What Are the Alcohol Laws in Texas? DWI, Open Containers, and Sales

The alcohol laws in Texas cover four main areas the average person runs into: when and where you can buy it, how it can be transported, who can drink it, and what happens if you drive after drinking. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) enforces the licensing and sales rules, while the Penal Code handles the criminal side.¹ The details shift depending on what you’re buying, what day it is, and how old you are, so the specifics matter.

When and Where Alcohol Can Be Sold

Sale hours depend on both the type of alcohol and the type of business. Grocery stores, convenience stores, and other off-premise retailers can sell beer and wine from 7:00 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, from 7:00 a.m. Saturday until 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, and from 10:00 a.m. to midnight on Sunday.²

Distilled spirits are a different animal. Liquor can only be sold at licensed package stores, never at grocery or convenience stores.³ Package stores operate from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and must stay closed on Sundays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. If Christmas or New Year’s falls on a Sunday, the store also stays shut the following Monday.⁴

Bars and restaurants generally sell from 7:00 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday. On Sunday they can serve from midnight to 1:00 a.m., then again starting at 10:00 a.m. (or noon, depending on whether food is ordered with the drink) through midnight.² Establishments with a Late Hours Certificate can serve until 2:00 a.m., which is why last call at most Texas bars lands around 1:45 a.m. Patrons have 15 minutes after sales end to finish their drinks.

Location matters too. Voters in each county, city, or precinct can decide whether to allow alcohol sales through local option elections.⁵ That produces a patchwork of “wet” areas where sales are allowed, “dry” areas where they’re banned, and “moist” areas that allow some but not all types. As of 2025, three Texas counties are completely dry and 60 are completely wet, with the rest falling somewhere between.⁶

Delivery is legal but limited. Third-party delivery services need a Consumer Delivery Permit, and most retail permits cap deliveries at two miles beyond the retailer’s city or county limits. Package stores can deliver their own orders or use a permitted third party. Bars and restaurants with a mixed beverage permit and food and beverage certificate can sell alcohol to go, but only when it accompanies a food order.⁷

Open Containers in a Vehicle

Texas Penal Code Section 49.031 makes it illegal to knowingly possess an open container of alcohol in the passenger area of a vehicle on a public road, whether the vehicle is moving, stopped, or parked. An open container is any bottle, can, or receptacle that has been opened, has a broken seal, or has had some of its contents removed.⁸

The passenger area covers the seating area and anywhere the driver or passengers can easily reach. It does not include a locked glove compartment, the trunk, or the area behind the last upright seat in vehicles without a trunk. Passengers in buses, taxis, limousines, and the living quarters of a motorhome are exempt.⁸

An open container violation on its own is a Class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500. The bigger consequence hits if you’re charged with DWI at the same time: an open container in your immediate possession raises the minimum jail time from 72 hours to six days.⁹

Public Intoxication

Texas has no statewide ban on drinking in public. You can legally walk through parts of many cities with a beer in hand. What Texas prohibits is being intoxicated in a public place to the point of endangering yourself or others. That’s a Class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500. TABC-licensed establishments count as public places under this law. Many cities and counties also add their own ordinances restricting open drinking in parks or downtown districts, so local rules can be stricter than the state’s.

Driving While Intoxicated

A person commits DWI by operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated. Texas defines intoxication two ways: a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher, or the loss of normal use of your mental or physical abilities from alcohol or drugs. You do not have to blow over 0.08 to be arrested. Observed impaired driving, slurred speech, or failed field sobriety tests can support a DWI charge regardless of BAC.⁹

Penalties by Offense

The consequences climb sharply with each conviction:¹⁰

First offense (Class B misdemeanor): up to a $2,000 fine, up to 180 days in jail with a 72-hour minimum, and license loss for up to one year.⁹
Second offense (Class A misdemeanor): up to a $4,000 fine, one month to one year in jail with a 30-day minimum, and license suspension up to two years.¹¹
Third offense (third-degree felony): a $10,000 fine, two to ten years in prison, and license suspension up to two years.¹¹

Those criminal fines don’t include the state traffic fine assessed on top of the conviction: $3,000 for a first DWI, $4,500 for a second, and $6,000 if the BAC was 0.15% or higher.¹⁰ These surcharges frequently catch people off guard after a conviction.

Enhancements

A BAC of 0.15% or higher bumps even a first offense from a Class B to a Class A misdemeanor, raising the exposure to a $4,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Operating a vehicle while intoxicated in a school crossing zone during active hours is a state jail felony, regardless of whether it’s a first offense.⁹

Charges get more severe when someone gets hurt. Intoxication assault, which involves causing serious bodily injury to another person while driving drunk, is a third-degree felony punishable by two to ten years. Intoxication manslaughter, where a drunk driver causes a death, is a second-degree felony carrying five to twenty years.

Implied Consent and Test Refusal

By driving on Texas roads, you’ve given implied consent to chemical testing after a lawful DWI arrest. You can still refuse, but refusal triggers an automatic administrative license suspension of 180 days for a first refusal and two years for a second refusal within ten years. You have 15 days from the arrest to request an Administrative License Revocation hearing. Miss that window and the suspension takes effect automatically.

Getting Your License Back

A DWI conviction can suspend an adult license for up to two years. Reinstatement requires a $100 fee and completion of an approved alcohol education program within 180 days of the conviction. Failing to finish the program on time adds another 180-day suspension and a second $100 fee.¹² Courts can also order an ignition interlock device as a condition for driving during the suspension.

Underage Drinking and Driving

The legal drinking age is 21, and Texas treats buying, attempting to buy, possessing, and consuming alcohol as separate offenses for minors. All carry the same base penalty: a Class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500, a mandatory alcohol awareness class, 8 to 40 hours of community service, and a 30- to 180-day driver’s license suspension or denial.¹³

There is one narrow exception. A minor may possess or consume alcohol when a parent, legal guardian, spouse (21 or older), or court-appointed custodian is visibly present. The adult has to be physically there, not just aware of it from another location.¹⁴ The exception does not cover other people’s kids.

Buying alcohol for or giving alcohol to a minor who isn’t your own child, ward, or spouse is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $4,000 fine and up to a year in jail. It becomes a state jail felony if the minor then causes serious bodily injury or death after drinking what you supplied, which carries 180 days to two years in a state jail facility and a fine up to $10,000.¹⁴

For driving, Texas uses zero tolerance. A minor commits an offense by operating a motor vehicle or watercraft with any detectable amount of alcohol in their system. The 0.08% adult limit is irrelevant.¹⁵ A first-offense DUI for a minor is a Class C misdemeanor: a fine up to $500, 20 to 40 hours of community service, a 60-day license suspension, and mandatory alcohol awareness classes.¹⁶ A minor with two or more prior DUI convictions faces up to a $2,000 fine, up to 180 days in jail, and 40 to 60 hours of community service. A minor who blows 0.08% or higher can be charged with the adult DWI offense under Section 49.04 as well, either instead of or in addition to the underage DUI.

Boating While Intoxicated

Operating a watercraft while intoxicated is a separate offense under Penal Code Section 49.06, using the same two definitions of intoxication. A first-offense BWI is a Class B misdemeanor with a 72-hour minimum jail term, matching the base DWI. Repeat offenses trigger the same Section 49.09 enhancements as DWI, including felony charges for a third offense.¹¹ Prior DWI convictions count toward BWI enhancements and the reverse is also true, so someone with one DWI who then gets a BWI faces the second-offense penalties.

When Alcohol Providers Can Be Sued

Texas holds alcohol providers accountable in limited circumstances. Under Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 2.02, a bar, restaurant, or other provider can be sued for damages if it served someone who was obviously intoxicated to the point of being a clear danger to themselves and others, and that intoxication caused the injuries. The standard is deliberately high: the intoxication must have been apparent to the provider at the time of service.¹⁷

A separate provision covers adults who furnish alcohol to minors under 18. An adult who is not the minor’s parent, guardian, spouse, or court-appointed custodian faces civil liability for damages caused by the minor’s intoxication if the adult knowingly provided the alcohol or allowed it to be served on their property.¹⁷ That reaches house party hosts who let teenagers drink on their premises, even if someone else handed the minor the cup.

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Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. About Us
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Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. FAQs – Section: Hours of Sale and Consumption
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Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. TABC License and Permit Types – Section: Package Store Permit
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Texas Public Law. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 105.01 – Hours of Sale: Liquor
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Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Local Option Liquor Elections
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Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. TABC Publishes Interactive Wet/Dry Map
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Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Alcohol Delivery and Pickup
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.031 – Possession of Alcoholic Beverage in Motor Vehicle
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.04 – Driving While Intoxicated
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Texas Department of Transportation. Impaired Driving and Penalties
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State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.09 – Enhanced Offenses and Penalties
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Texas Department of Public Safety. Alcohol-Related Offenses
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Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Underage Drinking
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State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.06 – Purchase of Alcohol for a Minor; Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor
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Texas Department of Public Safety. DL-20 Alcohol and Minors
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Texas Department of Transportation. Underage Drinking and Driving
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State of Texas. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 2.02 – Causes of Action