Instantly Connect For Your Criminal Defense Consultation When Filling Out Form
Your Bryan Criminal Defense Attorney
A criminal charge filed against a Bryan resident is heard in Brazos County’s District Court if it’s a felony, or its County Court at Law if it’s a Class A or B misdemeanor; Texas’s three-tier criminal court structure applies the same way here as anywhere else in the state. What actually happens between arrest and that first court date, including bail and the right to counsel and how quickly either has to happen, is covered further down this page. That distinction isn’t a technicality: it decides which court has jurisdiction, what the punishment range looks like, and how the case proceeds from the first hearing forward.
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’s counsel-appointment deadline scales with county population, and Brazos County sits below the 250,000 threshold, so the applicable deadline is 3 working days rather than 1.
What a Conviction in Brazos County Could Mean
A conviction’s real consequences depend entirely on where the charge falls on Texas’s classification ladder: a Class A misdemeanor tops out at a year in jail and a $4,000 fine, while even the lowest felony tier, state jail felony, can mean up to 2 years without the possibility of regular parole. The felony tiers above that (third, second, and first degree) carry progressively longer ranges up to 99 years or life, each with up to a $10,000 fine on top of any prison term. Separate from the criminal case, a DWI arrest triggers a civil, administrative consequence: under Transportation Code §724.041, a driver has only 15 calendar days from notice to request a hearing on the license suspension, or the suspension takes effect automatically 40 days after notice. That administrative process runs on its own clock under Texas’s implied-consent law and proceeds independently of whatever happens in the criminal case itself.
Facing a criminal charge in Bryan? Get matched with an attorney now.
Common Charges We Defend in Bryan
A simple assault charge under §22.01 isn’t always the same offense: threatening someone or making offensive contact can be a fine-only Class C misdemeanor, while causing bodily injury is usually charged as a Class A misdemeanor, and certain victim categories, such as a public servant, a family member, or someone in a dating relationship, can push it to a felony instead. Texas doesn’t charge every theft the same way: §31.03 scales the classification directly to the value taken, from a Class C misdemeanor under $100 through a state jail felony at $2,500, and on up to a first-degree felony once the value reaches $300,000. 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.
What Texas Actually Offers: Expunction or Nondisclosure
Expunction (Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55A, which replaced the former Chapter 55 on January 1, 2025) is not available for a conviction or for successfully completed deferred adjudication; that’s what an order of nondisclosure, under Government Code Chapter 411, is actually for. Certain offenses are permanently excluded from nondisclosure no matter how the case resolved, including any offense involving family violence and most sex offenses.
Brazos County's Courts and Jail
Brazos County splits its criminal-justice buildings across Bryan: the Sheriff’s Office is on Highway 21, the Brazos County Detention Center sits at a separate address on Sandy Point Road, and the courthouse itself is downtown on 26th Street, where two County Courts at Law share broad, identical jurisdiction over misdemeanor, family, and probate matters.
Not a criminal case? our Bryan personal injury page covers accidents, falls, and other injury claims.
You may also be near: the Georgetown criminal defense resource, the Round Rock criminal defense resource, our coverage in Austin.
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 fast does an appointed attorney have to be assigned?
Brazos County falls below the Fair Defense Act’s 250,000-population line, so the appointment clock is 3 working days, the slower of the two statutory tiers.
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.
What turns a simple assault into aggravated assault?
Causing serious bodily injury or using or exhibiting a deadly weapon during the assault: either one moves the charge from Penal Code §22.01 to §22.02’s aggravated assault, a second-degree felony (or first-degree in certain family or dating-violence contexts).
What happens if I don’t request an ALR hearing in time?
The 15-day window under Transportation Code §724.041 isn’t extendable; missing it results in an automatic license suspension taking effect on day 40 after the arrest, regardless of how the underlying criminal DWI case turns out.
How long does a Texas expunction actually take once it’s eligible?
There’s no fixed statutory turnaround, but a Chapter 55A petition typically takes several months from filing to a court order once all agencies with the record have been properly served and given a chance to object.
Every Decision From Here Matters
From the moment of arrest, a Bryan criminal case starts moving immediately, and decisions made in the first few days can shape everything that follows.
