How you get your certificate after a Texas DOEP or DWI class
By Texas Court Counseling · Published
When you finish a Texas DOEP or DWI class, you get a paper certificate of completion. It comes by mail within 5 days, because Texas doesn't allow these certificates to be emailed. Here's what to expect and what to do with it.
Why it's paper, and why it's mailed
Completion certificates are official forms issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Each one has its own serial number, and providers have to account for every form they receive, used or not. Providers can mail the certificate or hand it to you in person, but state rules don't allow sending it electronically, not even as a PDF.
How fast it arrives
Your provider must get your certificate to you within 5 days of your finishing the course. For the DWI Intervention Program, the course isn't finished until your exit interview with the instructor, so the 5 days start after that. Allow a few more days for the mail to arrive.
Who sends a copy to DPS and probation
It depends on the class.
DWI classes
For both the 12-hour DWI Education class and the 32-hour DWI Intervention Program, your instructor must notify your probation department and send a copy of your certificate to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). That has to happen within 10 working days of your finishing, or before your deadline if it's sooner. Your probation department then forwards the notice to the court clerk.
DOEP
If you took the DOEP to end a driver's license suspension, DPS asks you to submit your certificate of completion along with the reinstatement fee and proof of insurance. DPS explains how on its "Reinstating your Driver License or Driving Privilege" page. If the DOEP was part of your probation, ask your probation officer how they want to receive proof.
Either way, keep the original somewhere safe and make a copy or take a photo of it for your records.
If you lose it
Ask the provider who taught your class for a duplicate. Every provider must have a process for this. A duplicate is printed on a new form, marked as a duplicate, and lists the number of your original certificate.
Certificates from our classes
We mail every certificate within 5 days of your finishing, and for the DWI Intervention Program we send the copies to DPS and your probation department for you. Read about how our online classes work, or learn what the DOEP is and who needs it.
Sources
- 16 Tex. Admin. Code §90.49, certificate of program completion
- 16 Tex. Admin. Code §90.45, DWI Education Program course requirements
- 16 Tex. Admin. Code §90.46, DWI Intervention Program course requirements
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.406, effect on your driving record and license
- Texas DPS, Drug or Controlled Substance Offenses
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your court order and your probation officer decide which class you need and by when. We are not a court and are not affiliated with any court.