A Queensland council mayor will look to take unpaid leave after she was allegedly caught behind the wheel more than three times over the legal blood alcohol limit.
Redlands Mayor Karen Williams is due in court next month to face the drink driving charges but will seek unpaid leave from council on Monday.
She has apologised for her actions and their toll on the community.
"I will undertake this personal leave to respond to the police charge and to receive counselling, as I committed to do last week," Cr Williams said in a statement to AAP.
"I made a serious personal error of judgement, for which I am deeply sorry.
"While not excusing my actions in anyway, the death threats and serious abuse I have received this past week have also taken a heavy toll on my family and staff."
The 55-year-old admitted crashing her vehicle into a tree east of Brisbane on June 23, hours after hosting an online meeting with the families of people who had been killed by drunk drivers.
Police have been investigating the incident and Cr Williams was issued with a notice to appear for drink-driving after allegedly returning a blood alcohol test of 0.177 per cent
No one was injured when the car allegedly left the road, travelled through a fence and struck a tree.
The Local Government Association of Queensland has warned against the state government intervening to sack Cr Williams.
Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister Steven Miles is seeking advice on what action he can take, but the association says mayors and councillors are elected by the community.
"It should therefore be for the community to decide whether or not they should remain," the association said in a statement.
The body said the firing powers state government had should only be used in "serious" circumstances, like corruption.
"Anything less would be verging on an extreme use ... and would set a dangerous precedent," it said.
"The mayor has taken leave. As charges have now been laid it's important that the court process is allowed to run."
Ms Williams is due to appear in Cleveland Magistrates Court on August 1.
Local mother Judy Lindsay, whose daughter Hayley was killed in a crash involving a drink-driver in 2009, has launched a petition on the Queensland parliament website calling for Ms Williams' dismissal.
More than 4600 people had signed it by Saturday.
A second petition started on Change.org calling for the mayor to resign or be sacked has so far attracted more than 5000 signatures.
