DUI Attorney in Guadalupe County

Working to Keep You On the Road

A DWI arrest in Guadalupe County can turn one bad stop into a pile of problems fast. A traffic stop on I-10, SH 46, FM 725, Court Street, King Street, or a road near Seguin, Cibolo, Schertz, or New Braunfels can leave you with bond papers, a court date, license warnings, and no clear plan.

People call it DUI. Texas adult cases usually call it DWI, driving while intoxicated. The name matters less than the risk, because police officers have already started their reports, the prosecutor may soon review the file, and DPS may already have a license deadline running.

Seymour & Vaughn represent people facing DWI charges in Guadalupe County, Texas, and nearby Central Texas courts. We do not treat the police report like the final word. We review the stop, the arrest, the testing, the video, the license issue, and the court file.

Call [compnay-phone] for a free consultation. We can talk through what happened, what deadline matters first, and what needs to be challenged before the case moves further.

What Happens After a Guadalupe County DWI Arrest?

An arrest creates two separate cases. The criminal case proceeds in county or district court, while a separate administrative case against your driver’s license runs on its own schedule through DPS, often with a 15-day deadline that expires before your first court setting.

A Guadalupe County DWI often starts with a traffic stop, a crash call, a welfare check, or a report from another driver. The arresting agency may be a city police department, DPS, or the sheriff’s office.

The Criminal Case

A first DWI is usually a Class B misdemeanor, though aggravating facts can raise the charge or the punishment range. The State must prove the criminal offense in court, and nothing about the arrest shortens that burden.

The Driver’s License Case

The second problem is the administrative license revocation fight, and it can move before the county court decides anything. Texas license rules can involve different Transportation Code provisions depending on whether the case involves an alleged refusal or an alleged failed alcohol test.

In many DWI-related license cases, the hearing request deadline is 15 days from the date of notice. That deadline is short, and missing it means losing an early chance to challenge the suspension. We want to review the paperwork before those options shrink.

Which Courts Handle DWI Cases in Guadalupe County?

Misdemeanor DWI cases move through Guadalupe County’s county courts at law at 211 W. Court Street in Seguin. Felony intoxication cases go to the 25th, 2nd 25th, or 456th Judicial District Courts. Appeals go to the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio.

County and District Courts

Guadalupe County lists County Court at Law and County Court at Law #2 at 211 W. Court Street in Seguin, and those courts handle most misdemeanor DWI files.

Felony criminal cases move differently. A felony DWI, intoxication assault, or intoxication manslaughter case may be filed in one of the three district courts, where the docket, the prosecutor, and the pace all change.

Justice Courts and Appeals

Guadalupe County lists four justice of the peace courts. Justice courts may handle fine-only misdemeanors, magistrate functions, warrants, and other early issues depending on the facts.

Appeals from this region may be filed with the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio, which has intermediate appellate jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases from 32 Texas counties, including Guadalupe County. That is why motions, objections, plea papers, and trial decisions should be handled with the appellate record in mind from the beginning.

What Does Texas Law Require the State to Prove?

The State must prove you operated a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated. Texas Penal Code section 49.04 defines intoxication as either lacking the normal use of mental or physical faculties due to a substance, or having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

Texas law defines intoxicated as either lacking the normal use of mental or physical faculties because of alcohol, drugs, a controlled substance, another substance, or a combination of substances, or having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

That still leaves room to fight. The questions we ask early include:

• Did the officer have a lawful reason to stop the vehicle?
• Did probable cause support the arrest?
• Did the field sobriety instructions make sense?
• Does body camera footage match the report?
• Did fatigue, injury, anxiety, medical issues, bad lighting, traffic, weather, or a sloped roadside affect what the officer saw?

A report can sound neat because it gets written later. Real stops are messier, and a Guadalupe County DUI lawyer should slow the case down and test each part of the State’s story.

Why Does DUI Versus DWI Matter in Texas?

In Texas, DWI is the adult charge under the Penal Code, while DUI generally applies to minors under the Alcoholic Beverage Code. Most people search for DUI because that is the familiar term, but the court cares only about the offense actually filed.

Many people search for a Guadalupe County DUI lawyer because that is the phrase they know. The complaint, information, indictment, bond conditions, prior history, test result, and alleged facts control the legal process, not the search term.

We use plain language when we talk with clients, and then we match the problem to Texas criminal law. You should not have to learn courthouse language before asking for help.

What a DWI Reaches Beyond the Courtroom

You need clear answers about your driver’s license, court date, possible penalties, and criminal record. A DWI arrest can also affect work, family, professional licensing, insurance, and future background checks, and for noncitizens, immigration questions may need review.

Some damage starts early and some shows up later. That is why rushed decisions are dangerous.

What Penalties Can a Guadalupe County DWI Carry?

A first DWI is a Class B misdemeanor with a 72-hour minimum confinement term, up to 180 days in jail, and a fine up to $2,000. An open container raises the minimum to six days, and an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more allows Class A punishment of up to one year and $4,000.

First Offense and Enhancements

Texas Penal Code section 12.22 sets the general Class B misdemeanor range. Texas Penal Code section 49.04 raises the minimum confinement term to six days when the person had an open container of alcohol in their immediate possession.

If the alleged alcohol concentration is 0.15 or more, section 49.04 allows the offense to be punished as a Class A misdemeanor, and Texas Penal Code section 12.21 sets that range at up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.

Repeat and Injury Offenses

Prior convictions can bring enhanced penalties. Texas Penal Code section 49.09 covers repeat intoxication offenses, and some repeat DWI cases become felony criminal cases.

Texas also has serious intoxication offenses involving injury or death. Intoxication assault appears in section 49.07 and intoxication manslaughter in section 49.08. Those cases need immediate defense work because crash evidence, medical records, blood testing, and causation may drive the outcome.

Jail time is only one concern. A DWI conviction can leave a criminal record and create problems long after the court case ends.

How Can a DWI Affect Your Driver’s License?

DPS can suspend your license through the administrative license revocation system after certain test failures or refusals, on a schedule independent of the criminal court. Some cases also require an ignition interlock device as a bond condition before any conviction.

Your Texas driver’s license can become a separate fight, and the criminal court and DPS do not always move on the same schedule.

The Hearing Does More Than Protect Driving

The license hearing can give the defense an early look at officer testimony, and that testimony sometimes exposes problems with the stop, probable cause, arrest, or testing process.

Do not assume you can keep driving after bonding out, and do not assume your license is gone because you were arrested. The notice and the deadline matter more than either assumption.

Ignition Interlock as a Bond Condition

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 17.441 requires a magistrate to order an ignition interlock device as a bond condition in certain intoxication cases, including some involving an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more.

That can affect work, school drop-offs, and daily life months before anyone decides whether you are guilty. We review the criminal case and the license issue together because that is how clients experience it.

What Evidence Should Your Defense Attorney Review?

Everything the State has and everything it failed to collect. That means body and dash camera footage, breath and blood records, lab documentation, dispatch logs, witness statements, crash reports, bond papers, license notices, and medical records that explain what the officer read as impairment.

DWI defense should start with proof, not guesses. We look at what the State has, what it lacks, and what does not match.

Where the Gaps Usually Are

A stop near San Antonio after a long shift may look different when video shows rain, glare, traffic, or roadwork. A crash near a Texas state highway may raise timing questions the report never addresses.

A blood case may turn on the chain of custody, lab records, and whether the result actually proves intoxication at the time of driving rather than at the time of the draw.

No one should plead guilty because a report sounds confident. Confidence is not proof.

Why Do Aggravating Factors Change the Case?

Aggravating facts change charging decisions, bond terms, plea negotiations, and trial risk all at once. A high alcohol concentration, prior DWI history, child passenger, crash, injury, refusal, or open container allegation can move a routine misdemeanor into far more serious territory.

A first offense with no crash and weak field tests calls for one approach. An intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter case calls for another entirely.

The defense in a serious case may need crash data, scene photos, medical records, blood draw records, officer training records, and a close review of causation. Causation matters, timing matters, and testing matters.

The State may make a serious allegation, but it still has to prove the charge in court. We do not panic because a file sounds harsh. We build the defense around facts.

Can a DWI Conviction Stay on Your Record?

Yes. A DWI conviction is permanent unless you qualify for expunction or nondisclosure, and eligibility under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55A is not automatic. The final case result, not the arrest, determines what can be cleared later.

Employers, landlords, schools, licensing agencies, insurers, and other decision-makers may treat a criminal record as a serious problem. A conviction can also matter a great deal if another intoxication offense gets filed years later.

Texas record law is technical. Guadalupe County’s district clerk explains that expunction is governed by Chapter 55A, and the outcome you accept today decides whether that door stays open.

That is why we do not treat a plea like routine paperwork. A plea may end court proceedings while leaving a lasting record problem, and we want clients to understand both the immediate punishment and the long-term fallout before making decisions.

Why Call Seymour & Vaughn?

People call our law firm because they need straight answers rather than scare tactics. They need a criminal defense attorney who can explain the court, the charge, the license issue, and the next move in plain language.

We practice law for people in Guadalupe County, Comal County, Hays County, Bexar County, and nearby Central Texas communities. Our office is based in New Braunfels, close to the courts and roads where many local cases begin.

Clients call after leaving jail, after finding bond papers they do not understand, or after realizing their employer may find out. We take that seriously.

We do not promise results. No defense lawyer can guarantee a dismissal, reduction, acquittal, or license outcome. We can prepare carefully, challenge weak evidence, explain your choices, and stand with you through the legal process.

What Should You Do Before Your First Court Date?

Keep every document from the arrest, write down what you remember while it is fresh, follow every bond condition exactly, and say nothing about the case to anyone but your lawyer. Those four steps protect more cases than any argument made at the first setting.

Preserve What You Have

Keep bond paperwork, court notices, license warnings, tow sheets, property receipts, and testing paperwork together in one place.

Write down what happened while you still remember it. Where were you coming from? Where did the stop happen? What did the officer say? Did you take field tests? Did you give breath or blood? Were there witnesses, passengers, medical issues, or injuries?

What to Avoid

• Do not post about the case on social media.
• Do not text half the story to people who may become witnesses.
• Do not ignore bond conditions, even ones that seem minor.
• Do not guess about your license status.
• Do not walk into court alone just to see what happens.

The first setting can matter more than people expect. Have the paperwork with you when you call if you can, and if you do not have it, call anyway. We can start with the date, location, agency, court notice, and license warning.

Waiting for every document often wastes the time you do not have. The first conversation should give you direction, not another reason to worry.

Should You Call a Guadalupe County DWI Lawyer Today?

A DWI arrest in Guadalupe County, Texas, deserves immediate attention. The State has already started building its file, and you should start building yours.

Call Seymour & Vaughn at (830) 282-8751 for a free consultation. We will give you practical legal counsel and a defense strategy built around the facts of your case.