Collin County DWI Lawyer
tl;dr: Varghese Summersett defends DWI cases throughout Collin County from our nearby Dallas and Southlake offices, and the consultation is free. We have secured dismissals and reductions in Collin County. If you’ve been arrested for a DWI, we’re here to help.
Where Your Collin County DWI Case Will Be Heard
No matter which city you were stopped in, a Collin County DWI runs through the same county system. After an arrest in Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, or anywhere else in the county, you are booked into the Collin County Detention Facility in McKinney, brought before a magistrate, and given conditions of release. Most first-time DWI defendants bond out within a day, often with an ignition interlock device required as a condition of bond.
Your case is then filed at the Collin County courthouse, the Russell A. Steindam Courts Building at 2100 Bloomdale Road in McKinney. A first or second DWI is a misdemeanor heard in one of the Collin County Courts at Law. A felony DWI (a third offense, an intoxication assault, or an intoxication manslaughter) is heard in a District Court. Knowing which court holds your case, and how that specific court and prosecutor handle DWIs, shapes the strategy from day one.
How Collin County Prosecutes DWI
The Collin County Criminal District Attorney’s Office prosecutes DWI cases hard. The office routinely uses blood search warrants: if you decline a breath or blood test at the roadside, a prosecutor or officer can get a warrant signed and draw your blood anyway. Collin County is also more conservative than some neighboring counties about reducing a DWI to a lesser charge such as obstruction of a highway, which means earning a better outcome usually depends on attacking the evidence rather than counting on a routine reduction.
That posture is exactly why early defense work pays off here. The sooner we can preserve the stop video, the breath or blood records, and the maintenance and calibration history on the testing equipment, the more leverage we have before the prosecutor’s position hardens.
The Collin County DWI Court and Other Alternatives
Collin County runs a DWI and Drug Court program through County Court at Law No. 7. It is a voluntary, court-supervised treatment track for eligible defendants that runs at least 12 months and includes regular court check-ins, counseling, and alcohol and drug testing. For the right client, completing it can mean early termination of probation and a path to keeping the conviction from defining your future. It is not the right fit for everyone, and it is not the only option. We walk you through whether the DWI Court, a negotiated resolution, standard DWI probation, or taking the case to trial gives you the best result.
Your Driver’s License After a Collin County DWI
A DWI arrest starts a separate license case on a fast clock. You have only 15 days from your arrest to request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing, or your license is automatically suspended. We request that hearing for you, fight the suspension, and, if needed, help you obtain an occupational license so you can keep driving to work and family obligations while the case is pending. Miss the 15-day window and you give up the chance to challenge the suspension, so this is one of the first things we handle.
What You Are Facing, and Where to Read the Details
DWI penalties in Texas rise with your record and the facts of the stop. A first DWI is a Class B misdemeanor, a second is a Class A, and the charge becomes a felony on a third offense or when serious injury or a child is involved. Rather than repeat the full statewide breakdown here, we cover the definitions, the BAC thresholds, and the complete penalty ranges on our main guide to Texas DWI laws, with dedicated pages on felony DWI and DWI with a child passenger. If your case is resolved favorably, you may later be able to seal it through an order of nondisclosure. This page stays focused on how those cases actually move through Collin County.
How We Defend Collin County DWI Cases
Every DWI case has weaknesses, and our job is to find them. We examine the case from the reason for the initial stop through booking, looking for constitutional violations, procedural errors, and unreliable evidence. That means challenging whether the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop you and probable cause to arrest you, scrutinizing how field sobriety tests were administered, and questioning the science behind the breath or blood result, including the calibration, maintenance, and chain of custody that Collin County’s blood-warrant approach makes central to so many cases.
Watch this video where Board Certified Criminal Defense Attorney Benson Varghese explains how we fight DWI cases:
Facing a DWI charge in Collin County? Call 817-203-2220 for a free consultation with a Collin County DWI lawyer who will fight for you.
Why Hire Varghese Summersett for Your Collin County DWI Case?
We do not have an office inside Collin County, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we have is a team that regularly appears in the McKinney courts and serves Collin County clients from two nearby locations: our Dallas office just south in Dallas County and our Southlake office a short drive west. Our attorneys are licensed across Texas, and four of them are board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, the highest credential a Texas criminal defense attorney can hold. Every senior attorney here is a former prosecutor, so we know how the other side builds a DWI case, and we use that to take it apart.
If you have been arrested for DWI in Collin County, time matters. Evidence disappears, the ALR clock runs, and the prosecutor’s position settles in. Call 817-203-2220 today for a free consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About DWI in Collin County
Which court will handle my Collin County DWI?
A first or second DWI is a misdemeanor heard in one of the Collin County Courts at Law in McKinney. A felony DWI, such as a third offense or an intoxication assault, is heard in a Collin County District Court. Both sit at the Collin County courthouse on Bloomdale Road in McKinney.
Does Collin County have a DWI court program?
Yes. Collin County runs a DWI and Drug Court through County Court at Law No. 7. It is a voluntary, court-supervised treatment program of at least 12 months for eligible defendants, and successful completion can lead to early termination of probation. We can tell you whether you are a good candidate.
Will Collin County reduce my DWI to a lesser charge?
Collin County is more restrictive than some neighboring counties about reducing DWIs to charges like obstruction of a highway. That is why we focus on the evidence early. Pushing hard on the stop, the testing, and the procedure is usually what creates room for a better outcome here.
What happens to my license after a DWI arrest in Collin County?
You have 15 days from your arrest to request an ALR hearing or your license is suspended automatically. We request the hearing, contest the suspension, and can help you get an occupational license so you can keep driving while the case is pending.
Do I have to hire a lawyer with an office in Collin County?
No. Your case is heard in McKinney regardless of where your lawyer’s office sits. Varghese Summersett appears regularly in the Collin County courts and serves clients there from our nearby Dallas and Southlake offices.