Experienced DWI Defense Serving All of St. Charles County
Life Happens. We Make Sure You're Ready For All Of It.
A DWI arrest in St. Charles County can threaten your license, your record, your job, and your freedom. Attorney Michael Boyd helps Missouri drivers respond quickly to criminal charges, DOR license deadlines, breath test allegations, refusal cases, and court appearances.
If you were arrested for DWI in St. Charles, St. Peters, O’Fallon, Wentzville, Lake St. Louis, or nearby Missouri communities, call now for a free DWI case review.
Defending Missouri DWI cases since 2009.
In St. Charles County courtrooms every week.
Real results across St. Charles County.
Free, no-obligation case review.
PROTECTING YOUR LICENSE AND YOUR FUTURE
An arrest for DWI doesn’t need to derail your life. With over 16 years of DWI experience, we can help guide you through the legal process, fight to protect your rights, and work to secure the best possible outcome for you.
Attorney Michael Boyd has helped hundreds of people in St. Peters, St. Charles, O’Fallon, Wentzville, and surrounding Missouri communities understand what they are actually facing, protect their driving privileges, and make smart decisions before those decisions get made for them. We know exactly what works and what doesn’t when it comes to achieving the outcomes our clients need. Most importantly, we know how to protect what matters most to you—your license, your record, and your future.
After a DWI arrest in St. Charles, review your paperwork immediately, identify your license deadline, avoid discussing the case with anyone but your lawyer, and speak with a DWI attorney before your first court date. Missouri DWI cases often involve both a criminal charge and a separate license case.
Call Us Now to Receive Your FREE Professional DWI Case Review: 636-229-4999
We will take the time to listen to your story and advise you of the steps that you will need to take to protect your rights
A DWI arrest can feel overwhelming, especially when you are trying to figure out what happens to your license, your court date, your job, and your record. Many people assume they only have one case because they received one set of tickets or one court date. In Missouri, that is often not true.
Here’s what you need to understand right now: You’re not dealing with one case, you’re dealing with two completely separate legal problems.
A Missouri DWI arrest usually creates two separate legal problems: the criminal case in court and the license case involving your driving privileges. These cases are connected, but they are not the same. It almost seems confusing by design. They have different procedures, different deadlines, and different consequences.
This is why it is critical that you consult with an attorney who understands this complex area of law. Attorney Michael Boyd has been handling Missouri DWI cases for more than 16 years — which means he has sat across from a lot of people in exactly your situation. The first call is just a conversation about what happened, what you received, and what needs to happen next.
You do not have to decide your entire case today. But you do need to understand what deadlines apply and what mistakes to avoid.
In many breath or blood test cases, the Notice of Suspension/Revocation gives you only 15 days to request a DOR administrative hearing. If you do not request the hearing in time, your driving privilege can be suspended or revoked and you may lose further appeal rights. The temporary driving permit issued at arrest is only valid during that 15-day window.
In refusal cases, the issue is different. A refusal can trigger a one-year chemical revocation, and the driver generally has 30 days from the date the Notice of Revocation is issued to file a petition for review. Missing that deadline can mean losing the ability to challenge the revocation.
A Missouri DOR administrative hearing refers to the hearing that is held when a person submits to a chemical test of their breath or blood and the results are alleged to have been over the per-se legal limit which is .08% for most people over the age of 21. CDL drivers are held to a different standard. Breath tests are the most common chemical tests at issue by a large margin because breathalyzer devices are so commonly used by law enforcement in Missouri.
It is NOT a criminal trial. In fact, many people would argue that it is not a trial at all and for good reason. This hearing is not presided over or decided by a judge but rather an administrative hearing officer who works directly for the Missouri Department of Revenue. There is also no jury nor do you have a right to one like you would in a criminal case. Attorney Michael Boyd has tried hundreds of these cases and many of the common issues at these hearings may include:
The hearing can also produce information — officer testimony, reports, testing paperwork, procedural issues — that may matter in the criminal case.
If the allegation is that you refused a breath, blood, or other chemical test, the license case follows a different path. A refusal can lead to a one-year revocation of your Missouri driving privileges. Refusal cases often require review of:
Many people assume that a refusal case is the same as a case in which a BAC result was obtained. That is incorrect. The deadlines, process, and issues differ significantly. Importantly, in St. Charles County these cases are decided by an Associate Circuit Court Judge unlike Administrative Hearings which are discussed above.
Do not wait until your first court date to ask about your license. The deadline to appeal usually happens first. Call 636-229-4999 as soon as possible after your arrest.
The ability to drive while your appeal is pending is the number one reason why filing a timely appeal is so important. As previously explained, if you don’t file an appeal before the deadline expires, your driver’s license will be revoked or suspended. But what happens when you do file a timely appeal? Are you able to continue to drive? Typically the answer is yes, but there are caveats.
When a DWI case involves an alleged refusal, the license issue is handled differently than a standard breath-test suspension. Typically, a driver must file a petition for review in the Circuit Court in the county in which the request occurred and request a stay order from the court.
IF the court grants a stay, the driver may be allowed to keep driving while the refusal case is pending. The key here is IF the court grants the Stay Order because the issuance of a Stay Order is in the Court’s discretion. Every court handles this matter differently.
Currently, in St. Charles County, your lawyer is required to provide the court with an addendum stating whether an accident was involved, whether the Petitioner has priors and, if so, how many. These factors are all taken into account by the Judge when determining whether to grant the Stay Order.
When a breath test result is involved, the license case usually begins with the Missouri Department of Revenue. This appeal is NOT like a refusal case which has to be filed in Circuit Court.
If this hearing request is made in a timely manner within 15 days of the date that notice of suspension was given to the driver, the Department of Revenue will typically send the Petitioner a stay order allowing them to continue to drive until an administrative hearing can be held.
Practically speaking however, it is not always that straight forward. Frequently, the Department of Revenue will not have received the arrest packet from the arresting officer when they receive the notice of appeal from the Petitioner. In cases such as this, it is important to have an attorney to navigate ambiguities such as this for you.
A lot of people feel that they are presumed guilty following an arrest for Driving While Intoxicated and it’s understandable why they may feel that way. After all, you have already been told that you will lose your license if you don’t file an appeal and that hardly sounds like “innocent until proven guilty” does it? This misconception likely comes from confusion surrounding the differences between the administrative alcohol suspension and the criminal case itself.
Being arrested for DWI does NOT mean the prosecutor can automatically prove the charge. Like any criminal case, the prosecutor must prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense has the right to challenge the stop, the arrest, the testing, the paperwork, and the evidence at every stage.
The best defense strategy depends on the specific facts of your case. No two DWI cases are the exact same, and what matters in one case may not matter in another. That said, many DWI cases focus on the following common issues:
A DWI defense often starts here. Why did the officer pull you over? Was there a traffic violation such as Failure to Maintain a Single Lane (this is a common one with DWIs)? Was there reasonable suspicion for the officer to believe that your were intoxicated? Did the police officer properly expand the stop into a DWI investigation, or did the detention go beyond what the facts justified? A weak or unlawful stop can affect everything that follows.
The officer must have probable cause before making a DWI arrest. That probable cause may be based on driving behavior, odor of alcohol, slurred speech, watery or bloodshot eyes, admissions to having consumed alcohol, poor performance on the standard field sobriety tests (SFSTs), preliminary breath testing, or other observations. But here’s the thing: the police officer’s observations are totally subjective! They are certainly not always accurate or complete. Video (whether its dash cam or body cam) often tells a different story than the written report.
Field sobriety tests are among the most subjective pieces of evidence in any criminal case. The three standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs) — horizontal gaze nystagmus, walk-and-turn, and one-leg stand — are sometimes called divided attention tests, because they ask you to do two things at once while a police officer watches and judges you on the side of a road.
Even when administered perfectly — and they often are not — they do not account for real-world factors. There are many reasons besides intoxication that could lead to a person performing poorly on these tests. Common examples include:
A DWI is one of the only crimes where the arresting officer is also the star witness, and the officer’s subjective observations of what may have only been a three-minute roadside test become the foundation of the case against you. That is worth examining carefully.
Breath and blood test results can be challenged. Breath testing involves observation period requirements, machine maintenance records, calibration checks, operator certification, and documentation. Problems in any of these areas may affect the reliability of the result.
Blood test cases raise different questions: Was there a valid warrant or consent? Was the sample collected properly? Was the chain of custody preserved? Was the sample stored and tested correctly? Does the toxicology result actually prove impairment at the time of driving and not just the presence of a substance? For example, THC can remain in a person’s system for WEEKS after they last used marijuana.
A test result is evidence. It is not the whole case.
If the State (or municipality) alleges that you refused to submit to a breath or blood test evidence of that refusal may be used against you in the prosecution of the criminal charge of driving while intoxicated. Your lawyer should examine whether the implied consent warning was properly given, whether there was a clear and unambiguous refusal, whether you asked for clarification or an attorney, and whether the paperwork accurately reflects what happened. Refusal cases require their own careful review separate from test-result cases.
Other DWI situations in St. Charles County
Depending on the driver and the facts, some DWIs follow their own rules:
A DWI arrest in St. Charles County is serious, but it’s not the end. With the right defense, you can protect your license, avoid jail, and move forward with your life.
Michael Boyd has helped hundreds of St. Charles County drivers through this exact situation. We know you’re stressed. We know you’re worried. We also know exactly how to help.
Call Us Now to Receive Your FREE DWI Case Review: 636-229-4999
When you call, we answer. We understand that for those who have been arrested for DWI, the clock is already ticking. You have questions that need answers now, not in three days when someone from a call center gets around to scheduling you. That is not how we do things.
We believe that knowledge is power. The first thing we do is figure out where you stand on both tracks — the criminal case and the license case. That means identifying your deadlines before anything else, because missing them is the mistake that is hardest to undo. Then we look at the whole picture: the arrest paperwork, the notice you received (or in some cases didn’t receive), the police report, any video, the test or refusal evidence, and what court you are heading to.
When we say no cost, no obligation consultation, we mean it. The last thing we want to see is someone getting misleading or even false information by trying to research the issue online rather than talking to an attorney. We have seen people make decisions based on bad research that made an already difficult situation significantly harder to fix. A phone call costs you nothing.
You have as few as 15 days from the date of your arrest to try and save your driver’s license. The appeal deadlines are real. If you are too late you will lose your driving privileges. We can help.
We understand the fear and anxiety that an arrest for DWI can cause. When you call us you will speak directly to an attorney who can provide the guidance you need, when you need it.
We provide transparent pricing so you know what to expect without any surprises along the way. We understand that people don’t budget for an arrest which is why we also offer payment options.
The legal process following an arrest for DWI can be confusing but the deadlines are real. We provide free consultations so you can understand exactly what you are facing and what your options are.
We Don't Back Down. Neither Should You.
We’re not some downtown St. Louis firm that occasionally handles St. Charles cases. We live here. We work here. We’re in these courts every week. When we say we know St. Charles County, we mean it.
When you hire our law firm, here’s exactly what you’ll get:
When you call us, you talk to an attorney. Not a paralegal. Not a case manager. An actual lawyer who knows Missouri DWI law, local St. Charles area courts, and has handled cases like yours specifically.
Too many firms hand you off to support staff. We don’t. From your first call through case resolution, you have direct access to the attorney handling your defense.
16+ years defending Missouri drivers. Hundreds of DWI cases. We’ve seen every scenario:
Common Questions Our Clients Ask
In many ways, yes. A DWI arrest can create a criminal case in court and a separate license case involving the Missouri Department of Revenue or, in refusal cases, a petition for review. The criminal case may affect fines, probation, jail exposure, and your record. The license case affects whether your driving privileges are suspended or revoked. They run on separate tracks with separate deadlines.
In most DWI cases where it is alleged that person submitted to a chemical test of their breath or blood, you have only 15 days from the date of the notice to request an administrative hearing with the Missouri Department of Revenue. This deadline can arrive before your first court date. Review your paperwork immediately and speak with a lawyer before the window closes.
If you are accused of refusing a chemical test, you generally have 30 days from the date the Notice of Revocation is issued to file a petition for review. However, you should be aware that the temporary driving permit you were given expires after 15 days. Refusal cases are legally distinct from cases where a chemical test was given and can result in a one-year revocation of your Missouri driving privileges if the deadline is missed.
Yes. The DOR administrative hearing concerns your driving privilege only. The same is true on refusal cases. The criminal case is handled separately in municipal or circuit court. A person charged with DWI may need to deal with both tracks at the same time, each with its own deadlines and procedures.
Not automatically — but only if you act quickly. Whether you lose your license ultimately depends on whether you requested a timely hearing, the outcome of that hearing, whether there was a test result or a refusal, your prior history, and whether restricted or limited driving privileges are available. The most important thing is to identify the deadline immediately.
A DWI may become a felony because of prior intoxication-related traffic offenses, injury allegations, serious injury, death, or other aggravating facts. Felony DWI cases require careful review of the charging documents, prior history and whether those priors can be proven, as well as all available evidence surrounding the circumstances of the arrest.
