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Your Arlington Criminal Defense Attorney
Being arrested in Arlington means the case lands in one of Tarrant County’s criminal courts almost immediately: District Court for a felony, County Court at Law for a Class A or B misdemeanor, and which one applies shapes everything that follows. 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.
Bail, Personal Bonds, and the Right to Counsel
Under Article 17.15 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by the Damon Allen Act, bail can’t be used as ‘an instrument of oppression’: a magistrate has to consider the specific offense, the defendant’s ability to pay, public safety, and criminal history before setting an amount or granting a personal bond. A surety bond through a licensed bail bondsman, typically at a set percentage of the total bail amount, remains the most common way most defendants actually post bail once an amount is set. Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure puts a hard 48-hour clock on this: every arrested person has to appear before a magistrate within that window, be told the specific charges against them, have their right to an attorney explained, and have bail conditions set. The Fair Defense Act ties the counsel-appointment deadline to county population, and Tarrant County clears the 250,000 threshold, which means the 1-working-day appointment deadline applies rather than the 3-day deadline a smaller county would have. Failing to appear after release is itself one of the factors a magistrate weighs on any future bail decision, which is part of why the Damon Allen Act’s factors look backward as well as forward.
What a Conviction in Tarrant County Could Mean
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. DWI has its own escalation path under Penal Code Chapter 49, separate from the general classification ladder above: a first offense is a Class B misdemeanor (3 to 180 days, up to $2,000) unless the BAC is 0.15 or higher, which bumps it to a Class A; a second offense is a Class A misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum 30 days; a third is a third-degree felony. A DWI with a passenger under 15 in the vehicle is charged as a state jail felony under §49.045 regardless of whether it’s a first offense.
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Understanding a Charge: Assault, Theft, or Drug Possession
Not every assault charge in Texas carries the same weight: §22.01 grades a threat or offensive contact as a Class C misdemeanor and actual bodily injury as a Class A misdemeanor, while §22.02’s aggravated assault, meaning serious bodily injury or use of a deadly weapon, is a second-degree felony, or a first-degree felony when a deadly weapon and serious bodily injury combine in a family or dating-violence context. 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. Texas grades drug possession by weight, not a flat charge: a Penalty Group 1 substance (§481.115), with cocaine and methamphetamine as common examples, is a state jail felony under 1 gram, escalating to a third-degree felony at 1 to under 4 grams and a second-degree felony at 4 to under 200 grams. Marijuana runs on its own separate scale under §481.121, starting at a Class B misdemeanor under 2 ounces.
Two Different Paths to Clearing a Record in Texas
An order of nondisclosure isn’t the same as expunction: under Government Code Chapter 411, Subchapter E-1, it seals a record from public and private access after successfully completing deferred adjudication, but law enforcement retains access; it doesn’t destroy the record the way expunction does. Government Code §411.072 makes the order automatic for certain qualifying offenses after a 180-day wait, while §411.0725 requires filing a petition for felonies and other misdemeanors §411.072 doesn’t cover. Getting the wrong process started, filing for expunction on a case that actually needs a nondisclosure petition, or the reverse, can waste real time, since the two statutes serve genuinely different situations.
Tarrant County's Courts and Jail
Tarrant County takes a different approach than Dallas’s split-building setup: the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center at 401 West Belknap Street in Fort Worth houses all 11 District Courts with criminal jurisdiction, all 10 County Criminal Courts, the Criminal District Attorney’s Office, and the District Clerk’s Office in one building, a genuine one-stop courthouse rather than separate booking and courtroom facilities in different parts of downtown.
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office is organized into five divisions (Criminal, Civil, Investigation, Operations, and the Chief of Staff’s office), with more than 135 attorneys in the Criminal Division alone reviewing an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 felony and misdemeanor cases every year. The Tarrant County Jail, at 501 West 10th Street in Fort Worth, is one of the largest county jails in Texas by capacity, and it’s the same countywide system an arrest anywhere in Tarrant County, including Arlington, a separate city from the county seat, feeds into, not a separate Arlington-specific facility.
Nearby cities we also cover: our Hurst page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a personal bond, and is it available?
A personal bond releases a defendant without posting money, subject to conditions, and it’s evaluated under the same Damon Allen Act factors as any other bail decision.
How quickly will I actually get a court-appointed lawyer?
Yes, the Fair Defense Act (CCP Art. 1.051) sets a 1-working-day deadline in counties of 250,000 or more, which includes Tarrant County, versus 3 working days in a smaller county.
Does a prior conviction affect how a new charge is sentenced in Texas?
Yes, Penal Code Chapter 12’s habitual/repeat-offender enhancements can raise a charge’s punishment range by a full degree or more for a second or subsequent felony, on top of whatever the current charge alone would carry.
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.
Can a conviction ever be expunged in Texas?
No, expunction under Chapter 55A is not available for a conviction, including one where probation was successfully completed; a nondisclosure order is the applicable process for a successfully completed deferred adjudication instead.
Every Decision From Here Matters
A criminal charge in Arlington runs on real deadlines from day one, not a flexible timeline that waits for anyone to catch up.
