The 180-day deadline for the Texas DWI Education class
By Texas Court Counseling · Published
If a Texas judge put you on probation for a DWI, you have to finish the 12-hour DWI Education class before the 181st day of your probation. In practice, that means within about six months of the day your probation started.
When the clock starts
The deadline counts from the date the judge granted community supervision (probation), not from your arrest or the date you got your paperwork. Your probation order or your probation officer can tell you the exact start date. Count forward 180 days and plan to finish well before then.
Getting more time, or a waiver
The judge can extend the deadline, up to one year from the start of your probation, or waive the class entirely. You (usually through your attorney) have to file a written motion showing good cause. The judge can consider things like your work or school schedule, your health, how far you'd have to travel, whether you live out of state or lack transportation, and whether you have internet reliable enough to take the class online.
Because the class is offered live online, the travel and transportation reasons carry less weight than they used to. Don't count on an extension; ask for one early if you truly need it.
What happens if you miss it
If the Department of Public Safety (DPS) doesn't get notice that you finished the class in time, it revokes your driver's license, or bars you from getting one. To get it back after that revocation, you have to finish the class and pay DPS a $100 reinstatement fee. Missing a condition of probation can also cause trouble with your probation itself.
How DPS and probation find out you finished
You don't send it yourself. Within 10 working days of your finishing, or sooner if your deadline is closer, your instructor must send a copy of your certificate to DPS and notify your probation department. You also get your own paper certificate by mail. More in how your certificate arrives.
Leave yourself room
- The class itself usually takes three or four evenings, so it fits easily in one week.
- Popular dates fill up, and classes need at least three students to run.
- Build in at least two weeks before your deadline for the certificate to reach DPS and probation.
Our DWI Education class is taught live on Zoom, and we send DPS and your probation department their copies for you.
Sources
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.403, DWI education program
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.406, effect on your driving record and license
- 16 Tex. Admin. Code §90.45, DWI Education Program course requirements
- Texas DPS, Alcohol-Related 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.