclosure is mandatory when you apply for a license or renew one. Renewal applications ask about convictions since your last renewal, and an application that omits a DWI is a false application, which is usually punished far more heavily than the DWI itself would have been. Past that, the rules really do differ. Physicians disclose at registration renewal under Texas Occupations Code §156.001(e). Nurses have no self-reporting deadline at all, although a felony conviction or deferred adjudication (or one for a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude) is a ground for discipline under §301.452(b)(3) and 22 Tex. Admin. Code §213.28 treats crimes involving drugs and alcohol as directly related to nursing practice. Educators have no self-report duty either, but a superintendent who learns of the charge must notify SBEC within seven business days under 19 Tex. Admin. Code §249.14. Before you assume a deadline applies to you, find your own board’s statute and rules and read what they actually say, and check your employment contract, which often imposes a shorter deadline than the board does.

Our professional license DWI defense page links to the specific rules for each profession we cover, from psychologists to pharmacists and EMTs.

What Happens After the Licensing Agency Finds Out?

Every Texas licensing agency has its own disciplinary process. The process usually begins with a notice that you are under investigation for violating the terms of your license because of the DWI charge and summons you to a formal investigative hearing. In most cases, the terms of your license require you to attend this hearing and answer the board’s questions truthfully. 

You may also have to submit any evidence (e.g., the arrest report, sentencing recommendation) related to your conviction on or before your hearing date. However, you do have the right to defend yourself and have legal counsel represent you at your hearing. If you do not attend the hearing and defend yourself, the board may sanction your license via default.

Do You Have to Report the Arrest or Just the Conviction?

There is no single answer, because Texas does not have one reporting rule that covers every license. Some boards start the clock at the charge, some at the conviction, some ask only when you apply or renew, and some impose no self-reporting duty on the licensee at all. Whether an arrest by itself has to be reported therefore depends entirely on the enabling statute and the rules for your own board.

Where a duty does exist, missing it opens a second front: the board can discipline you for the failure to report even if it would have gone easy on the underlying case. That is reason enough to pull up your own board rules in the first week rather than assume the answer.

What Are the Potential Disciplinary Sanctions?

Each board has its own criteria when gauging the seriousness of a DWI conviction and how it impacts your ability to perform as a licensed professional. Factors it may consider during the disciplinary process include:

• The severity of your conviction (e.g., BAC, was anyone hurt, open container in the car)
• Whether it is your first conviction or a subsequent conviction
• The degree to which your conviction affects public trust in your profession

The potential sanctions for DWI convictions can include one or more of the following:

• Permanent revocation of your professional license
• Suspension of your professional license for a given period
• Placing your license on probationary status for a given period
• Issuing a public reprimand

Some professional licensing boards also have diversion and treatment programs for substance abuse that they will require you to attend in lieu of discipline. Whether you qualify for them depends on the rules governing your profession and the circumstances surrounding your arrest.

Disciplinary Sanctions Are a Matter of Public Record

You have the right to appeal disciplinary sanctions, but board disciplinary orders are generally public record, just like your DWI conviction. That means any potential client can search the database for your licensed profession and find out that your license was sanctioned for a DWI conviction.

Depending on the field you work in, that may not be as big a deterrent to clients. For example, if you are an attorney, a DWI conviction reflects poorly on your personal judgment but not necessarily your legal ethics. However, if you are a bus driver, a disciplinary sanction will harm your future employment prospects. 

Either way, if they ask you directly about any sanctions or disciplinary action against your license, you have to answer truthfully. 

The Best Way to Avoid DWI Sanctions Is to Avoid Conviction

A DWI conviction in Texas can have a negative effect on your career if you hold a professional license. The best way to avoid having your professional license sanctioned for a DWI conviction is to not have a DWI conviction on your record. If you hold a professional license and you have been arrested for DWI, it is important to have a DWI attorney represent you. 

Blass Law has been fighting for the rights of criminal defendants since 2009. Our lead attorney, Jay Blass Cohen, pairs a passion for criminal defense with a scientific background in forensics, and that background helps him find the weak points in DWI cases.

Contact our office today for a confidential consultation about how we can defend you in a DWI case and help you maintain your professional license in good standing.