Who cannot carry a gun in Texas? A convicted felon cannot carry a gun in Texas. A person who has been convicted of assault on a family member even though that’s just a misdemeanor, cannot carry a gun in Texas. A person who got deferred adjudication for assault on a family member cannot carry a gun in Texas.

Summary

Texas imposes strict limitations on firearm possession. Those ineligible to carry guns include convicted felons, individuals with misdemeanor convictions, and those with deferred adjudication in such cases.

Is theft a felony or a misdemeanor in Texas? Basically, it depends on the value or the amount of whatever was stolen. So, if something is a very low-level value, say under $100, then that’s a Class C ticket-level offense. It is punishable by a fine only up to a $500 fine.

If that value is $100 to $750 have the item or items stolen. So we mean there’s a bunch of different things that may add up to some value of more than $100 but less than $750, then that’s a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail.

If it’s $750 to $2500 in value, then that’s a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. If it’s over $2500, then it’s a felony. So first, it’s a state jail felony-level offense punishable by up to two years in the State jail facility. 

But if the values become enough or high enough, then it can be a third-degree, second-degree, or even first-degree felony-level offense. And those can be punishable by up to 10 years 20 years and up to life in prison.

Summary

In Texas, theft can be classified as a misdemeanor or felony depending on the value of the stolen items. On one hand, a Class C misdemeanor applies to items under $100. On the other hand, Class B is for values between $100 and $750. Lastly, a Class A is for values between $750 and $2,500. 

How long does an expunction take in Texas? Well, first off, we need to talk about being eligible for the expunction because it can take a while to be eligible for an expunction. Now, if a person gets arrested for some type of criminal offense in Texas and that case gets dismissed, or the person is found not guilty, they can be eligible for an expunction. 

Now, if the case gets dismissed, typically they may have to wait for the statute of limitations to expire before they can file an expunction. That depends on what the charge was. So, if it was a typical low-level misdemeanor, then the statute of limitations may be two years.

For many felonies, the statute of limitations is three years. But, for a lot of other felonies, the statute of limitations can be much longer. It gets kind of technical here, and it depends a lot on the different type of felony charges. There can be some with a statute of limitations of up to 10 years. Some, such as murder, have no statute of limitations at all. 

So, first off, if the person is eligible, then we have to wait for the statute of limitations to expire. Now, there are some situations where a person can be eligible for an expunction right away. A person is found not guilty, they’re eligible to do the expunction right away. 

Some types of dismissals resulting from a program that’s approved by the court, maybe. There’s lots of different programs depending on the jurisdiction or the city that may be available to deal with. Say, a drug charge or some other type of offense. But with some of these programs, completion of the program with a dismissal at that point allows the person to proceed with doing the expunction right away without having to wait for the statute of limitations to expire.

Now, we’re at the point where the person is eligible to file the expunction, the statute of limitations is expired, or they were found not guilty, or they completed the program that allows them to file right away. Now, this is going to depend on the jurisdiction or the county. Some counties take longer to process an expunction than others. But, generally it’s gonna take three to six months.

First off, the person has to file an expunction and then all the agencies identified in the expunction have a certain amount of time to reply to the expunction. Then, we have to go through the court process, and depending on the county, that may be a very quick process of getting it done in a month or two. Or it may take several months or more to go through that process to get to the point where the judge grants the expunction.

Then, there is a short period of time before the judgment of expunction becomes final. And then it takes a short time for all those records of arrest to be erased, deleted, and destroyed. But once you get that expulsion granted, and you go through that process, and those records get erased, deleted, and destroyed, then you’re legally entitled to say that that offense never happened.

Summary 

In Texas, getting an expunction, which clears your criminal record, can take some time. First, you must be eligible, usually because your case was dismissed or you were found not guilty. Then, you might have to wait for a certain period, depending on the type of offense. Once it is granted, your records are erased, and you can legally say the offense never happened.

What happens when you get caught with drugs in Texas? Well, that’s gonna depend a lot on the drug and the location, say the city. So, if it’s a small amount of marijuana, you might not have anything happen to you at all. You might be released without any charges. You might be given just a traffic ticket level offense, a Class C misdemeanor ticket, punishable by fine only up to $500.

Or depending on the city, if they have a more strict attitude, you may get arrested and prosecuted for an offense that carries up to six months in jail or more. Now, it depends a lot on the drug. So if you have any amount of drugs, such as cocaine or heroin or methamphetamine, I feel it’s pretty safe to say that, regardless of where in Texas, if you get caught with any amount of that, you’re getting arrested and you’re getting prosecuted.

And for any amount of a controlled substance, such as cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine, those types of drugs, it’s a felony for any amount of it. Now, if it’s just marijuana, then depending on the amount, it may only be a misdemeanor.

So, but typically anywhere in Texas, if it’s a controlled substance, like we were talking about, you’re gonna get arrested and you’re gonna get prosecuted for a felony. If it’s just marijuana, it’s just a very small amount, then depending where you are in Texas, you may get released. And nothing happened to you at all. Or you may get prosecuted for an offense that carries up to six months or you’re in jail or more. So it depends a lot on where it happens and it depends a lot on what the drug is.

Summary 

In Texas, the consequences you are caught with drugs depends on the type of drug and where you are caught. For a small amount of marijuana, you might not get charged or a fine. But if you are caught with serious drugs like cocaine, heroin, or meth, you will likely be arrested. You will be charged with a felony, no matter how much you have.

Marijuana offenses may result in varying outcomes, from release to potential misdemeanor charges. This depends on the amount and location within Texas. Ultimately, the severity of the consequences hinges on both the drug involved and the specific jurisdiction.

What is the criminal process in Texas like? Well, as a general rule, once a person gets arrested and accused of a crime, then soon after that, there’ll be a case filed with a court. Whatever jurisdiction it is, misdemeanor or felony level. Then, they’ll be given an initial court date.

Usually, at that initial court date, the person is informing the court of whether or not they’ve hired an attorney. And the court may inquire if a person has not, whether or not they may be entitled to a court appointed attorney. Then, depending on the court and the county, there’s probably going to be a series of court dates that progresses from that point on.

Many courts will have a progressive schedule of court dates that may involve a first court date, where the prosecutor and the defense attorney get together and talk about what their positions are. Maybe they are given an opportunity to negotiate and possibly reach a plea bargain.

Then, if they don’t reach a plea bargain, then there may be another court date, where the prosecution is responsible for turning over all the evidence they have at that point. Then there may be a court date where the judge inquires about what the status of the case is?Are the two parties going to reach an agreement? Or do they need to set it for a jury trial? Then, there may be a jury trial date that’s set where the case actually goes to a jury trial.

Now, depending on the county or the jurisdiction, there may be a bunch of jury trial court dates before the case actually gets reached because the court may have so many cases actually pending that it takes a while for those case to actually be reached for trial.

Now, in felonies, there may be another part to the process where after the person is arrested and accused of the crime. There may be a process where the cases are pending before the grand jury. Then, nothing else happens until the grand jury returns an indictment. If they do, then there can be a court date and a series of court dates, where that led up to possibly a trial or a resolution by agreement of that case.

But grand juries can also decide not to indict a case. So, we call the grand jury decision either a true bill or a no bill. So, if they decide to indict, we call that a true bill. If they decide not to indict, that’s a no bill. The grand jury just decides whether or not there’s enough evidence that they think the person ought to stand trial.

Some attorneys will tell you that the grand jury is deciding whether or not there’s probable cause. But the law doesn’t state that the grand jury decides whether or not there’s probable cause. The grand jury just decides whether or not they think there’s enough evidence that the person ought to stand trial. They can also decide that they think there’s not enough evidence. Even regardless of the evidence, they don’t think the person should have to stand trial.

The grand jury can decide not to indict the case. And then, that’s like a dismissal, and the case is over. So, that’s just kind of a general overview of the criminal process in Texas.

Summary 

The criminal process in Texas involves a person being arrested and accused of a crime. It also consists of filing a case with a court and awaiting an initial court date. The court may inquire whether the person has hired an attorney and if they are entitled to a court appointed attorney. The case progresses through court dates, including negotiations, plea bargains, and jury trials. In felonies, cases may be pending before the grand jury, which decides whether to indict or not.