Public Intoxication is a class C misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 dollar fine. A Driving While Intoxicated (DWI)  first offense, with blood alcohol concentration of below a .16 is a class B misdemeanor punishable by between 72 hours in jail and 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2000 dollars.

The standard for intoxication is different depending on which charge you have been arrested. A person arrested for public intoxication is intoxicated if they are “intoxicated to the degree” that he or she is a danger to him or herself or another. A person arrested for Driving While Intoxicated is intoxicated per the Texas DWI Statute if they meet either the objective test for intoxication or the subjective test for intoxication. What I mean by this is that the definition for intoxication per the Texas DWI statute is two-fold: a person is found to be intoxicated either if he or she has over a .08 blood alcohol concentration or he or she has lost the “normal use” of his or her mental or physical faculties by the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body.

In Austin, Texas a person that is arrested for public intoxication deals with his or her case at either the Austin Municipal Court, Downtown Austin Community Court, or one of the Justice of the Peace Courts. If a person is arrested for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) first offense with a blood alcohol concentration of below a .16 his or her case will take place in one of the Travis County Courts.

 

Austin Texas DWI Lawyer

Clifford Swayze

512 E. 11th St. Ste. 202

Austin, Texas 78701

Phone: 512-335-5245