A first DWI arrest drops you into two systems at once, the criminal court and the DMV, and they move on separate tracks. Knowing the sequence takes away a lot of the fear and helps you make good decisions early, when the best opportunities in a case tend to appear.
The arrest and the arraignment
After the arrest and chemical testing, your first court date is the arraignment, usually within a day or so. This is where the charges are formally read and, if your reading was .08 or higher, where the court typically suspends your license pending prosecution. You can ask the court for a hardship privilege at this stage to keep driving to work, school, or medical care while the case is pending.
The DMV track
If you refused the chemical test, a separate DMV refusal hearing is scheduled, generally within about 15 days, and that carries its own penalties independent of the criminal case. Later, a conviction runs through the Impaired Driver Program and the conditional license to get you driving again.
The court process
From arraignment, the case moves through pretrial conferences where your lawyer obtains and reviews the evidence, the paperwork, the test records, any video, and negotiates with the prosecutor. Where the stop or the testing was mishandled, that is where it surfaces. Because a DWI cannot be reduced below DWAI, a common goal on a clean first offense is a reduction to DWAI.
What to do first
Write down everything you remember while it is fresh. Do not discuss the case with anyone but your lawyer. Watch the calendar, the arraignment suspension and any refusal hearing have short timelines. And call an experienced DWI attorney early. Wondering about the two questions everyone asks first? See will I go to jail and what a DWI really costs.