Texas law splits up all criminal charges into felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are the most serious types of crimes and carry stiffer punishments than misdemeanors. Let’s dive into the definitions of both and what it might mean for your criminal process.
A felony is any crime that carries a possible punishment range of more than one year of incarceration. People jailed for a felony conviction serve their sentence in the state prison (called the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, or TDC, Institutional Division) or state jail facility.
A misdemeanor in Texas is any crime that carries a possible punishment range of no more than one year. People jailed for a misdemeanor conviction serve their sentence in the county jail. Generally, misdemeanor offenses involve shorter probation lengths, less strict probation conditions, and lower (but still substantial) fines.
Criminal Process for A Misdemeanor
A criminal case starts with some sort of police involvement.
The responding officer will generally write a police report (commonly called an incident report) and may or may not make an arrest there at the scene.
The officer will then turn in their incident report to their supervisor and, depending on the type of the case, it may get assigned to a detective (sometimes called investigating officer) to conduct additional investigation.
The officer (or detective if involved) will then make the decision of whether to submit the case to the District Attorney (prosecutor).
The District Attorney’s office will then review the case to decide whether they will accept or reject the case. If they accept it, it is considered “filed.” For misdemeanor cases, once a case is filed it is assigned to criminal court and the court issues a first court setting.
Misdemeanor Penalty Ranges
Misdemeanor offenses are divided into three classifications:
● Class C Misdemeanors – commonly referred to as tickets or citations, these are
punishable by a fine of up to $500 and no jail time
● Class B Misdemeanors – punishable by up to 180 days (6 months) in the county jail and
a fine of up to $2,000
● Class A Misdemeanors – punishable by up to 1 year in the county jail and a fine of up to
$4,000
Misdemeanor offenses are divided into three classifications:
- Class C Misdemeanors – commonly referred to as tickets or citations, these are punishable by a fine of up to $500 and no jail time
- Class B Misdemeanors – punishable by up to 180 days (6 months) in the county jail and a fine of up to $2,000
- Class A Misdemeanors – punishable by up to 1 year in the county jail and a fine of up to $4,000
Criminal Process for Felony Offenses
Felony offenses follow the same basic pattern as a misdemeanor (described above), except after filing it must go through the additional step of being heard by the grand jury.
The grand jury acts as a check on the District Attorney by making sure they have enough evidence (probable cause) to move forward with the case.
Experienced criminal defense lawyers in Dallas will consider whether to make a presentation to the grand jury (sometimes called a “grand jury packet”) arguing that the grand jury dismiss the case.
If the grand jury decides the prosecutor has evidence amounting to probable cause, they will indict the case an issue an indictment, which is the charging instrument that lays out the elements of the crime that the prosecutor must prove the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
If the grand jury decides the prosecutor doesn’t have probable cause for the crime alleged, they can return an indictment for a lesser criminal charge (called an “information” if the lesser charge is a misdemeanor) or they can dismiss the case outright. If a case is indicted it then gets assigned a court and the court issues a first court setting.
Felony Penalty Ranges
Under Texas law, felonies are classified as either state jail felonies (the least serious), third-degree felonies, second-degree felonies, or first-degree felonies (the most severe).
Felony offenses are divided into four degrees or classifications:
- Capital Felony – punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
- First-Degree Felony – punishable by between 5 and 99 years or life (with parole) in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
- Second-Degree Felony – punishable by between 2 and 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
- Third-Degree Felony – punishable by between 2 and 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
- State Jail Felony – punishable by between 180 days (6 months) and 2 years in the state jail facility and up to a $10,000 fine.
It is important to remember that even misdemeanor charges can have serious implications and should be taken seriously. If you are facing criminal charges in Texas, it is important to contact an experienced criminal defense attorney who can help protect your rights and ensure a fair outcome. Schedule a case evaluation so that we can get to learn more about you and your case.
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