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Your Carrollton Criminal Defense Attorney
In Texas, the severity of the charge decides the courtroom: a Carrollton felony case goes to Dallas County’s District Court, while a Class A or B misdemeanor goes to its County Court at Law. The specific classification a charge falls into, and what that means for sentencing and bail, is covered further down this page. Working through these distinctions early, rather than after a hearing has already happened, is usually the more effective approach.
Getting Released Before Trial: Bail in Carrollton, Texas
A magistrate setting bail in Texas has to do more than consult a bond schedule: the Damon Allen Act’s factors, meaning offense severity, ability to pay, victim and community safety, and criminal history including prior failures to appear, all have to be considered before bail is set or a personal bond is granted. The public safety report system created alongside the Damon Allen Act gives the magistrate access to a defendant’s criminal history and any family-violence record before that decision is made, not afterward. Before any of this happens, Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires a magistration hearing within 48 hours of arrest, the point where the charges are formally read, the right to counsel is explained, and a magistrate first sets bail conditions. Because Dallas County’s population exceeds 250,000, the Fair Defense Act (Code of Criminal Procedure Article 1.051) requires a court to appoint counsel for an indigent defendant within 1 working day of the request, not the longer 3-day window smaller counties get.
Sentencing Ranges in Carrollton, Texas Criminal Cases
Under Penal Code Chapter 12, a state jail felony carries 180 days to 2 years in state jail; a third-degree felony carries 2 to 10 years; a second-degree felony carries 2 to 20 years; and a first-degree felony carries 5 to 99 years or life, and each felony tier also carries up to a $10,000 fine. Below the felony tiers, a Class A misdemeanor tops out at a year in county jail and a $4,000 fine, Class B at 180 days and $2,000, and Class C is fine-only, up to $500, with no jail time at all. A DWI with a passenger under 15 in the vehicle is charged as a state jail felony under Penal Code §49.045 regardless of whether it’s a first offense, a real escalation most first-time-DWI assumptions don’t account for. The more familiar escalation, Class B on a first offense, Class A with a mandatory 30-day minimum on a second, third-degree felony on a third, still applies to every other DWI arrest under §49.09.
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Understanding a Charge: Assault, Theft, or Drug Possession
Assault under Penal Code §22.01 covers a wide range of conduct: a threat or offensive contact alone can be a Class C misdemeanor, while causing actual bodily injury is typically a Class A misdemeanor, but the charge escalates to a felony when the alleged victim is a public servant, a family member, or someone in another protected category. Theft under Penal Code §31.03 is graded entirely by dollar value: under $100 is a Class C misdemeanor, $100 to under $750 is Class B, and $750 to under $2,500 is Class A; above that, it becomes a felony, from a state jail felony ($2,500 to under $30,000) up through a first-degree felony at $300,000 or more. A drug possession charge’s severity turns on the specific substance’s penalty group and the weight alleged: Penalty Group 1 substances under §481.115 start at a state jail felony below 1 gram and climb from there, while marijuana, classified separately under §481.121 and not folded into the Penalty Group ladder, starts as a Class B misdemeanor under 2 ounces and doesn’t reach felony territory until 4 ounces.
Clearing a Record: Expunction vs. Nondisclosure
Which record-clearing process applies turns on how the case resolved: no conviction at all points toward expunction under Chapter 55A, with its waiting periods scaled by offense severity (180 days for a Class C misdemeanor, 1 year for a Class A or B, 3 years for a felony); a successfully completed deferred adjudication points toward a nondisclosure order under Government Code Chapter 411 instead, which seals rather than destroys the record.
Dallas County's Courts and Jail
Dallas County splits booking and the courtroom across two separate buildings: an arrest is processed at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on Commerce Street, while the case itself is heard blocks away at the Frank Crowley Courts Building on North Riverfront Boulevard, which holds 17 Criminal District Courts hearing felonies (on the building’s 5th, 6th, and 7th floors specifically) alongside 11 County Criminal Courts hearing Class A and B misdemeanors.
The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office is a large operation by design: over 300 attorneys and staff prosecute more than 40,000 cases a year out of that office alone. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the Lew Sterrett jail, operates one of the seven largest county jails in the entire country by population, not just the largest in Texas.
Nearby cities we also cover: our coverage in Plano, our coverage in Richardson, our Frisco page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is bail set after an arrest in Dallas County?
A magistrate has to individually weigh the offense, the defendant’s ability to pay, public safety, and criminal history under the Damon Allen Act (CCP Art. 17.15), not apply a fixed bail schedule.
Does county population really affect the appointment deadline?
In Dallas County, which is over the Fair Defense Act’s 250,000-population threshold, appointed counsel must be assigned within 1 working day of the request.
What’s the difference between a state jail felony and a third-degree felony?
A state jail felony carries 180 days to 2 years in state jail; a third-degree felony carries 2 to 10 years in prison, different facilities and a meaningfully different range under Penal Code Chapter 12.
When does a theft charge become a felony in Texas?
At $2,500 or more in alleged value; below that, theft under Penal Code §31.03 is a misdemeanor (Class C under $100, Class B under $750, Class A under $2,500), and at $2,500 it becomes a state jail felony, escalating from there by value.
Does a DWI arrest affect a driver’s license before the criminal case is decided?
Yes, under Transportation Code §724.041, a driver has only 15 days from notice to request an Administrative License Revocation hearing, a civil process that runs independently of the criminal case.
Does a nondisclosure order remove a record from a background check entirely?
Not from every one: a nondisclosure order under Government Code Chapter 411 seals a record from public and most private-employer background checks, but the record remains visible to certain government agencies and licensing boards.
What You Do Next Matters
From the moment of arrest, a Carrollton criminal case starts moving immediately, and decisions made in the first few days can shape everything that follows.
