While there’s nothing acceptable about driving under the influence with a child in the car, we understand that DWI cases are rarely as simple as they seem. Standards for determining DWI are flawed — with or without children involved — and it isn’t so hard for perfectly good parents to find themselves in trouble for something they didn’t actually do.
Still, whether the charges are specious or not, we understand why courts are tough on cases for DWI child passenger in Texas. It’s their job to enforce the law and protect the lives of everyone on the roads, and it’s our job to make sure they meet the high standard of proof for a felony conviction.
All DWI charges are serious, but charges for DWI with a child passenger can carry severe consequences for your family on top of the steep criminal punishments you’re facing. If you have been charged with a DWI, especially if there was a minor in the car, you need a Houston DWI specialist to begin building your case and defending your freedom now.
Call Thiessen Law Firm today at (713) 864-9000. Let us begin building your defense and protecting your future.
What happens if you get a DWI with a child in the car?
If you are arrested for DWI in Texas with a child passenger in your vehicle, you will face felony charges. Unlike a standard first- or second-offense DWI, which may be charged as a misdemeanor, having a child passenger automatically elevates the charge to a felony.
This means harsher penalties, including potential prison time, long-term loss of rights, difficulty finding employment, housing restrictions, and a permanent criminal record — not to mention the permanent damage a conviction can do to a family.
What is considered a “child passenger” for DWI?
What are the child passenger laws in Texas? Every state has different laws when it comes to who is considered a minor during a DWI. Louisiana, for instance, only considers passengers minors if they are 12 years of age or younger. In Texas, things are a bit more strict.
Under Texas law, a child passenger in the context of a DWI offense is anyone under the age of 15 years old. If you are caught driving while intoxicated with a passenger younger than 15, thanks to Texas Penal Code § 49.045, you will face particularly steep penalties. It does not matter whether the child is your kid, a relative, a friend, or a stranger — the law applies uniformly.
What is the penalty for DWI with a child passenger in Texas?
Because DWI with child passenger is always a felony, even as a DWI first offense in Texas, the penalties are much more severe than a regular DWI. If convicted of DWI child passenger, you can expect to face the following penalties at minimum:
- Jail time of 180 days to 2 years in a state jail
- Fines up to $10,000
- A driver’s license suspension of up to 180 days
- Up to 1,000 hours of community service
- Mandatory ignition interlock device
- Mandatory DWI classes
These penalties worsen with repeat offenses; convictions for second DWI in Texas will always have steeper consequences than those for first-timers, but some of the most severe penalties for DWI with a child passenger are related to child endangerment.
Is a DWI considered child endangerment in Texas?
The penalties for a DWI with a minor in the car are already steep, but if Child Protective Services (CPS) decides that you were endangering your child, they can remove your child from your custody — and yes, under Texas law, it is possible that DWI with a child passenger may be considered child endangerment in Texas.
Texas Penal Code § 22.041 considers child endangerment any situation in which a child under 15 years of age faces injury, physical impairment, or death. Furthermore, the Texas Family code requires professionals to report suspected child neglect. It’s likely that as a prosecutor prepares a criminal case against you, and the state of Texas prepares a case to suspend your license, CPS may receive a report of abuse or neglect from the prosecutor.
Having a case opened isn’t a guarantee, but in the event that a CPS case is opened against you, that case would be distinct from the DWI charge, and you would have to hire another lawyer who specializes in family law.
How much is a child endangerment ticket in Texas?
The cost of your court fees will be the least of your problems if you’re charged with endangerment, because child endangerment charges are always felony charges in Texas.
Here are the penalties you can expect:
|
Offense |
Charge |
Jail time |
Maximum fine |
|
Child endangerment or abandonment |
State jail felony |
180 days – 2 years |
$10,000 |
|
Child endangerment with bodily injury |
Third-degree felony |
2 – 10 years |
$10,000 |
|
Child endangerment with serious bodily injury or death |
Second-degree felony |
2 – 20 years |
$10,000 |
Can a DWI with a child passenger affect custody or visitation?
Yes. A DWI with a child passenger can significantly impact child custody and visitation rights. Family courts take child safety seriously, and a conviction can be used as evidence that a parent is unfit. These consequences may include:
- Restricted visitation rights or required supervised visitation
- Loss of primary custody if the other parent petitions for a custody modification
- CPS investigations that could result in additional legal challenges
- Potential termination of parental rights in extreme cases
DWI with a passenger under 15 and other aggravated DWI
DWI child passenger is just one form of aggravated DWI in Texas. Aggravated DWI is any DWI in which factors are present that can increase the severity of your penalties. Some of the most common types of aggravated DWI in Texas include:
- DWI with BAC over .15
- Intoxication assault, or DWI causing serious injury
- Intoxication manslaughter, or DWI causing death of another party
Continue reading: Is a DWI a felony in Texas?
How much is bail for a DWI child passenger charge?
How much is bail for DWI? It depends on the severity of the DWI offense and your specific criminal background. Generally, the more severe the offense or the more priors you have, the more bail is going to cost you.
Even if you have no priors and no other aggravating factors, bail for a DWI child passenger charge is likely going to cost at least $10,000, as that is usually the starting point for felony DWI charges.
How to beat a DWI in Texas
Fear not, because a charge is not a conviction — if you’re reading this, it means you can most likely still fight it. Arresting officers follow a strict protocol to establish evidence in a way that will hold up under scrutiny — if they make a mistake (and you have a good lawyer) you may have a chance at dismissal.
- Challenging the legality of the traffic stop. If the police lacked probable cause or reasonable suspicion for the stop, the entirety of the arrest may be illegal.
- Questioning the reliability of field sobriety tests. Sobriety tests are not only highly subjective and extremely unreliable, they’re designed with your failure in mind. A good lawyer should never let you go down because of bogus science.
- Contesting the veracity of blood alcohol tests. BAC testing is often incorrectly administered by poorly trained officers — if they can’t establish that the conditions of the test were conducive to accuracy, or a perfect chain of custody on their evidence, you may be able to get that evidence tossed.
- Arguing that your rights were otherwise violated. There are a million ways for the police to break protocol, and they’ve got to mind their p’s and q’s just as much as you during a DWI arrest.
Most grounds for dismissal are complicated and only exercisable with an attorney who is as smart as they are aggressive. It also helps if they know the science. Mark Thiessen, founding attorney of Thiessen Law Firm, is an American Chemical Society-Chemistry and the Law (ACS-CHAL) Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, which uniquely qualifies him to examine the dubious science involved in DWI convictions and produce results.
If you want to beat your DWI, the number one thing that you can do is hire an attorney who knows how to get a DWI dismissed in Texas, and has done so many times. Thiessen Law Firm has secured thousands of dismissals for our clients in high-stakes situations, and we may be able to do the same for you.
Arrested for DWI child passenger in Texas? Call Thiessen Law Firm to protect your family.
Charges for DWI child passenger in Texas are no joke. We understand that these can be difficult to stomach for parents who only want the best for their children, and we also understand that good people incur unjust charges all the time.
If you want to walk away with your family and your reputation intact, you need an aggressive and experienced attorney who isn’t afraid to go to trial. You need Mark Thiessen.
Mark and the trial attorneys at Thiessen Law Firm know how to get to the heart of the prosecution’s case and challenge key evidence built on circumstantial observations and junk science. If you or a loved one has been arrested for DWI with a minor in the car, call Thiessen Law Firm today at (713) 864-9000 or contact us online to protect your future and your family.
More Helpful Articles by Thiessen Law Firm:
- DWI with CDL: Can I get a CDL with a DWI?
- How to Avoid Administrative License Revocation
- What Happens at an ALR Hearing in Texas?
- What Is the Statute of Limitations in Texas for DWI?
- How to Win a DWI Trial
